Business & Tech

Business Profile: The Studio at Rush Creek

Art classes, art parties, full coffee bar and handmade art are available at the Maple Grove business.

The following is based on an email interview with the owners of The Studio at Rush Creek.

Business name: 

Address: 9481 Garland Lane North, Maple Grove

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Owners: Karen and Dave Highness

Open date in Maple Grove: December 2005

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Number of employees: We have around 30 different instructors in various arts, some of whom teach every month and some a few times a year. Karen works almost every day with several part-time employees who help with the coffee bar.

Hours of operation: Monday through Friday 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.;  Saturday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Contact information: 763-315-3001 or studiorushcreek@gmail.com

Website: www.studio-rush.com

Patch: What services and/or products does your business provide? 

Karen and Dave Highness: Art classes, art parties, full coffee bar, lots of handmade art and gifts to purchase.

Patch: What made you want to open a business in Maple Grove? 

Highness: We had built a house in Maple Grove in 2005 and wanted to open a business in the same city where we lived.  Karen came from the corporate world of finance/tax, and had a longing to be an entrepreneur in a business that was fun.

Patch: What are your specialties? 

Highness: Our specialty classes are kiln fired glass, stained glass, torchwork, metalworking (jewelry making), various painting classes, precious metal clay, copper enamel, ceramic painting and more.  Almost any class can be scheduled as an art party for family/friends as long as you have five or more people. We also do fun kids’ birthday parties with art themes. We have a full coffee bar with lattes, mochas, smoothies and bakery. Some of our customers come only for the coffee in the morning, some come just for the evening and weekend classes, some come to shop in our retail area for unique gifts … and some come for everything.

Patch: What is your price range for your products or services?

Highness: Most of our classes are single-night classes, charged at $12 per hour plus materials. Coffee bar prices are a little lower than the chains. Wide range of prices for the unique, handmade gifts, many of which are made by local artists.

Patch: How are you different from other businesses that provide similar services and/or products?

Highness: We aren’t aware of another business in our area that provides the combination of art classes and art products for sale, and a coffee bar!  We are different from other art centers in that people can sign up for just a single class to see if they like it, rather than committing to a series of classes.  Another way that we are different from art shops that teach glass or metalworking is that we provide the tools and equipment to use during class, whereas other places require you to buy the tools before class. We do stock the tools for sale if you decide to pursue the art form.

Patch: What future plans to do you have for your business? 

Highness: We have dabbled in providing events for the community in our space, such as Halloween art parties, a holiday craft sale, author events, acoustic nights.  We plan to do more of this.  We’d also like to expand our online store to have a wider reach for selling art and related products.

Patch: Any final comments or additional information for customers?

Highness: We hope that more people from the Maple Grove community will stop in to see us.  We don’t advertise much and, even though we are in our seventh year, we have people every day stop in to say “I didn’t know you were here”.  For anyone needing a reference point to find us, we are tucked behind Walmart and in the building next to Foss Swim School.


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