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By PATRICK COBBS
Staff Writer
The Philadelphia Flower Show honored three area storefronts in its “Passport to the World”-themed decoration competition, and the Mt. Airy art gallery and gift shop Artista at 7151 Germantown Avenue, took home the top judge’s prize.
“We were thrilled,” said business co-owner Mary Lui Yoder. “This was our first time in the contest. Our inspiration was that this was more of whimsical idea, and things were kind of larger than life.”
Kathy Robinson, the business’ other co-owner, thinks the key to winning the Judges’ Choice award was using the work of their artists in the storefront display, like the hand-made bird feeders that look like log homes that were made by local artist Ed Digian.
The pair are doubly thrilled by the award because it helps to validate the concept of the store, which they started three years ago with a third partner mainly as a gallery to sell their own work. Now the store has expanded to include the work of more than 50 artisans, most of them local.
“It just kept going and going,” Robinson said. “It just started with three of us and people kept consigning with us.”
The store expanded to include more hand-made crafts and artwork in 2008 and it hasn’t looked back. Robinson makes traditional batik silk clothing and Lui Yoder specializes in hand made and hand bound albums and journals. The other artists’ work ranges from jewelry to house decor to, of course, bird houses.
The Flower Show also honored Monkey Business at 8624 Germantown Avenue with the “Crowd Favorite” award, and Ten Thousand Villages at 8331 Germantown Avenue with the “Most Well Traveled” award. There were 90 entrants in the citywide competition.
For more information about Artista, call 215-248-2450 or visit www.artistagallery.info.
