Aug 14, 2010

Maryville gift shop gives local artists platform to showcase craftsBy LaSaundra BrownWBIR.com

When Joanna Tinker moved to Maryville four years ago, there were no gift shops or boutiques downtown.

“In the last few years it’s been really exciting to see all these little businesses and restaurants and boutiques and gift stores pop up.”

Including her family’s business, the Village Tinker, a local gallery and gift shop.

“My mother and father-in-law Betty and Andy Tinker, when they were first married and were living in Germany, they were strolling through the streets and saw little shops,” Joanna says. “The thought one day, we’d like to have a little shop and we’ll call it the Village Tinker, our last name is Tinker.”

Since The Village Tinker opened in March 2009, the vision has always been to feature the work of local artists.

This area is chock-full of local talent, everything from wood to fiber artist to jewelry makers to everything in between.” “It’s really cool, we get to make new friends, we get to give people that wouldn’t have a platform to showcase their work a place and a home for their things,” Joanna says.

You could spend hours just looking around. Everything at the shop radiates with creativity and originality. The stories behind all the stuff is just as fascinating as the pieces themselves.

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