Like so many of the stories we’ve told in our first few issues of South Jersey Local, this one has its beginnings, at least in part, during the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020.
Jennifer Carll-Simon was working as an art teacher in the public schools of Cumberland County. But when the pandemic and resulting quarantines shut the world down, it changed everything for her.
“It was really difficult to be an art teacher and use limited supplies,” Carll-Simon said.
She said students would often not have the things at home they needed to complete projects, and even after remote learning was done, they weren’t allowed to share supplies when they returned to the classroom.
That was enough to make her realize it was time for a change.
She said she had enough time on the job to retire, so in December of 2020 that’s what she did.
She soon moved to Woodstown and proceeded to quickly figure out the next chapter of her life.
“My dream was always to have my own studio – always, always, always!” Carll-Simon said.
By the summer of 2022, she opened the Squirrel’s Nest Art Studio on Main Street, and she said being in Woodstown in particular has helped to truly make her dreams come true.
“I really like being in Woodstown,” she said. “Woodstown has been really supportive. Another part of my little dream was to be in a town. In my little perfect world, I wanted to be on a street where people would walk by and look in the window.”
She started things off with a summer camp and still runs that each year along with a number of other classes for kids.
She said she now has a number of classes and programs throughout the year all taught by herself and 18 other teachers.
The Squirrel’s Nest also has an additional classroom area, separate from the studio, which allows for multiple classes to take place simultaneously, or for outside groups like the Photo Club in South Jersey to hold meetings there.
Carll-Simon said they also have a long hallway they utilize as a gallery space, to display works by local artists on a monthly rotating basis, and they often host opening receptions whenever they begin a new show.
She said they also host events like art parties, birthday parties, and paint and sip parties for both kids and adults.
Along with all that, she said half of the space at the Squirrel’s Nest is used as a makers’ market, which now houses 41 artists, crafters and creators.
Half of the vendors in the market are local to Salem County, she said, while the rest are from Gloucester and Cumberland counties.
She said her youngest maker in the market is seven (she makes and sells slime), while the most senior in the bunch is 94.
“There are so many artists in Salem County,” Carll-Simon said. “I don’t think most people realize how alive the arts are.”
One newer feature in the makers’ market that she’s particularly proud of is an Arts Supply Thrift Outpost
“It is all donations. People donate their stuff that they don’t want anymore, which is a lot,” she said. “And then people come in and take what they’ll use and pay what they can.”
Carll-Simon said she got the idea for the thrift outpost from artist Sam Matthews, a friend of her daughter’s, who created a similar project in Stewartsville, up in Warren County
“It has been so successful,” she said. “We have had over 2,000 pounds of donations. So that’s over 2,000 pounds of things that did not go in the landfill.”
She said she gets people coming in nearly everyday to drop off donations or to purchase the supplies, with people learning about the opportunity through either social media or word of mouth.
Carll-Simon said she is incredibly fortunate to have found so many great people to work alongside her and is thankful for the larger arts community for all helping to make the Squirrel’s Nest a success and for helping to make her dreams come true.
“I’m proud of what it’s become,” she said. “I think it is my dream. Not everyone gets that. Not everyone loves what they do, and I do.”