CINCINNATI — Accessibility to craft and art supplies can sometimes be difficult, especially when considering the cost. That’s where Indigo Hippo comes in.
What You Need To Know
- Indigo Hippo is a non-profit that sells repurposed art supplies
- The store sells art supplies in a pay-what-you-can format
- Each item has a sticker indicating the price range for the item
- The executive director hopes that the unique method to pay for art supplies makes it more accessible to everyone
Emily Farison spends a lot of her days organizing.
“It’s definitely organized chaos,” she said.
Farison makes sure each donated item is in its place. She’s the executive director of Indigo Hippo, a nonprofit that repurposes art supplies.
“Sometimes it’s amazing to think, ‘oh, somebody had nowhere else to take this. It could have gotten pitched and it’s so useable,'” Farison said.
Farison said while the pandemic was difficult for her business, it also allowed her and her team to designate shopping and donating days to be more efficient.
“With wearing so many hats, it’s good to kind of break it up and try to focus on one thing at a time if you can,” she said.
But what makes Indigo Hippo truly special is its pay what you can pricing.
“You can kind of see that the color sticker dot corresponds with the range up here and then you know that if it’s going to be between $1-$3 and you get to determine for yourself what you can pay,” Farison said.
Farison said while other stores across the country adopt a similar model, nothing like it in the Queen City was available, especially for art supplies.
“Examining our own community it’s like why don’t we have something like that,” she said. “We’re right between two art schools. We have such an amazing creative community, it just seemed like something that would be a great resource for Cincinnati.”
Farison hopes that all the hours of organizing the chaos continue to help her community.
“No matter what you have to spend, there’s something here for you and there’s not that barrier,” she said.
