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After spending more than 11 years in the art business in Edmonds, ArtSpot co-owner Ziggy Baudendistel has heard people say that they love art, but they don’t have the talent. Last February, Baudendistel created the No Talent Art Club, where people of all ages and artistic levels –even those with no artistic background – can come to the store and create whatever they want every Friday evening.
The No Talent Club’s philosophy is: “All art is good art. There is no bad art.” This belief dismantles the barriers that often discourage people from engaging in creative pursuits. Participants can bring their own materials or use basic supplies provided by ArtSpot. The club serves as a reminder that creativity thrives on practice and community rather than perfection.
“It’s like lifting weights. You do it everyday, and you get better at it over time,” Baudendistel said. “The rough thing is the doing it over an dover again, it’s tedious and kind of difficult to hold yourself to discipline. So we conceived this as a space that was focused ultimately on accessibility, like remove all cost barriers. Just make it really easy to show up, hang out, work on whatever you find interesting.”
“We’d have as many as 20 people here, and even now, as we’re kind of reaching those dark, dark days again, I still have five people here,”Baudendistel said. “It’s a little bit easier and more fun to practice when you’re around other people who are doing the same thing, so you just don’t feel as isolated while you’re going through and doing that.”
One of these five people is Arlington resident Deborah Bailey, who has been coming to the club for several months. She said she typically does nature journaling with sketching, but she showed her sketch of the Edmonds-Kingston ferry.
“I love this shop,” Bailey said. “A friend of mine, who lives in Queen Anne, and I [would] go to lunch [in Edmonds]. Because I was way up north and she’s in Queen Anne, [Edmonds] is a great meeting point. And we always come in here.”
Baudendistel said that they hope to work with the Edmonds Creative Art District to move the No Talent Club to a more permanent location, regardless of whether there is room in the city’s budget for such activities.
“The last time I went to city council, the budget looks pretty rough, and Todd [Tatum] seems stressed,” said Baudendistel, referring to Edmonds Community and Economic Development Director Todd Tatum. “I have not been bothering Director Tatum about that. But either way, we totally have the capacity to do this here [at ArtSpot] at this scale. Once a week is doable.”
There is a pay-what-you-can fee of $5 to $15 to use ArtSpot’s collection of art supplies for the evening. Participants may also bring their own supplies while Baudendistel provides pencils and paper at no cost.
The No Talent Art Club meets at ArtSpot, 408 Main St., on Fridays from 6 to 8 p.m.
– Story and photos by Nick Ng
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