Sparrow Art Supply in Middlebury Finds a New Nest 

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• Pamela Polston ©️ Seven Days
• Katie Zuanich and Beth Bluestein

What a difference a ceiling makes. A high ceiling, that is. When Beth Bluestein moved her Middlebury store, Sparrow Art Supply, to 44 Main Street earlier this month, regular customers remarked on how much bigger it is than the previous location. "In fact, it's a little smaller," she said cheerfully. "The old space was 1,000 square feet; this one is 750." But the vertical airiness — and light from tall windows — has everyone pleasantly fooled.

Perhaps more importantly, Sparrow's new quarters can accommodate customers who couldn't navigate the steep stairs to the basement shop at 52 Main, or who never even noticed its narrow entrance. "People have been discovering us here," Bluestein, 32, confirmed.

She and her sole employee, sewer-designer Katie Zuanich, also have been able to arrange their display shelves in a more accessible way, even while allowing ample wall space for a community gallery. Bluestein has prioritized exhibiting local artists from the start. The current show, "Green Gold," features seven artists and is intended to be "a celebration of new beginnings," according to Sparrow's website. The show's title is a nod to the Robert Frost poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay."

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• Pamela Polston ©️ Seven Days
• Sparrow Art Supply

Sparrow is the only art-supply store in Addison County, which means that there was none before Bluestein came along. A painter who favors plein air watercolors, she said she was motivated to open the store in 2022 "because it was needed." Now, Bluestein revealed, she's working on a "delivery service to Burlington." The city recently lost its sole outlet, Vermont Art Supply, when owner John Bates passed away.

Bluestein and her boyfriend — now husband — were COVID-19 refugees from New York City three years ago. "His job went remote; I lost mine," she said. "Moving to Vermont in five or 10 years [had been] the plan." The pandemic sped up their timeline. The couple soon became first-time homebuyers, finding a house near Middlebury. They got married just as Bluestein was embarking on a business. "It was a lot," she admitted with a laugh. (Her husband, Mitch Bluestein, has subsequently launched his own podcast production company, Modry Media.)

Why name the store Sparrow? It was the first species Bluestein identified outside her new Vermont home, for starters. "And it's kind of an everybird," she suggested. "We think art can be for everyone."

That attitude is reflected in her approach to inventory. In addition to the expected assortment of acrylic paints, markers, pencils and sketchbooks, Sparrow carries arty items for all ages, from avocado-shaped erasers to X-Acto knives. Branded merch includes T-shirts, sweatshirts, caps, beanies and pouches.

A blue neon sparrow adorns the wall behind the cashier desk, right next to a window with an Otter Creek view. On the table, one of the many eye-candy stickers flaunts a tongue-in-cheek motto: "TRUST ME. I'm an artist."

"People are now seeing these products in a new light, literally," Bluestein said. "We're so lucky to have such a vibrant, supportive community. I think that's why we're still here."