Profile: Mas Art Frame and Art Supplies
LAS CRUCES - Mas Art provides art supplies, framing services and opportunities for local artists.
Profile: Mas Art Frame and Art Supplies LAS CRUCES - Mas Art provides art supplies, framing services and opportunities for local artists. Check out this story on lcsun-news.com: http://lcsun.co/1SKwPf8
Alexia Severson, Las Cruces Sun-News Published 1:06 a.m. MT April 3, 2016
Mas Art provides art supplies, framing services and opportunities for local artists.
Mas Art Frame and Art Supplies co-owner Sandra Bender, right, assists Alma d'Arte Charter High School student Shaunia Grant, 18, with framing her art for the senior art show on Monday at the shop.(Photo: Robin Zielinski / Sun-News)Buy Photo
LAS CRUCES - Artists in need of supplies for school projects or their next creative endeavor can find everything they need at Mas Art Frame and Art Supplies, 126 S. Main St.
Sisters Sandra Bender, 52, and Malu Bender, 50, opened Mas Art, along with business partner Karen Matthews (now retired) three years ago to provide a wide range of affordable art supplies, as well as framing services and art classes to students and community members.
"We decided that we wanted a store that was economical — that was not so expensive and that would cater to NMSU (New Mexico State University) and to the artist," Sandra Bender said.
One of the unique aspects of the store is that NMSU professors and instructors at the Las Cruces Art Museum will send Mas Art a list of what is needed for their art classes, so the Mas Art team can make sure they have all the necessary tools and materials for students, Sandra Bender said.
If customers can't find something specific that they need, Mas Art will order it for them, she said.
"We try to have a more personal business rather than simply, you have to buy what we have on the shelf," Sandra Bender said. "We don't do that. We try to provide what the artist needs."
Along with supplies, like colored pencils, paints and jewelry-making materials, Mas Art also offers custom framing services.
"A lot of people in Las Cruces don't know we exist and sometimes they have a simple picture or a flower they want to frame and they don't know what to do with it," Malu Bender said. "But we can frame almost everything."
Sandra Bender, who has several years of experience in framing, said she enjoys getting to be a part of creating something special for her customers.
"We were just framing a photograph for one of our customers, five generations of women in one photograph, and this young woman who came to get it framed was so touched by the knowledge of that amazing time in her life," she said.
Pictured are soft pastels in various colors on Monday available at Mas Art Frame and Art Supplies. The store offers many art supplies for multiple artistic mediums. (Photo: Robin Zielinski / Sun-News)
Mas Art also reaches out to the community through special art shows, face painting for kids during the Saturday Farmers' and Crafts Market downtown and the Downtown Art Ramble, held from 5 to 7 p.m. the first Friday of each month along Main Street. Each artist featured during the Ramble has his or her artwork displayed at the store for the rest of the month.
"It's fun, its free and they can meet the artists and see what people are doing in relation to art," Malu Bender said of the Art Ramble. "It's a time where people can browse and see what we have (in the store) and see the art."
Sandra Bender said she enjoys being involved in the art community because "it's a happy business."
"It's a business of knowledge; the pursuit of new experiences," she said. "People want to learn things and how to do different things. We work with instructors because we have classes here and people become amazed by the new things you can draw by the end of the day."
Classes at Mas Art are taught by various local artists, including Mary Zawacki, a permanent instructor at the store.
Throughout April, Zawacki will teach a class on drawing southwestern plants and animals from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.
Outside of the office
Outside of running Mas Art, Sandra Bender works as a psychology professor at Doña Ana Community College. She also enjoys traveling, cooking and spending time with her friends and entertaining, she said.
Malu Bender is an artist and enjoys painting, meditation and yoga when she has the time.
Sandra and Malu Bender both enjoy going on walks and exercising.
For information about Mas Art and upcoming classes and events, call 575-526-9113 or visit masartllc.com.
Alexia Severson may be reached at 575-541-5462, aseverson@lcsun-news.com or @AlexiaMSeverson on Twitter.
What: Mas Art Frame and Art Supplies
Where: 126 S. Main St.
Hours: 9 to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday; closed on Sunday
Info: Call 575-526-9113, email info@masartllc.com or visit masartllc.com
Social media:facebook.com/masartllclascruces
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