A new kind of art store is opening its doors in La Quinta on Tuesday, September 1, and it doesn't have a single price tag anywhere inside. Art for All, billed as the Coachella Valley's first creative reuse center, will sell donated and surplus art materials on a pay-what-you-can basis, with every dollar customers choose to give funneled back into scholarships, free workshops, and classroom supplies across the valley.
The store is a project of Old Town Artisan Studios, located at 78046 Calle Barcelona, and its grand opening will include an 11 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony co-hosted by La Quinta Mayor Linda Evans and the Greater Coachella Valley Chamber of Commerce, according to the chamber's event listing. The first 25 visitors will receive free Art2Go craft kits, and Uncle D's Smokehouse BBQ & Grill will be on hand with food for the celebration. As KESQ reports, the launch marks the valley's first dedicated creative reuse center, a milestone KESQ anchor Peter Daut covered after speaking with Art for All coordinator Nettie Roberts and Old Town Artisan Studios marketing director Ivana Hanson.
No Price Tags, Just Donations Toward a Bigger Mission
Instead of fixed prices, Art for All asks shoppers to pay what they can afford for donated paint, paper, fabric, and other creative materials. According to the nonprofit's own Old Town Artisan Studios website, 100 percent of those proceeds go directly toward art scholarships, free public workshops, and classroom art supplies distributed throughout the valley. The store also accepts donation drop-offs of gently used art supplies on Tuesdays and Saturdays, giving households an easy way to pass along materials rather than toss them out.
The station's report frames the effort as central to Old Town Artisan Studios' broader push to make arts education accessible regardless of ability to pay, a mission that has defined the organization since its earliest days. That mission traces back to 2009, when the nonprofit was founded by Victory and Richard Grund with an initial $30,000 investment aimed at delivering therapeutic art programs to people of any age, disability, or financial standing, per the Coachella Valley Independent. Co-founder Victory Grund reportedly established the program after finding personal healing through ceramics following a tragedy in her own life.
A Growing Campus With Autism-Friendly Credentials
Old Town Artisan Studios relocated four times by 2016 before establishing its permanent home in La Quinta. The organization acquired its 3-acre, 16,000-square-foot campus in 2016 and moved into it by mid-2017, transforming the old Canard's, a former restaurant and homestead/hacienda, according to details published on the nonprofit's own site and corroborated by Desert Charities News.
In August 2026, the studio was designated a Certified Autism Center by the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards after 91 percent of its staff completed specialized autism and sensory training. The designation came amid a broader valley initiative toward Certified Autism Destination recognition. Leadership guiding this recent expansion includes Executive Director Roccie Hill, who took the role in April 2025.
Reuse Model Echoes a Statewide Movement
Art for All's arrival also lands squarely within California's decades-long creative reuse tradition. The concept traces back to 1976, when artist Ruth Asawa and educator Anne Marie Theilen founded SCRAP in San Francisco to redirect commercial manufacturing surplus into public school classrooms, as reported by KQED. SCRAP, founded in 1976, processes about 1,000 pounds of material per day, and Hoodline previously reported on its move to a bigger Bayview space earlier this month.
The environmental angle carries local weight, too. La Quinta maintains recycling information for residents and businesses, and its waste-management efforts include both commercial and residential programs, according to the City of La Quinta. The region also has waste-management infrastructure.
Seasonal waste trends underscore why reuse programs like Art for All matter beyond the valley. Household waste generally increases in the United States between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, making reuse an important way to keep materials out of the waste stream. Creative reuse centers can give households a way to pass along materials before they're discarded, giving programs like Art for All a year-round role.
