The Art of Collaboration

What does a European-style bakery have to do with a blog page dedicated to creativity? Nothing. At least at first glance that's how it may appear. Upon closer inspection you'll find there are actually quite a few similarities.

First, this site is about art. Baking in and of itself is an art. Criterion number one satisfied, and Chef Flemming (hands and treats featured above) takes it to the next level.

Second, the wife of the esteemed pastry chef was at one time a successful mural artist who used to have her own local business. Then the economy tanked and, it would seem, their bakery business was established as much out of necessity as desire. Still, she has a fundamental understanding and appreciation of what it takes to be an artist and a commercial artist, no less. 

Third, Chef Flemming's Bake Shop is one of several businesses in the downtown Henderson, NV area doing all that they can to survive the tough economy. This is territory all too familiar to artists in Henderson and, likely, artists everywhere.

So, in the spirit of there being strength in numbers and applying the logic that trying to build a community is a lot easier together than it is working separately or alone, I am compelled to not talk about painting, photography, watercolors, silkscreening, lithography, or pen and ink in this post and, instead, invite everyone who enjoys sweets and lives nearby to do your part to support local business. In between creating something beautiful and figuring out a way to sell it or make yourself more marketable, consider heading over to the bake shop and buying a treat.

Why should you? Why should any of us? The answer is simple. In a normal economy, artists may starve. In the current economy, if Henderson starves, Henderson artists will definitely starve. One local business doing really well will do a lot more for a community than a whole lot of businesses doing really poorly, even if we're strictly talking morale. And, of course, the goal is to have as many local businesses as possible generating revenue, staying in the black, and keeping their doors open.

One by one, gallery by gallery, show by show, shoot by shoot, stroke by stroke, article by article, each of us is doing what we can to keep this community alive. More than that, we're actually trying to help it flourish even as every imaginable economic indicator would have us believe growth at times like these is simply an impossibility.

Let's stay positive and continue to help out and do right by one another. It's the only way.

Chef Flemming's Bake Shop is located at 7 Water Street in downtown Henderson. To revisit an earlier post about the bakery, click on this link: Creative Henderson: Starving Artists, Starve No More.

To read the article in the Las Vegas Sun featuring Chef Flemming's Bake Shop and a second Water Street District business that inspired this post, click on this one: New Water Street businesses hope to weather economic tides - Las Vegas Sun