Creative Guthrie

Walk into Hancock Creative Shop
in Guthrie, and you’ll find a tiny mouse skeleton wearing a hat, mowing his
patch of sunflowers. Next door at Prairie Gothic, the quaint and familiar
country art mixes with leering skulls and jaunty oddities. Nearby, the Gallery
Graziozo displays local art ranging from realist to abstract, and Hoboken
Coffee becomes the hot spot where hipsters and businessmen alike chat over
subjects of the day.

Welcome to the younger face of
Guthrie’s downtown business movement. Long admired for the Victorian
architecture and quirky feel of old and new, downtown Guthrie is the new hot
spot for artists, dreamers, young entrepreneurs and music. A new wave of
inventiveness is flowing into this historic city, bringing with it an ocean of
fans eager to explore the growing community and art scene. But talk to the
old-timers—those who have lived in Guthrie for decades—they’ll tell you Guthrie
has always been that way.

Grand Old Guthrie

Keely Stuever of Sealed with a
Kiss yarn shop in downtown Guthrie envisioned the possibilities mortared into
the old impressive buildings 14 years ago, knowing Guthrie always had the
promise to be a hot spot. “I saw the potential and saw the beginning of an
emerging community,” Keely said. “It’s always a slow process and it takes a
while for an area to develop. When I first started my shop here, half of the
stores that are here now were not here. We’ve come so far.”

Even before the new group of
creative businesses called Guthrie home, the prairie town was known for its
arts. “Guthrie has always had a strong thriving arts community,” said Lucy
Swanson with the Guthrie Chamber of Commerce. “But, in the last two years,
we’ve been getting a lot of younger people looking for a community. They want
the small-town feel without giving up the creative lifestyle.”

Storefronts that were once sadly
vacant now host art, crafts, one-of-a-kind wares and more as young artists
discover a creative town outside of the big city. “Businesses are moving into
places that were unoccupied and they are bringing these places to life,” Lucy
said. “They have stimulated the movement of getting the 20- to 40-year-old
crowd to pay attention to Guthrie and realize there are exciting things to do
here.”

New Faces

Christie Clifford and her
daughter Shirley Clifford walked by the old buildings and dreamed of opening
shop there. “We opened our shop in December of 2012,” said Shirley, one of the owners
of the strange and popular store Prairie Gothic. “I think Guthrie is a quaint
place and really folksy. The community is great here.” Soon after, Missy and
Shawn Hancock moved in next door, bringing with them their family’s far-flung
variety of art and imagination. “We love the energy of this place,” said Missy.
Gary Good, owner of Gallery Graziozo, likes the new influx of ingenuity coming
into his town. “Guthrie is turning around. People are getting into the downtown
energy,” said Gary. “It’s hard to put your finger on it, but it’s a good energy
for music, creativity and art.”

Make Guthrie Weird

It only made sense to attract
others to taste the vision of the new downtown Guthrie. “We’ve been using the
theme ‘Make Guthrie Weird,’ and we want people to know the artists and creative
types who are here,” said Missy. Many of the other businesses are on board to
“Make Guthrie Weird” too. Every month, Guthrie hosts a block party featuring
live bands playing in the streets and the stores are open late to welcome
others to the exciting new trend in Guthrie. “Some people are a little nervous
about the word weird, but the way I
see it, the sky’s the limit,” said Missy. “The more great people we bring to
Guthrie, the better!”

Visit guthrieok.com for more
information about the monthly block parties and the unique businesses Guthrie
has to offer.