The Purple Elephant Art Community is tucked away on McSwain Road in Cypress, but the venue is easily recognized by its vivid purple color and several large elephant fixtures in the front yard.


A total of seven artists, each with his or her own separate studio, congregate at The Purple Elephant. Although they all run their own studios and several offer classes and camps the group also operates as a community—one that has grown tighter and more cohesive during the past few months.


“Lately we’ve really pulled together and started gelling as a group,” said Kathryn Bonner, who runs Awakening Creativity, a one-on-one or group painting classes focused on renewal, healing and forgiveness. “We’ve started discussing things more as a group, planning art shows and vtalking about other ways we can get involved with the Cy-Fair community.”


The Purple Elephant was founded by Debra Reese around 2010 and originally served as both a gallery and shop. Artists currently at the community include: Jerrie Glidden, a painter in acrylic and pastels; Kathryn Bonner, an acrylic painter and teacher for women; Marce Maldonado an art teacher for children, Thomas Cleveland, an art teacher for children; Constance Conroy, a painter in oils; sculptor Shirley Scarpetta and MV Poffenberger, a mixed-media artist.


Another priority for the community involves spreading more awareness about who they are. An open event April 16 brought in more than 400 people, and the group is planning another one for Oct. 8.


“People talk to us about the need in this community to have a place of creativity,” Scarpetta said. “We’re trying to get the word out that there are living, working artists here and that we are passionate about what we do.”


The artists at The Purple Elephant all work on a professional level, having dedicated their lives to their craft. They travel to shows to display their work, host classes and spend hours each day working on new projects.


Each artist works in a different media and offers a different style of art to visitors.


“We all work in different media, so we’re not competitive with each other,” fine oil artist Constance Conroy Paul said. “We’re able to encourage each other. It’s a very peaceful environment to work.”


The ability to feed off each other and inspire each other was cited as a benefit across the board by the artists.


“There’s a myth of the lone artist, but a lot of the great artists of the past were a part of a group,” said Thomas Cleveland, who runs the Artist Within Studio School. “Each artist brings that spark of their own creativity, and we feed off each other. If one of our students wants to know anything about the arts, someone here knows it or knows someone who knows it.”


Most of the studios are in the backyard area, which features a shaded patio, an abundance of trees and plant life, as well as several art installations, including a giant chessboard.


Classes span different media, but each teacher is focused on teaching young and old students the expression of art.


“We’re not hand-holding and teaching them to produce one piece,” Bonner said. “They leave with the skills and technique to produce their own work. We help people find their own style of expressing themselves.”


Visitors to the community often comment on the serene and magical feeling of the environment, Bonner said.


“It really is a sacred place,” she said.






12802 McSwain Road, Cypress
281-352-0861
www.facebook.com/purpleelephantartcommunity
Hours: classes by appointment only