Arts and Entertainment

Maggiolly’s new owners find warm welcome in Orangeville’s arts community

December 11, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By Constance Scrafield

Carl and Emilie Jagt, the new owners of Maggiolly’s Arts and Supplies, are very happy they have come to Orangeville, and they are still thrilled they took the leap of faith to purchase the shop. People of the town are their new neighbours, and the extent to which those neighbours are supportive by shopping and enjoying their classes gives them reasons for optimism in the future and the energy to help that along.

In a recent interview with the Citizen, they responded to the health check of the business, as it were, by saying, the shop is “going great,” and they are “absolutely loving it.”

Of the classes they have held in the back of the shop, Carl commented, “We’re having fun meeting new people and seeing the remarkable work people are doing.”

The time since they officially took over the premises on Aug. 26 this year has been spent partly on refitting the shop and attending to superficial things like the displays. Their three windows are all about the season, with Elf on the Shelf, artwork, colouring on Santa’s shelf and Gnomes of Cedar. All good fun.

Emilie mentioned she was on her hands and knees, deep cleaning the shop floor, and was very happy with how that came out: “People are commenting,” she said.

Plans for the new year are blooming. They are reaching out to artists known to them in the broader region, beginning with Orillia and Elora. Absolutely, was the promise that there will continue to be art classes, but also more – book binding, sculpting, “everything is on the table,” said Carl.

They made the point that Amelia Perri, from whom they purchased the shop, was on her own to run it, but now, “there’s two of us, fully invested – that’s more muscle.”

Perri owned and ran the shop for 29 years.

Customers are invited to suggest classes, and, indeed, life drawing was requested. Life drawing classes are going ahead in the new year; they are already arranged.

“It’s fine to paint a still life of a vase, but to draw and paint the human body is another art form,” said Carl.

As if to confirm the welcome Maggiolly’s extends, when Firelight and Frost festivities were cancelled due to inclement weather, the door was open to shelter people from the storm.

Between them, they told us that they “played Christmas Story for them to watch and the kids painted, while the parents had a place to sit and get warm.”

They wanted to get their message out: “We are in this for the long run.”

The shop will be closed for a week in January to allow the couple to clear out the basement and set up a spare paint room for “Jam Face painting and split cake.”

Face and body paint have been a big part of Emilie’s artistic life, and she is bringing that to Maggiolly’s as well. Part of the plan to clean up the basement is to bring the fun and novelty of face and body painting.

“It is an illusion,” Emilie began, explaining the charm. “Whether a kid at a fair, they truly believe. When that kid has the paint on, he believes he’s that character until the paint comes off. Full body paint is all about the illusion and the fun behind it.”

Emilie took classes for face and body painting in person. She is very proactive about the need to practice, “it’s all about practicing. Every time I paint, I learn something and do better.”

Luckily, kids love being painted; there has always been enthusiasm for it.

The couple turned their faces to the future and expressed their ambition to run the shop for another thirty years.

Maggiolly’s is largely a walk-in. While they are also engaged in growing an online business too, with shipping on a national level, they have changed the shipping policies. They have had a good online response to shipping canvases and brushes; they are looking to supply paint, pens, and really every need for artists.

From Carl, “Let people understand creativity is not the claim to just anyone, but for everyone. We want to democratize art. Come see our class list; even for classes you think are too hard – just throw someone in.

“Art is fundamental.”

Later in the year, there will be an intro to acrylics, with a chance to learn everything about them.

“All the classes will teach different levels,” said Carl.

Maggiolly is located at 158 Broadway.

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