Arts and Entertainment

Maggiolly’s sold to new owners,  former owner Emilia Perri to focus on art and family

October 23, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By Constance Scrafield

Carl and Emilie Jagt are thrilled to become the new owners of Maggiolly’s Arts and Supplies Shop at 158 Broadway.

The couple officially took over the store on Aug. 26.

During a celebratory party at the store last weekend, attended by many students, artists, and long-time patrons, (now) former owner, Emilia Perri, spoke about art school and the frustration with the art store.

After marrying and having children, Perri opened the Maggiolly shop in Alliston, seeking a job that would allow her to work while still being there for her children.

In due course, she moved Maggiolly to Orangeville, where it evolved into a community hub. She spoke about the lifelong friends she had made through the shop, expressing her gratitude for their support and friendship over the years.

Perri has been an artist all her life, from her time at OCAD University in Toronto, from which she was an Honour Graduate. She has done semi-abstract portraits in oil until she progressed to “high quality fluid and high flow acrylics,” painting large abstract paintings.

An adventure of a 12-day canoe paddling journey north to the Yukon with Canoe North Adventures brought revelations to Perri, and how she saw the world was “life-changing.”

Now that she has sold Maggiolly’s, she will be able to focus more on her painting, her health, and her grandchild.

From the new owners, Carl and Emilie, speaking briefly with the Citizen, they thanked Emilia for all her contributions to the arts community and for passing the torch onto them.

At the time they learned that Maggiolly’s was for sale, they were living in Petrolia, Ont., and said how they were ready for a change. Carl works online, doing graphic design on computers.

“We loved to move to Orangeville,” Emilie commented. “We wanted somewhere to start again and decided this was where we needed to be.”

Carl’s father is an artist. So, Carl and his siblings grew up with the art world; he studied art in school but also studied computers.

Emilie’s dabbling in art has evolved into face and body painting, which they are now incorporating into their products and art at Magiolly’s.

This is a natural extension, as Emilie said, “It is a paint shop, and face and body paint and tools.”

They are actually setting it up in the basement: “Yesterday there was body panting down there,” said Carl, “to Introduce a new type of 3D art.”

For “Boo on Broadway,” Emilie and a couple of others were doing free body painting for fun and to show what is new at the store.

People like or use body paint, they elaborated, mostly for photo shoots and also special events, movies, raves, parties, and sometimes, “baby bumps.”

The couple admits they are on a steep learning curve coming here, but things are still running smoothly.

Emilie summed it up by suggesting they wanted a fresh start. When she married Carl, she wasn’t much of an artist. He took her to Maggiolly’s when it was in Alliston, and: “I bought my first supplies from Emilia. Then, here we were 30 years later, buying the store. I grew up in Alliston until I was 21. Now I’m back with my family again.”

They are looking forward to building momentum by finding new teachers and retaining familiar ones, thereby continuing to offer a variety of art classes. Carl noted how supportive the family has been. Their parents also live in Mono.

The ultimate goal for Carl and Emilie Jagt is for Maggiolly’s to be a centre and “community hub for moms and kids with new crafts and a place for hangout sessions, where diverse people can come.”

“We really want to generate some excitement,” said Carl.

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