If there is one thing Sam Matthews knows, it’s how to unlock the creativity inside everyone.
Since childhood, the artist and educator has been creating with whatever materials were at hand. Through travels in the U.S. and abroad she discovered a passion for sharing her enthusiasm that everyone has a creative side that just needs the right environment to flourish. “I was raised by a family of artists and entrepreneurs, which empowered me to be creative,” she says. “I believe that the process of art making opens up doors that can truly change a person’s life.”
After Matthews earned a bachelor of arts in fine and studio arts at Gordon College in Massachusetts in 2015, she put her mission into action, directing mobile art classes and workshops in various towns, including at High Bridge Grounds for Art and Scout’s Coffee Bar & Mercantile in High Bridge. “People in High Bridge have seen me driving Flo, my Volkswagen bus, around,” she says with a laugh.
Matthews—a self-described “artrepreneur”—loves creating a variety of art, including murals and mini pottery. But moreover, she loves empowering and connecting people through their creativity. “I love helping people tap into their own creative juices and be their own creative person,” she says.
Four years ago, she launched Propagate Studio in a former motorcycle shop in Stewartsville, which offered a vibrant dedicated space where she offered workshops and art classes.
In September, Matthews opened a satellite location on the ground floor of the High Bridge United Methodist Church where she and her team hosts classes, events and community projects, primarily for teens and adults.
Propagate is more than a communal art space: It’s a movement promoting sustainability and an inclusive, eco-conscious art studio committed to making creative experiences and materials accessible to all. Over the years, the Stewartsville location—and now the one in High Bridge—has diverted thousands of pounds of art supplies from landfills by accepting donations of new, gently used and unwanted art materials from community members. The studio makes these supplies available to the public through its “pay-what-you-can” art supply thrift shop, which removes financial barriers to creativity.
“People often don’t make the time or have the space or the materials to be creative or to express themselves. I always wanted to create a space for people to feel safe and explore their creativity,” Matthews says. “High Bridge has been a huge supporter of mine since I started my professional creative career in 2016. We are excited to support the creatives that are here grow their creativity.”
Learn more at propagatestudionj.com.
Propagate Studio
Studio for classes in crafts and pottery plus an art thrift shop.
Located in: RRP Cycle Stuff
Address: 2546 NJ-57, Stewartsville, NJ
Phone: (908) 235-6821
Website: propagatestudionj.com