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Arts & Entertainment

Potter Emphasizes 'Artisan' in Resource Center

Rip Potter designs not only furniture, sets and pulpits but also founded The Artisan Resource Center, an eco-friendly workspace for artisans and craftsmen of all types.

Marietta's Rip Potter, most commonly known as just Rip to most, is the sheer creative genius behind some of Atlanta’s most popular churches and digs. Having been an architectural designer for much of his professional career, Potter worked on huge undertakings, such as restructuring an old packaging mill into the venue now known as Masquerade in Atlanta.

Yet, in the midst of his success he, along with his wife and business partner Jesslyne, had a vision to create a workspace for artists like himself who could benefit from low overhead studios outside their homes. As Potter’s business morphed into furniture design in the late 1980s, he needed space to manufacture his pieces. In 1987, the idea was birthed and with the help of an additional friend and co-investor Larry Lioy, The Artisan Resource Center came into existence – off Highway 41 in Marietta.

“We had every dime invested and had a little war chest to pay the mortgage note for a few months just in case,” says Potter, “but we were scared if we didn’t rent spaces we’d soon be out of business.”

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Potter admits those were trying times in the beginning as the uncertainty of acquiring a 43,000-square-foot facility for subdividing was not popular at the time. But slowly the spaces became occupied, and word of mouth became their greatest ally.

“People started coming on board [with the center] when they started learning about it,” Potter says of his nearly 25 years in business.

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Potter’s own art business, primarily in woodworking, has grown and adapted to the times throughout the years, contorting and shifting into whatever is necessary to survive. From his original work in repurposing churches and interior layouts to building furniture to building sets and set design for film and video production companies, Potter stays busy.

As for his creation of the resource center, Potter says: “I love free enterprise, small business and non-boardroom invented products. I’m fortunate I have been able to surround myself with these interesting, charming, kind of whacky people who have made this time spent here [at the Artisan Resource Center] both enjoyable and interesting.”

Like Potter, the Artisan Resource Center has evolved as well. Originally a place designed for artists to work and develop their talents with low cost, affordable rent, the center today still has its share of craftsmen and painters but now houses video and film production companies, special effects studios and more. In fact, film-oriented businesses now account for nearly 40 percent of the tenants. Potter says they have been instrumental in keeping other artists employed as contracts are often subbed out to other tenants in the center. Networking at its best.

Potter says there are tenants like Andre Freitas, Helen DeRamus and others who have been with the center for 15 years or more.

“We’ve always kept it low key; this is a working arts center,” Potter says of maintaining his original vision of the center being purely "artisan,"–where the creative drive of the business is part of the actual work of the business.   

Potter’s latest work is with "Galactic Perry's Learning Starship" which debuts at the Plaza Theatre at Ponce De Leon Avenue in Atlanta at 9:30 p.m. on April 9.

For more information on the Artisan Resource Center, located at 585 Cobb Parkway South, call 770.423-0049 or visit www.artisanresourcecenter.com. For information about Rip Potter, visit www.rippotter.com.

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