The Story Behind Them
On December 2, 2016, we launched our first ever First Friday where we invited business owners, locals, and tourists to enjoy appetizers and drinks with us.
The purpose in creating a monthly event like this was to allow a place for our community to get together and form closer bonds with one another.
My goal was to have Jacobs Gallery become The Place that Deadwood could rely on for great products as well as a spot to share fun memories.
When we got started, I knew that the first few months were going to be slow because it was in the middle of winter, but I figured we could start while it wasn’t too busy to get the hang of it. We also had to stay consistent no matter the weather conditions if we wanted future First Fridays to be successful.
Months went by, the temperature started to rise and so did the number of First Friday attendees.
After about six months, we didn’t even have to remind people to join us, they just showed up with friends and family in tow.
In the summer, we experience our largest groups, as you can imagine. This month, we had Big Kenny from Big and Rich stop by to hang out and shop through our Double D Ranch collection for his wife, Christiev.
The Featured Artist
We invited a talented Spearfish local, Stephanie Tiefenthaler to come showcase her creations.
I met Stephanie’s husband, Jared (not my Jared) during the speech that Scott gave at Black Hills State University last month.
After his presentation, Jared and a couple of his classmates stayed after class to pick our brains. I was impressed by his interest in Scott and his apparent drive to succeed. As we talked, he mentioned that his wife was an artist as well. When I heard this I thought, “oh boy, let’s see…” but to my surprise, her work was amazing!
Stephanie creates custom works of art on shoes, purses, wallets, and other accessories. She only creates custom items so they’re as unique and customizable as you make them.
The cute beehive pair of shoes are for the Black Hills State Yellow Jackets. Jared is on their football team, so Stephanie made herself a pair of shoes to support her hubby while he played around on the turf.
After thumbing through her portfolio, it seems like her most common commissions are wedding shoes and children’s shoes!
Stephanie uses Acrylic leather paint that she and Jared claim does not rub off! Jared wore a pair of hand-painted cleats all season and not a single part of the artwork chipped, smeared, or rubbed off.
Love Star Wars? These are a freshly finished pair from a customer on her Etsy account. I think these may have been my favorite even though Star Wars isn’t my thing. Sorry to any fanatics! May the force be with you…
Stephanie and Jared are expecting their second child in the next month (as I finished writing this, Jared sent me a photo of their new son, Bennett who was born Sunday the 17th!), so it felt good to show off her work in hopes that we help her gain more clients to help with the never ending diaper fund!
Next time you’re in Deadwood on the first Friday of the month, stop by and have some fun!