Located in downtown Carlisle, Create-A-Palooza offers a welcoming space that celebrates "creativity, history, and community." Learn about this local business from owner Karen Richardson-Griffith.
Can you share a bit about your business and how it reflects Cumberland Valley's unique character?
Create-A-Palooza is an art and activity studio at 11 East High Street in downtown Carlisle, offering pottery painting and other creative experiences for all ages.
In 2016, we bought and renovated a badly neglected historic building just East of the square in Carlisle. In the process, we created a welcoming space where people can spend time together and make something uniquely their own. Our studio brings together to celebrate what we love about Cumberland Valley: creativity, history, and community.
What inspired you to start your business, and how has the community influenced your journey
My grandmother was a baker with stands at the Lemoyne and Broad Street markets, and my mother taught art classes for decades from her studio in Plainfield. Watching them build businesses around work they loved inspired me to create my own family business.
My background as an art teacher, my husband’s love of local history, and our families’ multigenerational ties to Carlisle and Cumberland County helped shape that dream into Create-A-Palooza. As lifelong Carlisle residents, we wanted to invest in our hometown and contribute to a community that has meant so much to our family.
What makes your products/services special?
I hold Commonwealth of Pennsylvania teaching certifications in both art and education, and that background shapes how we help people explore their creativity. We offer guidance and encouragement while leaving room for individual expression. No artistic experience is required!
Often, guests who arrive saying they “can’t paint” create wonderful keepsakes. We focus on providing a welcoming space where people can relax, enjoy the history surrounding them, and discover the satisfaction of making something their own.
What does supporting local businesses mean to you?
Supporting local means showing up for the community that supports us. For more than a decade, we’ve contributed through volunteer work and board service with organizations including the Charles Bruce Foundation, Carlisle Tool Library, Cumberland County Historical Society, Downtown Carlisle Association, and Rotary.
Since 2021, we’ve also sponsored Santa’s appearances for the Carlisle Borough Police toy drive, Carlisle parade, and tree lighting every year. To us, being a local business means helping make Carlisle a welcoming, connected place to live and visit.
What is one thing you would like visitors and residents to know about your business or Cumberland Valley that they might not already know?
Our studio’s history dates back to 1782. Recognized as the Creigh Leidich Marquette House and Tailor Shop through the Cumberland County Register of Historic Places, the property has stories ranging from local folklore to Civil War service.
Accounts of hauntings date to the 1820s, including Thomas Creigh’s description of a will-o’-the-wisp in his Dickinson College school journals, now preserved in the college’s Special Collections. In 1889, Civil War Medal of Honor recipient Charles D. Marquette converted the first floor into a tailor shop, and its appearance remains largely intact today.
Each day, we contribute to the history of the building, residents, and the region as people of all ages gather to create and make memories.
Plan a Visit
Visit Create-A-Palooza at 11 East High Street in Carlisle or learn more online. Create-A-Palooza is a participating location on Patriots' Path: Explore the Revolutionary War in Cumberland Valley.
