The Brightside: Out of the Box DIY

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. – A new business in Rehoboth Beach is bringing more art to the community by turning regular people into artists using just a handful of supplies and their own creativity.

“One of our favorite things to say is that everyone has an artist within themselves, so we’re bringing out your inner artist,” Liz Otty, the Director of Out of the Box DIY in Rehoboth Beach, said.

Whether you’re an experienced artist or someone who has never considered yourself to be creative, Out of the Box DIY wants to give you the tools to create a masterpiece.

“The cool about what we do is we let the general public be artists, so we give all that you need in the kit, so it’s truly one of a kind and unique,” Leah Beach, the founder of the Developing Artists Collaboration, the group behind Out of the Box DIY, said.

Those kits are boxes filled to the brim with art supplies that you can buy all together and then take home to create a masterpiece. The kits range in a variety of products, including string art kits, custom pour kits, acrylic pour kits and more. Each one of the projects encouraging whoever is working on it to become an artist, even for the time being.

“This is the perfect way to explore what you’re interested in, to dip your toe into the art world, whatever you like to do,” Liz said.

As an extension of the Developing Artists Collaboration, Leah says this new adventure has only continued to help the artists they serve.

“We actually employ all working artists within our organization, and 40% of all the income from these kits directly supports our programming,” she said.

But more than that, Leah says the kits are all about bringing more art to the resort town and watching people who never thought they’d be artists create something they’re proud of.

“When you see that light bulb go off in a person’s head, that like, they’re an artist too, it’s a really special moment that people stop coveting this idea that they’re not creative and they’re not an artist, and they see themselves that way,” Leah said.

And while Leah says a lot of their programming has generally been geared toward adults, these kits are for artists of all ages.

“It’s amazing, it’s so cool, our favorite thing is we live by the rule of, your kids are going to make something that you’re actually going to want to hang on your wall, so that’s one of my favorite things is to watch the kids make the projects,” she said.

So whatever you get your hands on, the group says they’re just happy to see artists coming together, creating beautiful work that is truly one of a kind and made by your own hands.

“They’re all very different, because we give you the tools and the directions, but they’re sort of like guidelines, especially when it comes to the paint and how you layer the paint, every project turns out differently,” Liz said.

If you want to get one of the kits or learn more about the group, visit their website.