South Philly native Caresh Walker runs Soul Purl 77, a unique art store near the Italian Market. Two years ago, he took the steps to turn his passion into his career, and to revitalize the neighborhood where he grew up by opening a storefront. He has some great insights on making art profitable, developing healthy partnerships, and using professional networking for good in a creative field.

Caresh had been making stained glass art for years. As he grew more prolific, creating the stained glass windows and decorations from his kitchen table grew more and more challenging.

Caresh had teamed up with his friend Peter Javian before, but solely to make art. The pair worked together to create pieces they called "artificial artifacts," dealing with ephemera and found objects like old records, old newspaper clippings, and other antiques. The coupled their old time-y aesthetic with good modern business sensibility and worked together to open up a shop together.

The process took two long years of saving by selling their art and commissioning pieces. "It was the hardest part," explained Caresh, "we didn't want to borrow money from anyone." After much hard work, they finally opened the doors of Soul Purl 77 in August 2007.

Caresh and Peter have worked to keep costs down by using their network of friends and artists. They've divided up the shop's space, and let four other artists work out of the building as well. "There are five companies in that small space," he laughed.

Maintaining healthy business relationships and cross-promoting is important at the Purl. Caresh follows some practical strategies to help the artists benefit from each other. "We have monthly meetings to look at future goals, see where we are and make sure everyone is meeting expectations," he said. Another strategy the artists have adopted is meeting twice a month to see how they can work together and cross-promote each other's work.

Caresh has high hopes for the space and his neighborhood, "This part of the Italian Market was kind of barren, so we're glad to see it develop into a commercial venue. There aren't a lot of galleries around here. We figured we could be at the forefront of it, to bring other galleries in, or bring other arts in ourselves." With the Purl's collaborative model and commitment to its community, these goals are looking likely.