Art Explorers
333 N. Franklin St. — A downtown nonprofit creative arts studio for disabled and neurodivergent adult artists, in a storefront once home to Makela's Shoe Shop.
Last updated: June 8, 2026
Some downtown buildings keep changing what they give back to Fort Bragg. This one has gone from leather, boots, and repair work to paint, gallery walls, and creative community.
Overview
Art Explorers at 333 North Franklin Street is one of those storefronts that feels right at home downtown. Today it is a nonprofit creative arts program and progressive studio serving disabled and neurodivergent adult artists, with a mission built around creativity, encouragement, and community. Art Explorers began in 1999 as a small Saturday morning workshop around a kitchen table, later grew into a Redwood Street location, and moved into its current Franklin Street studio in December 2018. By 2019, it had received the mayor's Well-Done Award for "Best Creative Community Organization."
History
That is the current chapter, but the comments bring out an older one. Before Art Explorers filled the windows with artwork, people remember this building as Makela's Shoe Shop, owned by Apo and Ann Makela. Apo did the shoe repair work in the back, Ann worked up front, and the family business became one of those places people remembered by smell and sound as much as by name — leather, boots, creaky wood floors, repairs being done in the back, and customers coming in because a good pair of shoes or cowboy boots still had life left in them.
That shoe-shop memory connects this little storefront to a much longer Fort Bragg tradition. A recent local story about Haywire's closing described the end of 107 years of Makela's and Haywire selling shoes in Fort Bragg, which helps show how deep that family shoe-and-boot business ran in town. People remembered buying spurs there, getting cowboy boots repaired, and being grateful because repair work mattered when replacing a good pair of boots was not always easy.
Community Memories
The comment thread also brought up another Franklin Street layer: dry cleaners tucked into the same stretch of buildings, including memories of Polly Cleaners and another cleaner nearby. That is how downtown blocks really worked. A person could remember the shoe shop, the cleaner, the salon next door, the Tip Top nearby, and the small recessed storefronts all as part of one walkable business row. Not every business leaves a big sign behind, but people remember where things were because they used them.
The Building Today
What I like about 333 North Franklin is how much the building's story has stayed hands-on. First it was hands repairing shoes, handling leather, fitting boots, and keeping working people on their feet. Now it is hands making art, building confidence, showing work, and giving artists a place downtown where creativity is visible from the street.
Why It Matters
Different tools, different purpose, same kind of local usefulness.
Sources & Original Research
This article blends verifiable historical records with personal recollections shared by longtime Fort Bragg residents. Much of this information comes from community memory and is not available in any published source.
Original research post and discussion: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153269104881177&type=3
Sources: Art Explorers official website; Art Explorers About page; Art Explorers Contact page; Arts Mendocino listing for Art Explorers; Visit Fort Bragg listing for Art Explorers; Mendocino Voice, "Art Explorers receives grant from the National Endowment for the Arts"; Mendocino Coast News, "Haywire, Fort Bragg's western wear store is closing at the end of January"; comment thread provided by Gee Bee, including memories from Evelyn Bishop Anderson, Jay McMartin-Rosenquist, Elaine Bauer, Sarah Ginskey, Donna Beach Winkler, Nancy Fereira, Tina Krenov, Lisa D Walker, Ann Richmond-Di Luciano, Maria Sarah, Heather Capps, Sandra Liljeberg, Theresa Timmer, and Gee Bee.