Nov. 15, 2023

Consultants John and Vicki DeWitte work with people interested in starting a franchise business, and they represent more than 750 such franchises.

That means they need to familiarize themselves with the franchises to make sure they are finding the best possible match for their clients.

When the Mitchell husband and wife learned about a new franchise opportunity named Hawaii Fluid Art, they knew just the right franchisees and the right person to manage it. That’s how the DeWittes became the owners for the first local art studio for the franchise in the tri-state area and their daughter, Whitney Letcher of Sioux Falls, was tapped to manage it.

Hawaii Fluid Art founder Maya Ratcliff said more than 20 locations are open, with the total expected to climb to 30 by year’s end. One-hundred art studios will open by May 2024. The Sioux Falls studio is expected to open Dec. 16, Vicki DeWitte said.

Currently, the nearest franchise is in Kansas City, Missouri. An Omaha art studio will open soon.

The Sioux Falls Hawaii Fluid Art will be at Empire Place in front of The Empire Mall.

“It’s right in front of the biggest mall, the walking mall in South Dakota, and that draws people in,” Letcher said. “There’s lots of fun new stuff in that strip: a Crumbl Cookies, a Chipotle, a Chick-fil-A, a new boba tea place and Buff City Soap, where they craft their own soaps. And it’s right off the interstate, so you’ll get people from the surrounding towns.”

The DeWittes and Letcher have visited Hawaii Fluid Art studios in Kansas City and Dallas, where Ratcliff moved after living in Hawaii.

“We happened to see a presentation on Hawaii Fluid Art, and I immediately thought of Whitney, the creative one in the family,” DeWitte said. “She has an online boutique, and we’ll have an art gallery in front and a boutique similar in nature to the things she carries online.”

Letcher started her online business, Whit’s Whimsies, in early spring 2022. She also has participated in pop-up events and vendor craft shows. Letcher designs what she calls “a little bit of everything”: bracelets, beaded rings, necklaces for men and women, floral arrangements, home decor and room accents with succulent plants. This summer, she repurposed furniture using “curb finds” she found while driving.

“I’ve also been oil painting since I was around 10 or 11 years old and playing around with photography since I was old enough to hold a camera,” Letcher said.

The boutique at the Sioux Falls art studio will feature work from smaller local artists and crafters on consignment, with some wholesale items. The DeWittes have six artists on board and are in conversations with 12 other people. They attended the Riverboat Days festival in Yankton this summer to make connections with possible vendors.

The art studio itself will be the scene of classes where people can come in to make their own poured acrylic-paint art on canvas.

“It’s an art that literally anyone even as uncreative as me could do,” DeWitte said, laughing. “The first location we went to visit was in Kansas City, and John and I and Whitney all did it. I was sure I was going to mess it up, but it was easy and fun. It literally is art I would hang on my wall. It is beautiful and different.”

Letcher has her first two pieces hanging on her living room wall.

Using what DeWitte and Letcher describe as “a secret sauce,” the paints are put in a cup and then layered on the canvas. The paints can be moved around on the canvas, so they don’t blur together. Resin can be poured on top to give it a striking look and protection.

“It really makes it pop,” DeWitte said.

Resin beach scenes painted on board or heavy-duty canvas can include rocks and seashells. A resin on top gives it a glossy, watery look. Silhouettes also can be painted on top, while the newest class will involve mosaics.

People also can walk in to make the art if they don’t want to take classes, DeWitte said.

“We watched couples walk in and do one together,” Letcher said. One worked on a painting together; the other couple chose separate canvases. “Each picked the colors, and they did the pouring and dipping. It turned out how they both wanted it, and it was something they could share together.”

“A grandma brought her grandkids in and did it,” DeWitte said. “Kids get so excited when they see how it’s going to come out.”

Ratcliff asks each franchisee to include a pair of wings on one wall. Some franchisees have used paint, others stickers. In Sioux Falls, the DeWittes agreed with Letcher, who suggested a butterfly with wings that salute the state’s Native American heritage. They have hired a Native American artist to create a butterfly with an eagle feather design for the insect’s scales.

Hawaii Fluid Art’s hours will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.