By ALEXA LEWIS
Staff Writer
The story of David Heisler and Crystal Truehart Heisler is something straight out of Hollywood: A model and a photographer meet on the set of “The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency” reality TV show, fall in love and spend years building careers in the bustling cities of Los Angeles and Austin. Now, seeking a change of pace, the couple has returned to Truehart Heisler’s hometown of Southampton, and Heisler is looking to add a bold new edge to Easthampton’s arts scene with the opening of his new Eastworks studio space, theStudio x DavidHeisler.
David Heisler and Crystal Truehart Heisler have spent years building careers in the bustling cities of Los Angeles and Austin. The couple recently returned to Truehart Heisler’s hometown of Southampton and Heisler opened his new Eastworks studio space, theStudio x DavidHeisler. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS
Heisler and Truehart Heisler took different routes to Los Angeles. Truehart Heisler ventured west immediately after high school to pursue modeling, while Heisler, who grew up in Houston, was drawn there by an enticing photography job after graduating from a college near home. In Los Angeles, and subsequently in Austin, the pair had no shortage of flashy jobs and clients to satisfy their ambitions. It was something different that brought them back to the Pioneer Valley — an opportunity to find a close-knit community for themselves and their three children, and to offer a new perspective to the unique artistic circle within it.
“After coming home, it’s a whole new area to me in a way,” said Truehart Heisler, who would often visit her family in the area, but only for relatively short amounts of time. Now, given time to explore, she said she’s been pleasantly surprised by how much the area has to offer.
While much has changed since she was a child growing up in Southampton, much has remained the same as well, and the couple noted that they’ve already begun to appreciate that consistency. Their children attend the same elementary school that Truehart Heisler did, and she remarked that the “small town community feel” of recognizing the same faces each day around town is a heartwarming touch one doesn’t often get in an enormous city.
That feeling of recognition and connection that has made the Valley so important to the couple is exactly what they hope to integrate into theStudio x DavidHeisler. The venture is aimed at blending Heisler’s years of accumulated photography expertise with the goal of cultivating community and bringing creatives together.
David Heisler and Crystal Truehart Heisler at their studio space in Easthampton, theStudio x DavidHeisler. Among Heisler’s plans for the studio are photography workshops, where he will share what he knows from the very basics of camera use to more complex topics, like working with talent and pitching oneself to clients. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS
“I’ve got a lot of experience to offer people,” said Heisler. “I just want to meet all these people, tell their stories, have fun, and in the process see all these people that just want to create.”
Even with his years of experience and training, getting used to the particularities of running a small business in Easthampton has been “a new learning curve,” Heisler said. Already though, he has seen potential in the success of the business, especially when it comes to leaning into the community of creatives he has begun to meet in the Valley.
In Austin, Heisler had a studio space where he ran a photography business. But this, he explained, is going to be different. This business isn’t about him and his photography, but about sharing his skills and his space to help others create.
“[In Austin] I was feeling the Hollywood vibe still and I was building my name still … that was a different business model than what I’m trying to do now,” said Heisler. “I want to build this as a rental space more so than a studio.”
Among Heisler’s plans for the studio are photography workshops, where he will share what he knows from the very basics of camera use to more complex topics, like working with talent and pitching oneself to clients. The space will also be available for hourly rentals — whether community members want to hold a yoga class in the light of the studio’s large windows looking out on the mountains, host a podcast episode in the comfortably furnished seating area, or steal a few quiet moments to work on a painting.
David Heisler captured this image of choreographer and dancer Teddy Forance in the new theStudio x DavidHeisler studio in Easthampton. CONTRIBUTED/Photo by David Heisler
“I want everybody to be here, not just photographers,” said Heisler.
Heading into March, Heisler also hopes to build up a membership program with various tiers of recurring rentals and other membership perks.
“I want to push creatives that want to keep coming back,” he said.
So far, Heisler has been building connections by getting out in the community as much as possible and getting to know other creatives. Setting up shop in a creative hub like Eastworks means that fellow artists and artisans are never far away, and Heisler expressed excitement at the talent he has already discovered in his short time here.
“I’m trying to dive in very quickly with the people that are pushing the creative edge here in town,” he said.
Alexa Lewis can be reached at alewis@gazettenet.com.
