Art Olson
Oral History Information
Art Olson brought his love for playing music together with his experience as an instrument salesman to form his own store, Artistic Pianos. The store opened in 1999 in Encinitas, California and has since moved to San Marcos where Art continues to offer a wide range of piano brands. He attributes his success to his philosophies of getting to know the customer’s needs and caring for the brands he carries as well as to the mentors and bosses he has had in the early part of his career. Art worked with Bob Popyk in Syracuse, New York; Hal Cowan in Kansas City, Missouri; and Curt Carter and Bob Zadel in San Diego, California. Art picked up ideas and lessons he learned from each of them to form his own vision on how we wanted to run his own store. By the way, Art, as he has since he was 15 years old, still plays piano. You may catch him at a local jazz gig most weeks!