A tiny shop located at the end of a courtyard in downtown Ventura provides its customers with eccentric fashion, accessories, music, and a chance to express themselves through the shop’s monthly art events.

Two friends, Kaitlyn Newett, 20, and Joel Hickenbottom 23, have been running the diminutive clothing store Exrae for a little over a year. Newett and Hickenbottom are the only employees. Through Exrae, these artists are able to display paintings and other mediums of art, or browse through the clothing, which is made by Newett herself.

“It’s all in all an expression,” explains Newett. “We made Exrae to be able to create a community for artists to express themselves in all kinds of different ways, whether it be through art, poetry, music, and so on.”

The two owners also offer information on organizations such as Make Trade Fair, Make Poverty History, Protest4, Invisible Children, One Fund, and Oxfam.

Exrae is a shop for college students who are highly interested in self-expression and global injustice. The store, located at 433 East Main St., and is only open for limited hours.

If you would like to be apart of Exrae’s artsy community you can email [email protected].

“It’s so cool that people would share their art, music, and lives with us,” reports Kaitlyn. “It’s refreshing.”