When she started talking to artists and found an abundance of existing art spaces, she shifted gears toward filling an alternative niche in the community.

"I began brainstorming different ways to promote artists," she said.

One night, she was lying in bed awake when an idea popped into her head. Combining art and chocolate, two of life's great indulgences.

Fowler-Decatur started a company called Ithaca Fine Chocolates and the product that resulted is Art Bars. The Swiss-made chocolate is 100 percent organic and Fair Trade Certified and comes in four flavors and two sizes and are being carried by local retailers, as well as business in California, Cambridge, Mass., Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and New York City.

"The concept is to bring the art out to a broader audience," she said.

The art comes into the equation when the buyer opens up the wrapper. Like a golden ticket tucked into a Wonka Bar, each Art Bar contains an art reproduction of a work by either a local artist or an international child. Twelve of each for a set of 24.

The children's art comes from the International Child Art Foundation, based in Washington, D.C., whose mission is to foster creative growth in children in order to build a brighter future.

The local artists are people Fowler-Decatur was in contact with when she began research into opening a gallery. The larger cards have a blurb about the artist, which Fowler-Decatur hopes to expand with the next set, for which she encourages all artists to apply.

Starting Friday on The Commons, chocolate and art connoisseurs will have an opportunity for a first-hand look at the art and entrepreneur behind Art Bars, as Fowler-Decatur will be renting some gallery space next to Wildware Outfitters for the month of December. The opening from 5-8 p.m. will coincide with Gallery Night, where downtown galleries open their doors simultaneously.

Art for social justice

After living around the country, including the past five years in San Francisco, Fowler-Decatur, 33, moved to Ithaca with her husband, Michael Decatur, and their 2-year-old son to be closer to family. Fowler-Decatur grew up in Endwell, outside of Binghamton, and went to Hamilton College for art history and received a master's degree in same subject from Binghamton University.

In San Francisco she worked for Visual Aid, a non-profit organization that helps artists who are terminally ill create art, while coping with being sick.

Her work with non-profit organizations strengthened her support for art education, she said.

"Art can inspire you, give you a different perspective, make you think more deeply. The end result is to become a creative thinker in all aspects of your daily life."

That's why Fowler-Decatur is donating 10 percent of proceeds towards the Community School of Music and Arts locally and the International Child Art Foundation. She said she chose the CSMA for their Kaleidoscope Outreach program, which includes painting classes for eldery people in nursing homes.

"I thought that's something that needs to be supported."

Twelve of the 24 prints are children's work. "It's stuff you'd want to hang on your wall, some of it is incredibly beautiful," she said. "I wanted to show people the capability of the kids, also I think it's joyful to open up a wrapper and see colorful art."

Thinking globally

Art bars aren't just a tool to combine art with social change, the chocolate itself is socially-conscious.

"My thought was how can you promote one good cause at the expense of another?," she said.

"I didn't just want to support something and then make chocolate that comes from child-labor, it's important to have low impact."

Working with the idea that she wanted premium chocolate, Fowler-Decatur started searching for a chocolatier she could work with to develop a fair-trade product. She found a Swiss company certified by TransFair USA, a non-profit that monitors food growers to ensure they use organic farming techniques and aren't violating labor laws and then guarantees a living wage for the farmers. While they're best known for coffee, in this case, the cocoa is purchased from farmers in Bolivia and the sugar comes from the Philippines.

Ithaca Fine Chocolates is listed on the Fair Trade Web site, exposure that has lead to inquiries from retailers eager to carry Art Bars.

While Fair Trade chocolate is in high demand, there aren't too many people making it. Fowler-Decatur said to her knowledge, she is the first seller in the United States. Eventually, she said she'd like to move operations locally, which would require her to get certified as a Fair Trade chocolate-maker.

Tons of chocolate

While Fowler-Decatur has experience with the financial side from her work at museums and non-profits, this is her first time venturing into the business world. She said taking a workshop on starting a food-oriented business really helped set some goals.

The chocolate vision solidified with recent delivery of the first shipment about a month ago. The order came to four tons, which her husband picked up in a rented rig. According to Fowler-Decatur, that adds up to a lot of bars, now occupying space in her dining room and other available corners of her home.

The real kicker is the bars arrived with an inner wrapper, but the art cards and outer layer were printed locally, which requires Fowler-Decatur to stuff and wrap the 27,000 bars by hand.

"It's been a community effort," she said about the ambitious task, one that has enlisted the help of family, friends and even the artists, who come over for "Art Bar stuffing parties."

"People have been generous with their time for sure," she said.