Therapist, tattooist opens The Darling Collective in De Pere

Rachel Kroeger

Staff

November 3, 2025

DE PERE – A Green Bay-based tattoo artist and practicing mental health professional said she is rewriting the definition of a body art shop with the introduction of The Darling Collective – a “nontraditional,” collaborative and trauma-informed private studio.

A Wisconsin native, Paige Berg said she began tattooing after finishing school in Colorado.

“I had just finished grad school for clinical mental health with [an emphasis in] art therapy, and I took up tattooing in an apprenticeship, just to see if I liked it,” she said. “Both my therapy and my tattooing careers grew side by side.”

Starting her tattoo career in “traditional street shops,” Berg said she began marketing herself as a “trauma-informed tattoo artist.”

“I would have clients walk in, and there was just really vulgar stuff happening around me,” she said. “So, I realized I wanted to get into a space where I could control the environment.”

After opening her first private studio in Colorado, Berg said she moved back home to Wisconsin in 2023 and opened Ink Shrink Tattoo in Green Bay – housing her clinical mental health practice in the same facility as well.

Finding that consumer appetite for her tattoo services greatly outweighed her availability, Berg said she decided to expand her business portfolio and open The Darling Collective in September.

“I wanted to create a space where clients felt safe, they could go to other artists and still have access to that trauma-informed, intentional space for them to get their tattoos,” she said, “because I can only tattoo so many people.”

With six private rooms available for business owners to rent, Berg said The Darling Collective’s offerings – depending on who is operating out of her space – can range from tattooing, massage, piercing, nail care and other esthetic services.

“They run their business how they want to in this space, and when they start, I do an intensive trauma-informed and safe space training with them, so I know they will do their best to uphold that standard,” she said.

Location hunt

Within the first year of opening Ink Shrink, Berg said she discovered a heightened demand for trauma-informed tattooing in the Greater Green Bay area and beyond – with her schedule regularly booked full, months in advance.

“I got to a point where I would open… my books three times a year and [fill a] four-month block in 30 minutes,” she said. “So, I realized that people desire a space where they feel safe, seen and taken care of and not judged in their tattoo request.”

Serving clients from across the Badger State and up into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Berg said she needed “more hands on deck” to provide those clients, as well as other artists, “access to a private studio” environment, and began shopping for The Darling Collective’s future home. 

“I was looking around Green Bay and surrounding [areas like] De Pere,” she said. “There were some times I [thought] I could settle on a big open space, and then build it out to have some privacy walls, but I didn’t want to settle… I wanted people to have their private spaces.”

Another hurdle Berg said she had to overcome during her location hunt was finding a space that satisfied regulations surrounding the state’s tattooing industry.

“The health department requires that tattoo artists have direct access to a hand washing sink without having to open any doors, which makes things a little bit more difficult,” she said, “because then, you’re either building out plumbing to multiple rooms, or you have to find a space that has multiple rooms with plumbing in it already.”

Berg said her solution was found in a former dental office located at 233 S. Erie St. in De Pere.

“What I found was old vet clinics and dental offices make for great opportunities like this,” she said. “So, I found the old MAC Dental building in De Pere was up for lease, and… it really checked all the boxes.”

With each of the building’s six private rooms already plumbed, Berg said only minor renovations were needed to bring the facility aesthetically up to par.

“All of the rooms had very aged dental furniture,” she laughed. “The landlord removed a lot of the old dental-wares there… [but] we’re still doing some cosmetic upgrades with it – mostly painting and murals right now.”

Each of her renters, Berg said, is invited to customize their private space both for themselves and their clientele.

“They can repaint, they can hang [things on the walls], they can change ceiling tiles, bring in whatever kind of furniture they want to, [etc.], to make it feel like they’re landing in their own aesthetic,” she said.

Though she doesn’t own the building, Berg said there is an opportunity for her to purchase it in the future if she’d like.

Traditional vs. trauma-informed

At a trauma-informed studio, Berg said artists and providers “have to assume” that each client comes to their appointment “carrying some kind of trauma.”

“Whether that be bodily related, related to the environment they grew up in or even just a traumatic event they experienced,” she said.

Training each of her renters on trauma – “how trauma is held in the body, how to navigate holding a space when these things are brought up or just how people relate to their body” – Berg said, is especially important because of how physically involved esthetic and body art services are.

“We are working with their body,” she said. “We need to have consent when we’re touching their body, consent to even just explain things [and] empower people to make their own choices about their bodies.”

Additionally, Berg said she saw a trend among her Ink Shrink clients’ tattoos that further encouraged her to establish a trauma-informed space for other artists and their clients.

“I noticed that when folks come to get tattoos, many times it’s to celebrate some sort of transition in their life – to honor grief, to step into a new chapter or to close an old chapter,” she said. “We shouldn’t be taking that lightly.”

Since its soft opening in September, Berg said half of her private rooms have been occupied by her apprentice and two local tattooists – GRIM ink and SherBert Tattoo – leaving three rooms still available for rent.

“If somebody is interested in those three spaces that are available, they should contact me [at] (715) 412-2592,” she said.

During The Darling Collective’s grand-opening event held Nov. 1, Berg said she and the three artists currently renting from her were on hand to offer “pre-drawn flash tattoos.”

“I like to celebrate other local businesses, so I also invited permanent jewelry, skincare, floral boutiques [and] candle [vendors]… for the grand opening,” she said.

For more on The Darling Collective, its services and its providers, visit its Facebook page.