Excited feet race up the purple staircase of Thrive Art School, 2900 E. Madison St., Suite 200, as youngsters yearn to learn the basics of drawing and experiment with color. Matted drawings, watercolors and pastels line the stairwell, accompanied by photos of the artists.
The school shares space with two other businesses in a renovated home in Madison Valley. Inside, 3-year-olds on up to graduate students learn art skills with Thrive's step-by-step approach.
Thrive teachers implement a structured method but encourage individuality. "Our focus is really enough guidance that they can really be successful," said teacher Amilee Hayek. "We guide them through it, but we also really work on their own creativity and that they develop what's in them and not so that it looks like everyone else. We love that everyone is different."
A SERIES OF LINES AND SHAPES
Thrive Art School also has a location in Ravenna that opened in 2000; owner Theresa Harris, 34, plans to launch a school in Ballard. She is supported by five teachers and one office manager, all trained in the same Monart technique.
"[Monart] simplifies the drawing process.... We train students to break things down into simple lines and shapes and then translate that onto paper," Harris said.
Thrive, in fact, recently changed its name from the Monart School of Drawing, reflecting an effort to expand curriculum. "We're wanting to grow our program with more painting. We're still going to use the same guided, step-by-step method...that there' s really no right or wrong way to draw," she said.
Class sizes of up to 12 students enable teachers to work with each person and learning style. Young students begin by exploring shapes, color and texture, while older students implement learned drawing skills and explore different techniques, subjects and media. Students experiment with a different medium each week: chalk, pencil, oil paints, watercolor and more.
Thrive also offers winter and summer camps. Each camp concludes with an art show for the students to display their work for family and friends.
Classes often make a big impact on students. "One girl said that she really sees how things don't have to be wrong in life," Hayek said. "She doesn't have to be perfect, that she can go to school and if she makes a mistake."
BUILDING - STEP BY STEP
It's been a growing process for Harris, learning to run a business and the best methods to teach art to kids. She was completing her master's degree in education at the University of Washington while working at an inner-city school.
She took a workshop on how to teach drawing to kids using the Monart method. She used the method weekly with her students and discovered it instilled confidence in the children who may have been struggling with other subjects.
Soon after, she found the space in Ravenna to start Thrive Art School and then expanded to Madison Valley.
"I laugh sometimes at my naiveté at starting a business. I literally hit the streets with fliers that I mocked up on [Microsoft] Publisher and asked people to stick them in their windows. And that worked to a point, but what really got the word out is just having families really have a good experience and then spreading the word," she said.
And it helped to advertise the art school as teachers really took the children's art seriously. They matted the children's art and held art shows around the city at various coffee shops, sparking the interest of other parents. They participated in the Madison art walk last May, displaying students' work with professionals' in local businesses.
Harris and her collaborative staff look forward to the future, including classes devoted solely to painting. "I just want to bring as much art to people as I can," she enthused.
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