Home

Name: The Academy of Art of Highland Park and Gallery

Type of business: A private teaching studio for art classes for children and adults

Address: 727 Raritan Ave., Highland Park

Telephone: (732) 777-2085

Web site: www.academyartnj.com

Number of employees: Part-time student cleaning squad, two bookkeepers, one administrative/teaching assistant

Founded: February 1998

Hours: Eight-week sessions Jan. 4-Feb. 28; closed Friday/Saturday; classes meet Monday-Thursday and Sunday at variable hours

Top officer: Ana Soto-Canino, founder and director

How would you describe your business?

"The Art Academy of Highland Park offers art instruction in the studio tradition offering art lessons to small groups of up to 10 or fewer students grouped by age and area of study. The courses offer different curriculum for those with different skill levels," said founder and director Ana Soto-Canino. "We begin with lessons in drawing covering 13 different media then advance to watercolor, then inks, then work on canvas with acrylic and oil painting. We also offer sculpture classes to children up to age 18. Our classes are held throughout the year.

"This is not recreational art. We teach art as a form of knowledge -- it's a learning experience -- where the student learns from observing and really learns to see what it is and then you interpret and portray that experience. This is lifetime of study. In classical practice, your studio is your space of thought and work and you don't leave it -- and this is what is happening, people don't want to leave and classes are longer and longer. I have been here almost 11 years and I have people who have been with me from the beginning, 11 years ago."

What makes your business special?

"Our unique atmosphere, where children, teens, and adults come here to work and don't want to leave. We also formally exhibit our students' artwork and have monthly displays of individual students' work. We also help students prepare portfolios for college admission and job positions.

"We don't demand that our students compete or hold in-house competitions. But we do encourage them when they independently enter competitions and many have won local, state, regional, national, and international awards.

"We excel in teaching the classical Western tradition where our students learn both theory and practice and become adept at technique and method, using these skills to arrive at true artistic freedom. We teach eyesight as insight. It's not just lighthearted coloring of the surface. They are really learning to create images with deep sophistication and their own storytelling.

"We offer a scholarship program for students whose families can show a valid record of current government assistance, i.e. food stamps, Medicaid.

"We have a resident dog -- Jau-Jau (pronounced how-how) who is the official studio mascot, who is a live model and is officer in charge of morale. (If someone has an allergy, Jau-Jau will be locked in his kennel.)"

What goals do you have for the business?

"This is my mission and goal to have people who take classes recover the sense of wonder through working on their art. I want people to recover it. When you do what you love and love what you do it's then when the magic starts to happen. Our mission is to build communities where creative genius lies not in the few nor in special events, but in each one of us."

How has your business changed?

"When I first started, I began with giving lessons in my home. Then I had too many students so my landlord offered me the basement of my building for the classes. We outgrew that and moved into our present location in a building on Raritan Avenue where the light is wonderful."

What was your most important deal?

"We think that everything came together in this academy. We feel we have the world's best students from different religious, ethnic, and occupational backgrounds whose diversity is tremendous. They all are here sitting together, working together, all learning at their own rate. We have a great natural lighting in the space and a landlord who lets the dog remain in the room. I also have great people who help deliver the content of the classes."

What changes do you expect in your business in the next 10 years?

"We will launch a first-time tour for 20 people to draw and sketch in the field in Puerto Rico in December 2010 called a Wilderness and Culture Artventure. It will be a 10-day journey through Puerto Rico's spectacular wilderness and cultural sites. We are collaborating with an art studio in Boston to do this -- the KajiAso Studio, which is much like our studio.

"I would like to have a wing of this studio in Puerto Rico dedicated for children from all over the Caribbean as an international center to train children in the arts.

"I've written a book, which is a primer on drawing, called 'Secrets of the Sphere -- Insights on Drawing for the Fearless,' and am looking to get the book published and to be better known through the book."

What is the most important thing you've learned in your business?

"I've learned that people are what matter. I had a dream, I trusted, let people in, and the dream became bigger."

What advice would you give to someone considering your line of work?

"Take it slowly, but give it all you've got. Trust those who come to you that they will help you build it. Let it become its own thing. At some point it becomes bigger than you and let it be that and be grateful everyday that you have achieved what you've done."

Is there anything else you would rather do?

"No. Through this studio, I have traveled the world. I'm writing a book. I've met incredible people; I have been able to produce my own work as an artist. I've seen children grow and become part of my life as adults. I have collaborated with other folks. Everything I've wanted to do has been possible with having the academy."