Do you want to open an Art Studio?

I opened In Bloom Art Studio in 2009 in my home in Oakville.

Exotic Rose, 2003

I opened In Bloom Art Studio in 2009 in my home in Oakville.

By: Theodora Dimitrijevic

Have you always dreamed of opening your own art studio?

Has taking your art hobby to the next level ever appealed to you?

Well, I can shed some light on what the experience has been like for me to help you get started with opening your own art studio.

Opening the Studio

I opened In Bloom Art Studio in my home in Oakville in 2009.

There was already a separate entrance leading to a coat rack and shoe room which connected to a corridor that led to my personal studio.

With some conditions already being favourable to open to the public, I just had to prepare the studio.

I purchased thick blue curtains to cover the books on the bookshelf.

This way, people could focus more on the art when they arrived.

I hung some of my best artworks on the walls — an oil painting on wood of mother and infant capuchian monkeys, a willow charcoal drawing of a bridge in the woods in the midst of winter, a mixed media painting of a notable church in Santorini and several other art pieces.

The studio had a whiteboard which I kept in the room for what I wanted to do next with the studio.

March Break Art Classes and Regular Classes

I opened the art studio for March Break art classes in March of 2009.

I had two students — aged twelve and thirteen who joined for the March Break art classes.

Considering this was the first course I taught, I was thankful for the smaller turnout.

After teaching the March Break art classes, I gained a regular student, aged five for ongoing classes which was a nice surprise since I had only just opened the studio a week before.

Remember the whiteboard I mentioned?

This whiteboard became a useful resource to the art classes.

Each class was three hours with the first hour being an art history lecture and the next two hours reserved for working on art.

The whiteboard made the art history lectures more interesting for the students.

Whether it’s a whiteboard or a blackboard, I highly recommend having some kind of a surface to write on in your art studio, especially if you will offer classes.

The Solo Art Exhibit

While I did not plan the solo art exhibit as a way to bring publicity to my art studio or the art classes I was offering, it did just that.

The two ladies from ArtWorks Oakville, Maria and Grace called the Burlington Post to do a cover story on my solo art exhibit.

Looking back, the solo art exhibit coinciding shortly after the opening of the art studio helped in spreading the word about the new studio to quite a few people.

My recommendation to anyone wanting to open their own art studio up to the public is to have a solo exhibit shortly after the new studio is open to the public.

The solo exhibit can be in your newly opened art studio but doesn’t necessarily have to be.

My solo exhibit was in a law firm but the news coverage from the Burlington Post was how the word spread about my new art studio.

It also helps to be part of an artist group as they can help you put together a solo show and arrange for media coverage on your behalf.

I can highly recommend Artworks Oakville if you live in or around the Oakville area.

Solo Art Exhibit, 2009

Going Online with Art Sales

In 2017, In Bloom Art Studio went online to offer art sales online.

Prior to 2017, the In Bloom Art Studio was on another website which only facilitated in person art sales at the studio location.

Going online on a website that facilitates payment transactions for your art pieces is a crucial step to having a career as an artist.

When I look back at the first website I had, it did not serve me as well as it could have.

My recommendation to you as an artist would be to have a website that allows for payment transactions as not everyone can always make it in person to your art studio to purchase art pieces so you can share your art with more people.

Takeaway

If you want to open an art studio, you shouldn’t be deterred by people who say that you cannot make a career out of art.

However, like any other career, there are helpful steps to take to lead to your desired result of an active business with loyal clients.

In this article, as you noticed, I outlined my journey in 4 stages; Opening the art studio, March Break Art Classes and Regular Art Classes, The Solo Art Exhibit and Going Online with Art Sales as each of these stages helped me to reach the next stage of my career.