FREE Family Arts Festival June 14th, 2014

Edgemoor Art Studio is presenting a grand opening in conjunction with Tackett's Mill Summerfest! The event will run from 12-4, followed by Jazz and Art on the Water with the naming of the PWC Poet Laureate from 3-6!

Show up at 12- you won't want to miss your chance to win a free week of summer camp just for showing up!

We'll have storytellers, face painting, several children's art activities, art fairies from the Academy of Russian Ballet, shopping for moms, an ice truck (cash for this, all other activities are free), balloons, and tours of the new studio space!

Can't wait to see you there!! Let us know you're coming (or just show up) and get more information HERE

You're Invited!

Okay, so not really.  But, if it was physically possible to fit all 950some of you into Edgemoor Art Studio, I totally would have.  However, since I can't, I wanted to share a little of my son's birthday party.

I've worked with Ruth, the owner of Edgemoor, quite a bit since my first article on the studio.  However, for full disclosure, I pay for my son's art lessons and paid for his birthday party, at the same price everyone else does.  Which, FYI, is a ridiculously awesome price, but we'll get to that in a second.

Birthday parties at Edgemoor start with the theme of your child's choice.  My son wanted a jungle theme, and he and Ruth spent about 10 minutes discussing what that meant.  The day of the party I was asked to come 30 minutes early to put out my snacks (you can bring whatever you'd like) and make sure that I was "happy with the decorations".

Holy.  Heck.

 Why, yes, I do think that transforming your entire studio into a jungle will do quite nicely for making me and the kiddo happy.  SERIOUSLY? (And, no, it's not just us.  A few weeks ago the studio was covered in black and stars and planets and a few weeks before that there was a red carpet and manequins....these parties are all-out)

Eating area.  With matching jungle-print plates and cups and jungle animals on the table.  Y'all, I didn't do ANY of this, it was just magically there.  I seriously showed up with mini pumpkin pies (my Turkey Day Baby does not like cupcakes) and party favors.

Please do not pay attention to the picture in front of my 3 year old :) We had a lovely lesson on finding the shapes in animals and each child was invited to make their own jungle image.  My baby went with some very contemporary interpretations ;) the older kids made some amazing masterpieces.  We were supposed to do a special keepsake photo project, too, but I am a horrible mother who's currently in a fight with a store that rhymes with Binkos DedHex.  That's all I'm saying.

We also learned about mixing colors, double loading the brush, and more.  The kids had a great time and on their way out, several of them said it was the coolest party, EVER.  Aside from the snacks, the only other thing we brought was the "goodie bag", which we actually got these, but from Michael's on sale of the week, so they were $5 each.  I consider that an awesome deal for goodie bags, you can spend major cash on all the junk that normally goes in them! Plus, these looked super cool :)

The best part? This kickin birthday party was $200.  Seriously.  Read it again, I'll wait.

Did that sink in?

We've had parties a lot of places. None of them have customized, decorated, or engaged with the kids the way that this one did.  With goodie bags and food I spent a total of $310, and that easily could've been less if I wasn't lazy and bought everything pre-made.

We had a great time at our "Arty Party" and I think your child would, too! 

Edgemoor Art Studio

 On Tuesday, my 7 year old and I got the chance to go check out Edgemoor Art Studio in Lake Ridge. 

 This bright, child-friendly studio is owned by the very sweet Ruth, who gets bonus points for sharing my philosophy that children are capable of way more than we give them credit for.  Ruth's students start as young as preschool, and she teaches both Art and Literacy.  Students use artist-quality materials during classes including oil pastels, paints, charcoal, found materials, sculpting, and more. 

 Students learn actual art principles, including motion, shading, sketching, painting technique, great artists, and design and implementation of projects.  Ruth shared with us during our visit that she frequently gives "homework"to the kids to do something like design a dog-wash that does it all for you, and then when the kids come back, they'll put their ideas together and build one.  Other projects around the room included still-life, group sculpture, and a sign for a Chocolate Sculpture Class, which she offers with Wine for grown ups ;) or with just chocolate for children.  I think that would be such a fun mom's night out!!

 Do you see these dresses? They're made of paper.  Edgemoor offers custom birthday parties (whoo! another non-mouse with pizza option!!) and these are for a little girl who wants to be a fashion designer.  Her party is going to be making their own fashion out of paper and then they'll have a red carpet walk at the end of the party.  How freaking cool is that?

This sculpture project made of recycled materials and bamboo was made by a 3 year old class.  I love that they include collaboration as part of the class with the younger and older children because for some of us (me) that is a skill that needs continuous development (even at my age).



Edgemoor Classes come in both parent and me and drop-off varieties, and there is an afternoon homeschool class, as well.  8 week sessions run $140 (materials included) for preschool classes, which are an hour long or $160-$220 for older children (again, materials included) which run for 2 hours.

There are also Art Camps offered, which are really on-par price wise with many of the park authority camps.  $175 a week, all materials included for ages 4-6 (9am-12pm) or ages 7-14 (1pm-4pm).  Phonics class info is available via email.

We were very impressed with Edgemoor and my 7 year old has not stopped talking about how he can't wait to go back!! There's an open house on July 10th, in the evening (there you go working parents!!) and I'd encourage you to go meet the very dynamic instructor.  We were definitely impressed and if you're looking for a great art experience for your child, this is definitely the place in Woodbridge to go!!