The Drawing Board

My kid has been coming here for nearly a year now. This studio does a wide variety of different types of arts and many different mediums. A big difference between this studio and franchised places like Fibo is that the lessons encompass a far wider range of mediums and techniques. At the franchise studios, you basically get administrators dishing out canned 2D assignments from corporate office schmucks. At The Drawing Board, the kids are taught by real artists to work with many materials including paper, metal, wood, plastic, cotton, cork, clay, and others. They use all the media — water colors, paint, pencils, pens, markers, chalk. They do 2D art, 3D art, sculptures, construction, and others. It’s a great place to let creativity blossom.
So yeah, the owner isn’t the greatest people person. But then again, she is a real artist. And aren’t all artists a little «different» anyway? If you can get passed the initial exterior, you will find that she truly cares about the kids. She goes out of her way to help them learn and to provide opportunities to expose them to competition, showcases, and various other events. Most studios do not go through nearly as much trouble for the kids benefit.
I am a bit baffled by the anonymous reviewer who complained about the studio’s lack of reminders for payment. As a responsible parent, I make sure I pay my bills on time without relying on others to nag me. Despite that though, the studio always puts out a big sign in front of the entrance reminding people when tuition is due. It is inconceivable that anyone can miss that sign.

This institution is horrible! They never contact you with any information that would be useful (ex: payment due dates and closed days). That being said, there are still late fees if you do not remember to pay the art fee. I’m sorry if paying for my son’s art class is not my #1 priority! They also are horrible at giving assistance, almost never answering the phone.
Also, the teacher is ridiculously frugal. She won’t spend her money on getting the kids some decent art projects. Instead, she manages to make them make completely useless things out of lots of cheap tape and scraps. She herself is not friendly or charismatic at all.
This place is a rip off and has total horrible service.
I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone!

Our girls have been to other art studios but the drawing board was exactly what my girls needed to take it to the next level. Jamie’s regular and the pre-​professional classes are both awesome! This studio is not about just sitting and copying art but really teaches the students to be creative and create original pieces of art. We love the mixed media. There’s not many places where they teach mixed media, that’s because there’s not too many CREATIVE teachers who can teach that. Drawing board has also allowed my girls to be apart of festivals and competitions. If your child is creative and/​or loves the arts drawing board is the place to check in!

My friends and I attended our first SOcial PAINT class at The Drawing Board and I wanted to take the time to post a review of our experience so others will take the opportunity to enjoy a class that is affordable, relaxing, and fun. The studio sets a first impression of an extremely creative space, full of experimentation and «no rules» when it comes to art, so any unease is put to rest. We were encouraged to choose our background color for our painting, again, even though the pic of the painting we were going to create was posted on the website, we were able to change the color of the background right from the get-​go. This is very different from the only other paint night I have attended in the past, which was offered by a different company. While not exactly ‘rigid’, the instruction was such that the paintings ended up looking very much alike. Our instructor Jamie began the class by reminding us there are no mistakes, so as we were following her lead, many of the paintings began to take shape with every painter’s own eye and technique determining a different look. I really appreciated those differences, and as our subjects were Poppies, every painting contributed to the illusion of a beautiful garden when they were all held up together. This is what makes the Drawing Board stand out, and the fact that we were allowed to bring in our own food and drink was also very appreciated. Being that this paint night was held at a studio, instead of a restaurant like the last one I attended, we weren’t obligated to purchase our wine on site, which would have contributed to the expense of the evening. In that regard, the cost of our SOcial PAINT class was the same as the reduced price of other paint nights that are offered on Groupon, etc., and a further discount is offered depending on the number in your group. As I organized this evening out for my friends, I also appreciated their compliments afterwards, they really enjoyed themselves and some even felt compelled to sing along with the music that was playing while we created – just for a little bit, but I took that as a sign that a good time was had by all!