Studio 4 Art →

Studio 4 Art
In creating her Studio 4 Art spaces in Marin County, Kebby McInroy drew inspiration from within, watching the experiences of her two older children while they were at Tam Valley school and hoping they’d “experience authentic art making.” McInroy, who has a BA in painting from Sonoma State with an emphasis on child psychology and early childhood education, sought to create a program that went deeper than the art itself. “Ultimately, our studio isn’t about creating artists, it’s about creating leaders. We want to empower young people to gain tools that will help them accomplish their goals throughout life,”she says. Studios located in San Rafael, Novato, and private pods offer art classes, workshops, pop ups, drop-in studio time, pottery painting, wheel throwing, pARTies, and yearly camps for kids ages 4-15. studio4art.net

Skillful Gifting: A Selection of Art Classes Available in Marin →

By Kasia Pawlowska

Studio 4 Art

More Information

With holiday-themed family workshops like ceramic platter making, locations in Mill Valley and Novato and many classes offered off-site, Studio 4 Art covers a lot of land. Founded in 2000 by Kebby McInroy — an artist whose experience includes clothing design, oil drafting and a background in early childhood education — this family-owned business has been helping kids aged 2 to 15 develop creative thinking and problem solving skills through art. Class topics range from staples like drawing and painting, but some of the curriculum also involves history and science, such as an art + science STEAM course that has students working with clay, recycled material and other mediums to see how the two subjects are connected. Prices vary with certain workshops starting at $22, to $274 for 2 months of of clay, ceramics, pottery sessions. Parents may enroll children online.

Living Proof →

Author: Christina De Rockere

November, 2015 Issue

Proof Lab at Tam Junction is a thriving retail community that embraces education, outdoor living, sustainability and community.

Picture Tam Junction about 18 years ago (1997): There’s a Pet Pro and Marin Surf Sports at the junction where Highway 1 makes a left turn on the way to Muir Woods and Stinson Beach. Leading up to the junction, you’ve already passed Dan’s Liquors, Marin Auto Science (car repair), Martin’s Feed Store and a psychic reader. This is the intersection where you can rent a moving van from Tam Rentals or visit the collectible coin store—if you can ever find it open. It’s the epitome of funky Marin retail and funky service space.

Fast forward to today, and the area is still funky, but now there’s a lively consortium of new, creative businesses that populate and energize this frontage property. Now, Proof Lab skate park occupies the rear part of a former warehouse. Proof Lab Surf & Skate Shop is at the front, with Alexi Glickman’s Music School nestled in there, too. Equator Coffee occupies the shed in the front parking lot (which formerly housed used surfboards for sale). Surfing and skateboarding lessons are taught by a world class competitor. The original Proof Lab Station, which shares walls with Alpha Dog (a dog daycare and boarding facility), now holds inventory for clothing, accessories and a relatively new camping annex.

Around the corner is CNL, California Native Plant Nursery, which is home to rare native plants that are artfully monitored by owner Dan Dufficy. Inside the nursery is the Mill Valley Pottery Studio, owned by Jennie Dito, where students of all ages come to get instructions and do pottery work. Also sharing the space is Studio 4 Art, a hands-on art studio for children run by founder Kebby McInroy, who also has an art school in Novato.

The beginning

Just how did all of this come together? Meet Nate McCarthy and Will Hutchinson, founders of Proof Lab, its environs and its collection of subtenants and neighbors.

I'll begin with a personal vignette: In 2004, I was driving up Shoreline (Highway 1). My eye caught something going on at a little nondescript commercial location called Poplar Square—about a block from the 7-11 hidden in a sea of residential houses as the road heads west. I stopped to investigate. A few young men were skateboarding in the small parking lot outside what was their first retail location. Two of the young men were McCarthy and Hutchinson. Even back then, there was something special in their enthusiasm, demeanor and quiet confidence.

In a recent interview, Hutchinson says, “We opened this first little retail outlet to highlight our interests in life—surfing and skateboarding. When it started out in our 600-square-foot space on Poplar, we had no employees. Nate and I still worked other jobs. He’d work there three or four days per week, and I’d work the rest.” Now, 11 years later, Proof Lab and its mini-empire employs more than 60 people.

McCarthy and Hutchinson were at Poplar for about a year before they had the opportunity to take over Marin Surf Sports from BASD, Inc., successor to original owner, Kevin Campion, who started the niche business in Mill Valley in the 1980s. They started hitting their stride in the new location and changed the name to Proof Lab. (The name stems from a local surf company called “Proof” that Nate started years before.)

In 2011, Proof Lab made a big leap: The landlord offered the partners a very large warehouse-type space that had been a machine shop called Webster’s Gears. It had sat empty for a year or two. “Our landlord kept encouraging us to take on the idea of expanding, but it was still recession times, but it just seemed like way too big of an expansion at first, so it took a little while for us to wrap our heads around it,” says Hutchinson.

The two young men decided to go with it. “Part of it was reactionary,” says Hutchinson. “Having all that space to fill, so we decided to fill it with cool stuff. It coincided with our evolving priorities in life. The skate park came out of our wanting to make retail experiential and interactive—not a traditional mall type of experience, where you can’t do anything, learn anything, try anything. We wanted to make a place where a kid can actually go and do stuff.” They built the park in the 10,000-square-foot, warehouse-like building.

Shred it

Eric Kirkwood is one of a handful of skateboarding instructors who offer lessons through Proof Lab and a world-class competitor in his own right. On a recent Saturday morning, while I watched him working with the kids, I was impressed by how they were learning from him. I hear 7-year-old Alden and 9-year-old Jonah being coached, “You’re landing and you’re powerful. Your front shoulder is telling your body where to go. Trust yourself. Get some body language.”

The kids are learning about the body-mind connection and how and where to push the limits. Coach Kirkwood, who competed in the international arena guiding the Thailand National Team in both 2007 and 2014, talks about skateboarding in a voice that many of us have never heard. “Skateboarding demands that you be weirdly in the moment—weirdly dialed in,” says Kirkwood. “Junior year of high school in the summertime in Detroit was when I got into it. Because it’s so hard and you have to be so focused, it’s euphoric and you don’t need the other highs. It changed my whole life.” Now 45 and the father of a 5-year-old daughter, it’s easy to see how good he is at working with kids.

Class is over, but activity is not.  I see a mom playing on the skate ramp with her children (2-, 4- and 10-year-olds, respectively). Everyone seems very happy and absorbed in what’s going on. I hear the echo of Kirkwood’s words, “weirdly in the moment.”

On most Friday nights, the skate park hosts girls/ladies’ skate night. On this particular Friday night, the gathered crowd has just been treated to a surfing movie called “Mute.” The park has been transformed into a movie theater with kids scattered around on those challenging curves of the ramp—raptly watching the movie unfold on the screen suspended above. There’s been a movie, a raffle and a hot dog party. Community is happening. "Community"—a word I’ve been hearing more and more as I’ve explored this unique collection of businesses. Proof positive: Proof Lab launched a kickstarter campaign in 2014 to build a skate park in nearby Marin City.

In late August 2015, Proof Lab held the grand opening of its first retail shop outside of Tam Junction, in San Rafael on Fourth Street, with a great deal of fanfare. As well as being good storytellers about their product lines in partnership with their vendors, McCarthy and Hutchinson have a great instinct about branding and connecting. For the opening not only did they pull out all the stops to have the farmers market extend down an extra block or two, they set up a “beater car,” which became hurdle/target for the crazy avid skateboarders to jump. Boys of all ages cued up to clear the “beater” and a crowd formed. The excitement and energy was palpable. People were curious and stopping to watch. Music was blasting from the intersection where a DJ was spinning LPs, and kids and adults were taking advantage of free sculpture haircuts.

Rip it

Surfing lessons include Big Dog Surf Camp, overseen by “Big Dog” Ian Glover, which holds lessons throughout the summer for those ages five and up. The qualifications? Students must know how to swim and be ready to have a good time. Glover is described as a compassionate and patient teacher attuned to learners’ ability, needs, fears and potential. He says, “All you have to do is want it, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

Testimonials and Yelp reviews underscore the popularity of this activity and how it enhances the lives of the young participants. One August morning, I witnessed the surfing crew getting their gear ready to climb into the van bound for Stinson Beach. Ahead was a full day of sand, sun, waves and boards and the interaction of all to make very wide-eyed, tired children for the 4 p.m. shuttle return back. Instructor Lily, a regular within the Proof Lab community, attests to what a full, tiring and wonderful day it is at Surf Camp.

Philosophy

Had there been a plan in place for Proof Lab to grow and expand? Hutchinson shares that he has an MBA in sustainable management from Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco in 2011. His thesis informed Proof Lab’s business plan, though he’s quick to point out that he and McCarthy’s ideas would have evolved even without grad school.The mission statement is “Develop a more sustainable retail model focused on community building and connecting people with the outdoors.”

McCarthy personifies “understatement” with his casual attire and easygoing happy-go-lucky attitude. Shortly after I meet the strong, wiry young man, he comes out from behind the cash register, drops to the ground and does 10 push-ups. I’m talking to the surf guru, who still manages to surf every day, besides running this business. He tells me, “It’s how we do our buying and our intentions of sustainability that differentiates us from other companies. Also, how we train our employees. We do it a little differently. We let them find their own rhythm—their own groove. Together we can get it done. This is a big retail zone. We treat it like a ship with a lot of orchestration.”

Coffee collaboration

In speaking with Helen Russell, who along with her partner, Brooke McDonnell, founded Equator Coffee some 20 yrs. ago, Helen tells how she came to collaborate with Hutchinson and McCarthy for Equator’s first retail location. “I went down to meet with Will because one of my salespeople said the owners wanted to put in an airpot brewer. There was something magical about the place. At that first meeting, Will said, ‘I don’t know anything about coffee.’” I replied, ‘I don’t know anything about surfing.’” Out of that exchange and the need for one another, a new partnership was born.

Russell says of the location, “It’s a total home run. Will and Nate have done an amazing job of building community. The synergy of what we’re doing and what they’re doing totally connects.” Equator Coffee has been specializing in the wholesale, organic and sustainable coffee market since 1995. Clients included Thomas Keller, Tyler Florence and Williams-Sonoma. But at the new location, they were delivering coffee right to the customer.

Pleased to have a space where people ages 3 to 83 feel comfortable coming, Equator shares the coffee shop with Proof Lab in hosting many events. There are cycling groups, motorcycle groups, poetry readings, wine tastings, school events and, most recently, sponsoring the Mill Valley Film Festival. Russell considers each of her two Mill Valley locations as ground zero for their respective populations: downtown on a prime corner for local Mill Valley residents to meet and greet or “the junction” for all the beach goers, surfers, skaters, international travelers and Tam Valley residents.

Partnering to transform

Martha Pearl, owner of Alpha Dog and a neighbor of Proof Lab, says, “Our relationship is kind of like a team. When I opened in 2008, Proof Lab didn’t exist. Then Will and Nate took over and created the most amazing thing. They’re just unbelievable people, the nicest guys. Nate works so hard—he’s always in the store. He loves it. Will is so good with his hands. He does most all of the work they do on the place himself,” she says.

Pearl, who employs 15 people at Alpha Dog, gives a shout out for her small business and others. “Though this is the hardest business I’ve ever run, my team is unbelievable. They’re amazing. They care so much about the dogs. I’m so lucky.”

She continues, “Small business is the backbone of our society. You get back what you put in.” She cites the benefits she gives like 100 percent health insurance and vacations. It was with Pearl’s help partnering with Proof Lab that the messy corner adjacent to this former gas station got transformed into a space where people could come and make a cool garden. They all invested a lot of money and sweat equity to clean up what was once storage space for an old Winnebago. The corner went through various stages in becoming what it is today.

The Mill Valley Pottery Studio, owned by Jennie Dito, has its own retail area as well as studio space inside the nursery. Nadia Tarzi-Saccardi, programs manager and instructor, is also an acclaimed artist who shows her work throughout the Bay Area. Robert Abrams, her colleague at MVPS, exhibits his steel sculptures at Room Gallery in Mill Valley and his ceramic sculptures at The Potter’s Studio in Berkeley. From hand building to throwing clay pots on the wheel, MVPS can not only teach the language of clay, but also hosts private parties and team-building events.

Sustainable landscaping

Dufficy of CNL is an old surfing buddy of Will and Nate’s. A landscape contractor, he was under the tutelage of Paul O’Donnell, owner of O’Donnell’s Native Plant Nursery in Fairfax, for 12 years. He says, “I trained and trained and trained.” Now a landscape contractor in his own right, Dufficy adds, “I can do anything on the exterior—hardscapes, habitat restoration, irrigation installation and design, rock walls, and patios.” Obviously happy as he oversees the inventory and design of this most unconventional place, Dufficy admits a large part of his mission is to educate—from knowledge of deer-resistant native plants and medicinal plants to organic solutions for fertilizer.

He tells me how CNL helps people design backyard structures, like his recycled green house with “100-year-old wavy glass” and recycled windows. Dufficy proudly shows me his tool shed with the living roof. Water from the roof is captured in two huge rain barrels. He calls it “an eco-friendly opportunity to harvest earth juice.” Interspersed with his honeysuckle, elderberry and other indigenous native plants is rare, antique Guatemalan and Tunisian pottery. Dufficy says of them, “I like rare things.” Rare also are his creations at the junction, where he’s made a living wall of green plants outside the Proof Lab Surf & Skate Shop, a dramatic table of living plants and exotic wood in front of Equator Coffee and various pots containing rare California native flora scattered around the property.

Building community

If you think this is a “feel good” article, it is. It genuinely is. I can’t recall a time when I talked to so many people and the same words would crop up time and time again: community, amazing, magical, sustainable. Obviously, Proof Lab is living up to its mission statement and purpose. In a world so jaded by the artificial, contrived and unauthentic, seeing the appetite for “the real deal” is like a tonic for good health. In this case, it’s good business, too.

Though the partners admit they’re small fish in the big sea (close to $6.5 billion in revenue was reported for the surf and skateboarding industry by the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association in 2014), Proof Lab and its band of businesses have a clear vision of how to proceed in life. To quote Hutchinson, “Building community is really what our expertise is in. That’s how we stay excited about what we’re doing on a daily basis. The big companies we partner with do billions in revenue, but they’re mostly working in offices. Here we are. We’re that link—that final leg of delivering the service and the product. We make sure it’s working right. We get it right to the customer.”

Not only do they get it right to the customer, but they provide that vital link of education and of creating community that will keep people coming back again and again—lifelong. Did I tell you that they also have a biodiesel fueling station (with fuel made from locally recycled vegetable oil) and on Thursdays they serve as a distribution outlet for local fishermen to sell their freshly caught fish? All told, they could add "educate" to their mission statement, for, in fact, they're doing just that as they connect people to the outdoors at this unique hub of indoor/outdoor athletics and awareness that's Proof Lab at Tam Junction.

Raising money to help the homeless in Northern California, one soup bowl at a time →

March 17, 2011

What would you give for a soup bowl like this, made and decorated by a child and filled with homemade soup?

Fifteen dollars doesn't seem like much to pay, especially when it's a donation to help alleviate homelessness. And you get to keep the bowl.

Last weekend, my friend Michelle Stern, owner of What's Cooking With Kids in San Rafael, California, and author of The Whole Family Cookbook, and her friend Kebby McInroy, owner of Studio 4 Art in Novato, teamed up on a great fundraising event to benefit Homeward Bound of Marin, an agency providing housing, training and support services for homeless adults and children.

For the second year in a row, students from the entire community went to Studio 4 Art to make and glaze bowls, donated by the studio, for the San Rafael 4H Club's flagship community service program of the year.

The kids made and decorated the soup bowls before the event, and they also made the soup! Michelle hosted a kids' cooking class in her home and visited two schools to cook with the kids. A few other families donated soup, too, so at the event, there was soup to appeal to every taste: minestrone, tortilla, butternut squash, and a butternut squash and black bean vegetarian chili.

Everyone who donated $15 got to choose a bowl and fill it with soup. Then, after a delicious meal, they could bring their oven/microwave/dishwasher safe bowls home -- a year-round reminder of the power of soup to nourish and strengthen their community.

Studio 4 Art Opens in Downtown Novato

October 1, 2008

Posted by pamela |

Studio 4 Art now has a permanent location in downtown Novato. They’ve been offering mobile classes and art parties in Marin for years, but now they have a home at 1133 Grant Avenue, (where the Glazy Daze ceramic studio used to be). Their grand opening party, with free art, food, and drink, is on Saturday, October 4, from 2 to 5 pm.

The studio offers fine art workshops all week with daily themes in drawing, painting, clay, and sewing. Workshops begin with preschool children and continue on for children up to 9th grade. There’s also a drop-in studio where everyone from infants to adults can come in and create in any medium of choice. Drop-in studio is available from 10 am to 6 pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Studio 4 Art will be open until 8 pm on Thursdays, and on Saturday will offer themed workshops built around holidays and special events. Studio 4 Art also has handmade and handcrafted items local artisans available for purchase. 

Studio 4 Art is available for parties and events, which have full use of the studio. For more information, visit Studio 4 Art online at www.studio4art.net.

author: Pamela Fox

 

Art classes flourish on Grant Avenue. Novato School teaches arts and crafts.

by Leslie Harlib | January 21-27, 2009

  • Art classes flourish on Grant Avenue. Novato School teaches arts and crafts.
  • Kebby McInroy, 42, was the fine arts equivalent of a wandering troubadour for nine years. Through her business call Studio4Art, the Corte Madera resident travelled around Marin teaching arts such as painting, drawing, and sculpture in people's homes as well as schools.

    Now she's gone the bricks and mortar route. In Spetember 2008, McInroy founded Studio4Art at 1133 Grant Ave. in Novato.

    There, she teaches everyone from two-year-olds on up a wide range of arts that encompasses all she's known for, plus sewing, pottery, mosaics and more.

    "Though I worked in different recreation centers and through different school districts, I felt I wasn't reaching as many kids as I actually wanted to do," explained McInroy. "I felt the next step should be opening a studio."

    The space feels like the ultimate arts and crafts camp coupled with retail. It's filled with light from two big windows in the front. There are four potters' wheels and four sewing machines. Canvas-covered tables are smeared with so much color from a multitude of projects, they look like abstract paintings in the works.

    Folded easels wait for canvases in another part of the room. A large mirror, one student's creation, is ringed by a pretty mosaic made of broken blue and white teacups. Wooden display hutches hold products for sale: drawing sets, greeting cards, pottery bowls, books about art, and fabric wine-bottle holders crafted by Sausalito designer and seamstress Carla Pollard.

    McInroy found that since she's opened her doors, the community has come calling. Whether it's the down-turned economy and people need something to do to cheer themselves up, or whether people want more out of their free time than computer or television experiences, she's been surprised by the positive response.

    "People have been very helpful and welcoming," she said. "This community has a very small-town feel. People really seem to enjoy the arts. Everyone who's seen us and heard about us has said they were waiting for something like this."

    According to McInroy, while classes aren't full, at the same time "they're definitely growing. With a new business, I figure that's the next step. Drop-ins are very popular, too."

    Hands-on art is enjoying a renaissance in this high-tech age because, as McInroy puts it, "They teach creative thinking:going outside the box in today's world. The arts help kids come to a conclusion about things that maybe somebody else hasn't thought of before. Art also gives them a voice, which I think, right now, is really important to a child."

    Blake Carlile, age 8, agrees. With his twin brother Miles, the Novato resident and student at the Novato Charter School takes a number of classes at Studio4Art.

    "It's pretty fun," he said. "You get to make some pretty cool sculptures. You can make bowls and frogs. You get to do anything with art. You can even paint, getting textures with a palette knife. At school, we just do knitting, not that much art classes. This place gives me a chance to try a lot of things.

    Carlile's mom, Sally, also takes classes at Studio4Art. The family tries to go every other week, she said; the down-turned economy makes affording extras challenging, but the arts are worth it.

    "As a parent, I feel good about spending money here with Kebby, because of how she is with art," Sally Carlile said. "She doesn't tell people what to do. She asks a lot of questions. So what comes out in the kids' art work is their own, not what the teacher tells them what to do."

    Classes at Studio4Art can last anywhere from one to three hours. Sunday drop-ins between noon and 4 p.m. are generally $18 for the first hour (which includes supplies); $10 for each additional hour.

    McInroy is also launching pajama parties on the third Friday of every month, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. They cost $30 and are aimed at kids ages 5 through 11. The next one is Friday, Jan. 23.

    "I'm trying to do things to promote business," she said. "I'm hoping the pajama parties will give parents the opportunity to leave their kids here and go out to restaurants on the strip. It's one way for me to promote different things in Novato."

    Studio 4 Art also offers adult-only classes on Thursday nights from 6 to 8 p.m. with wine and cheese. "These definitely attract both men and women," said McInroy. "It's a chance for us to create together."

    For more information about Studio4Art, call 596-5546 or go to www.studio4art.net



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  • [Originally printed in the Novato Advance, January 21, 2009]

Soup: The Bowl That Keeps Feeding, November 15, 2009

Press Release by Studio 4 Art | September 15, 2009

  • Soup: The Bowl That Keeps Feeding, November 15, 2009
  • Studio4Art and What's Cooking are proud to present Soup - The Bowl That Keeps Feeding, November 15, 2009 11am-2pm at the Fresh Starts Cooking School, 1385 N. Hamilton Parkway, Novato, CA 94949.(directions) Soup - The Bowl That Keeps Feeding is a fundraiser to feed local children in need of a warm meal. It is an event that allows children to become involved in their community through food and art. The children make the food, create the art, and share them both with our guests. How does it work? You contribute a small donation, choose a hand-thrown bowl, and we fill it with savory soup. You leave with a full belly, a piece of art and a warm heart knowing that your donation helped to feed a child. All proceeds from the event go to Homeward Bound of Marin to feed other children. For more information, please contact Michelle Stern, What's Cooking, 415-342-4353, www.whatscooking.info or Kebby McInroy, Studio 4 Art, 415-596-5546, www.studio4art.net

Novato Patch by Beth Huizenga | December 22, 2010

Novato Patch by Beth Huizenga | December 22, 2010

  • How's the Housing Market? Flourishing if You're Talking Clay Gingerbread Houses. Kids and families flock to Studio 4 Art to create long-lasting crafts for the holidays.
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  • When Kebby McInroy of Mill Valley picked Novato as the home for a new art studio more than two years ago, she had an idea of what she was in for. "I was working in Novato teaching privately and doing summer camps, and it was great timing," she says. "I knew I wanted to open a studio and saw the perfect place available (on Grant Street). I love the families of Novato, it's a wonderful community." The mother of three with a Sonoma State degree in painting looks like a funky urban art student. She opened Studio 4 Art in September 2008. With mellow, alt-rock on the stereo at just the right level to make it fun but not overpowering, McInroy gently encourages the three youngsters seated at her four potters wheels as they shape their spinning bowls. The children happily focus on the slippery, slick slopes beneath their fingers. Classes are available for children as young as 18 months. "We start them at the age of 2 (on the wheel) because we're about the process, not necessarily the product," McInroy says. "They get to strengthen their hands and improve their fine motor skills, so when they go to hold a pencil or a paint brush they're much better at it and they feel better about it. And if they produce a bowl, that's great, too."

    Who doesn't love working with clay? Or watching Patrick Swayze interrupt Demi Moore doing it? But I digress. This is not a scene out of "Ghost," but instead a place of discovery and creativity in Old Town Novato. Studio 4 Art is comprised of several work stations and on this day they are occupied by children glazing clay plates that they made themselves, throwing clay on the potter wheels and making gingerbread houses with slabs of clay using a tile for a guide. The nine children have the attention of three teachers. "Our ratio is (at least) four children to one teacher during camps," McInroy says. "Everything we do here we try to make it educational," she continues, "so math, the sciences ... we're constantly relating what we're doing in art to other fields. We tell kids what's in the clay, what's in the glazes, how the kiln works, what temperature it has to be and why. Kids also learn how to not just mold clay, but how to build with it, too." Indeed, clay gingerbread house construction has been going on here this holiday season despite the sluggish real estate market. In fact, the gingerbread workshops at Studio 4 Art increased to two weekends due to high demand. "They were fantastic, full to capacity," McInroy says. "What's really beautiful about the gingerbread project is that it's a group effort in a very creative environment. So you get children working with their parent or grandparent and they're making these tactile memories together." This was the third year the studio offered the clay gingerbread workshops, and there are some families who have gone in each year and are well on their way to creating little villages. Studio 4 Art has a dynamite new website detailing the creative opportunities there. If you're interested in camp for next week, the studio is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. for art camp, and from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. for drop-in art work, including a chance to make a gingerbread house if you just can't wait until next year. The gingerbread houses take about 2 1/2 hours of drop-in time. "I love my work," says McInroy, who clearly puts in a ton of hours, "and I think the community senses that love. I believe every child has an amazing story and amazing creativity." And off she goes.



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  • [SOURCE] Novato Patch, Article by Beth Huizenga | December 22, 2010
  • [PERMALINK]

Marin Mommies by pamela | October 23, 2011

Marin Mommies by pamela | October 23, 2011

  • Novato's Studio4Art Celebrates Four Years with the Opening of the Annex.
  • Novato's Studio4Art celebrates not only its four-year anniversary, but also the opening of its new Annex, located directly behind the main studio! This new space will be used for parties, summer and holiday camps, workshops, and classes for children two years and up. The Annex will also serve as a gallery for student-created artwork and student art shows. The main studio will continue to be the place for drop-in art sessions as well as the retail area where customers can continue to find quality art supplies and unique art gifts.

    Studio4Art has been serving Novato and surrounding communities in Marin and Sonoma County since it was opening in September of 2008 by owner Kebby McInroy. Studio4Art has maintained a specialized niche within the community, serving schools, families, and civic groups such as scout troops and dens. Studio4Art continues to advocate for children of all ages and their creative needs by offering affordable and quality hands-on classes, summer and holiday camps and workshops, and drop-in art sessions covering a variety of media from acrylic, watercolor, and oil painting, to sewing, wheel-throwing, clay hand-building, silk screening, block printing and mosaic-making.

    The opening of The Annex means that Studio4Art will be able to offer more of its programs concurrently and further serve the needs of the community. Prior to the opening of The Annex, the main studio would often be bustling with classes, camps and birthday parties, sometimes leaving out the families who may want to occasionally drop in to create an art project. The new space will allow for everyone to explore their creativity at the same time. The Annex at Studio4Art also aims to give teens a space to create. The Annex will offer a more studious environment where teens can take subject-specific art classes, such as oil painting. The main studio will continue to offer drop-ins with the addition of new Saturday hours.

    We've taken a number of classes and attended a few birthday parties at Studio4Art, and always had a great time, not to mention the fact that we came home with some amazing artistic creations. The staff is very helpful and good with kids, so it's definitely worth a visit if you're in the mood to get creative. We're really excited about the opening of the Annex and the possibility for even more classes and resources.

    Studio4Art is located at 1133 Grant Avenue in Novato, with The Annex directly behind at 972 2nd Street. Hours are 10 am to 6 pm Monday through Friday, and a new time of 10 am to 2 pm on Saturdays. Parties may be booked in the Annex on Friday evenings as well as three different times on Saturdays and Sundays.

    For more details on Studio4Art programs and class offerings, drop-in sessions, upcoming camps and holiday workshops, or to book a party, check the studio website at www.studio4art.net, call (415) 596-5546 or email studio4artmarin@gmail.com.
     





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  • [SOURCE] Marin Mommies, Article by pamela | October 23, 2011
  • [PERMALINK]