BY CYMBRE FOSTER
Sue Olson had no question that she was doing the right thing after she saw her students' faces light up when they looked at their finished drawings.
Olson heads up KidzArt, a confidence-building art enrichment program that she brought to northern Michigan last October.
The former landscape architect and planner was on maternity leave and contemplating a career change when she learned about the national art franchise. The business model of this home-based business is to not only help children build artistic skills, but to develop confidence in a structured, non-competitive environment.
The philosophy of KidzArt is that learning to draw creates confidence. The class provides the environment where the students can take risks, she explained.
"It really meshes with my beliefs," said Olson, who lives in Traverse City. "Before we even begin a class, we discuss the rules, which are that you do not have to be perfect; that you work quietly, which allows the inner artist to come out; and to have fun because to me, art is fun."
There are classes for every stage of development from toddler to high school and beyond. During a typical class, the instructor introduces a drawing and then teaches students how to reproduce what they see, step-by-step.
"They learn to break it down and that's how they also learn problem solving," said Olson. "We explain that they only have to know how to draw two kinds of lines -- a straight line and a curved line -- and recognize it in the drawing. Then we look for letters and numbers in the drawing."
Students are never corrected and instructors are trained to deal with students who tend to be perfectionists. This teaching style also opens up the opportunity for brainstorming and ways to think outside the box.
"We talk about different artists who were perfectionists," Olson said. "We ask them not to pass judgment on themselves and explain to them that it's really the process that's important."
Each 60-minute class is designed to enable children to successfully complete a drawing. The curriculum was created by professional artists and designed to exceed the National Standards for the Visual Arts, said Olson, who is also a KidzArt certified instructor. Certified instructors teach all the classes; Olson has hired three to date.
Instructors provide students with professional grade artist supplies such as paints, markers and charcoal.
"We treat them like true artists from the start," said Olson.
KidzArt classes are currently being taught in four local schools including John R. Rodger Elementary in Bellaire, Mill Creek and Lakeland elementaries in the Elk Rapids district and Grand Traverse Academy in Traverse City.
KidzArt fits well into after-school enrichment programs because instructors bring everything to the schools.
"Our goal is to not make more work for an after school coordinator," she said.
Sharon Swartz, who is involved in the Grand Traverse Academy after-school program, said offering KidzArt there creates "another opportunity" for students. In fact, Swartz said that after the first session, students happily showed off their completed drawings.
"They proudly said they wanted to show them to their parents," she said.
Classes cost $13.50 each. A session is typically six weeks, though five-week programs are also available.
For further information, call 421-1222 or visit www.kidzartmi.com.
