Art Studio and Academy of Creative Arts Open in Burlington, MA
BURLINGTON, MA-- Dr. Java Joshi's Creative Arts Studio and Academy of Creative Arts opened on Sunday in Burlington, MA, with about 300 people attending the event throughout the day, organizers of the event said. The studio and academy is founded by the husband and wife team of Dr. Java Joshi and Hetal Joshi.
"We had 300+ people that attended the studio inaugural between 2 to 6pm. In fact we even had people drive all the way down from New Jersey and Connecticut just to support the objective and extend their wishes," said Hetal. "We also had outstanding support and encouragement from Lexington Art community from where senior Lexington artists like Emily Passman graced the occasion to support the Academy."
The studio and academy, which is located at 128 Wheeler Road in Burlington, will serve as a school of arts, where various different forms of creative and performing arts will be taught under one roof.
The inauguration was attended by many Boston art lovers, enthusiasts, community leaders, parents and families who love art and want to learn or have their kids learn various forms of art. The main attraction of the event happened to be "Students Wall of Art" where art work (drawings and paintings) from Java Joshi's students was displayed.
During the inaugural event, Jewelry instructor Irit Kaphzan Hamamidemonstrated her jewelry, talked about jewelry making techniques and a displayed shadow box of her work. This generated quite some excitement in the art of Jewelry making — where many parents and adults enrolled into the Academy to take advantage of Jewelry classes to be offered on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Judith Cooper spent time with adult art enthusiasts guiding them through the process of Learning to see and Learning to draw.
"I feel truly blessed to have such fantastic support from our community, community leaders, media outlets, friends, parents and all my students. This is our dream project and the support and encouragement is just outstanding — cannot thank God enough - am glad to be part of the New England south asian family," said Java. Added Hetal: "It was unbelievable to see such overwhelming support from everyone, as one of the attendees said "when you do something with a clean heart and noble intentions — people just get drawn in with positive energy" — we are just blessed and happy to be part of this fantastic community that is so supportive and encouraging. We wish and will work hard to make our collective dreams come true."
The founders currently have four instructors. They include:
Mona Mitra will teach Kathak Dance. Mitra is a classically trained dancer, with a "Visharad" in Kathak. She started learning Kathak at the age of four. She has trained under Pandit Chunilal Goswami and Dr. Amita Dutt, who is a senior disciple of Pandit Birju Maharaj and the Dean of Fine Arts at Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata. Mitra has been teaching dance for the last 12 years. In the Boston area, she has been teaching Kathak and Bollywood Fusion since 2010. Prior to that, she taught in Los Angeles, Portland (Oregon) and in India.
Irit Kaphzan Hamami will teach Jewelry Design. Hamami came to the United States 15 years ago and taught Jewish studies. She had interest in Jewelry design from childhood and started following her passion about 8 years ago. She started experimenting with different techniques making stunning pieces of jewelry for friends and family. She started getting overwhelmed and got so many positive reviews. Five years ago, she opened her work to public through the Lexington and Concord open studios.
Judith Ann Cooper, who currently teaches art at Harvard University, will teach Observational Drawing for Adults. Although trained as a painter, the joy Cooper receives from "creating" has led her to utilize many different materials: fibers and textiles, clay, graphite and pastels, and mixed media with found objects. Her art has been exhibited in studio tours and galleries, and is in corporate and private collections. After earning a BFA from Boston University, with a major in painting and a minor in education, she taught art in the Gloucester Public Schools for 28 years. There her primary focus was on high school courses in ceramics, drawing, and portfolio preparation for those applying to art school.
Dr. Java Joshi teaches Drawing and Painting. Co-founder of Academy of Creative Arts, she was also nominated for Women of the Year in 2013 for her contribution in promotion of Art. She has exhibited her work at many national and international art shows. Java who holds a PhD in Drawing and Painting from India and Masters in Multimedia & Web Design from Art Institute of Atlanta, is also a very active member of Lexington Art community and serves on the core committee for Lexington Open Studios. Java resides in Lexington and about 3 years ago, formed Java Joshi Creative Arts, with a mission to share her passion of the art through teaching. She teaches students from the ages of 3 to 18 years in Lexington and at her studio in Burlington. Her objective is to spread the love of art among children and create the next generation of artists.
Both Hetal and Java are actively involved in theatre activities with Hindi Manch as well. They both have participated in many Hindi Manch plays. Last year, they also wrote and directed a kids play for Bal Manch.
For more information you can visit the website www.academyofcreativearts.com