A Little History, by Marc Massaro
In 2002, I was beginning my 18th year teaching at the Guilford Art Center; then called the Guilford Handcraft Center. It was a wonderful place to teach, but after 18 years I was getting the urge to move on.
I had been thinking for quite a while of the possibility of expanding my Branford studio into a school. I began to make layouts of how I would redesign the studio to accommodate students, and all was falling into place. But I was missing a very important component - a business manager.
Enter one Lauren Mangan. Lauren had been taking a painting class with me at the Guilford Art Center and overheard me talking about wanting to open my own school. She had an impressive resume of business experience and offered to help me get the school started. She told me her business background and my teaching skills were the perfect example of one of her favorite rules: "Stick to what you're good at!"
So, we teamed up and on June 4, 2002 the Branford Art Studio opened its doors to the shoreline art community for the very first class. What happened in the years to come was beyond my wildest expectations. The Branford Art Studio's popularity grew with every passing year. Students from as far as Fairfield County to New London regularly enrolled in the classes. Also, the studio has been selected more than a half dozen times as one of the best art schools on the shoreline by the Shoreline Newspapers Reader's Poll.
And now we have blinked our eyes and Lauren and I find ourselves celebrating the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Branford Art Studio. It has been the most rewarding twenty years of our lives. Students have developed lasting friendships with other students, and in turn all of these wonderful people have become our good friends as well. Aside from the success of the studio as a good learning facility, I think I am sometimes prouder of the art community that has developed here through the bonds established within the student body.
Looking ahead
I'm asked, now that I'm older, if I have any plans to retire. I don't believe people in the arts retire. The creative spirit endeavors to the last breath. As a teacher with forty years of experience under my belt, I still feel that sense of excitement and accomplishment when I see a student's work excel because of something I taught them. And as long as I continue to feel that way , the Branford Art Studio will carry on into the future. In the present I extend a heartfelt thank you to the scores of students who put their faith in my instruction and guidance over the last 20 years.
And into the future, I assure all of my students, new and returning I will continue to provide you with the best art instruction that I can.
In 2002, I was beginning my 18th year teaching at the Guilford Art Center; then called the Guilford Handcraft Center. It was a wonderful place to teach, but after 18 years I was getting the urge to move on.
I had been thinking for quite a while of the possibility of expanding my Branford studio into a school. I began to make layouts of how I would redesign the studio to accommodate students, and all was falling into place. But I was missing a very important component - a business manager.
Enter one Lauren Mangan. Lauren had been taking a painting class with me at the Guilford Art Center and overheard me talking about wanting to open my own school. She had an impressive resume of business experience and offered to help me get the school started. She told me her business background and my teaching skills were the perfect example of one of her favorite rules: "Stick to what you're good at!"
So, we teamed up and on June 4, 2002 the Branford Art Studio opened its doors to the shoreline art community for the very first class. What happened in the years to come was beyond my wildest expectations. The Branford Art Studio's popularity grew with every passing year. Students from as far as Fairfield County to New London regularly enrolled in the classes. Also, the studio has been selected more than a half dozen times as one of the best art schools on the shoreline by the Shoreline Newspapers Reader's Poll.
And now we have blinked our eyes and Lauren and I find ourselves celebrating the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Branford Art Studio. It has been the most rewarding twenty years of our lives. Students have developed lasting friendships with other students, and in turn all of these wonderful people have become our good friends as well. Aside from the success of the studio as a good learning facility, I think I am sometimes prouder of the art community that has developed here through the bonds established within the student body.
Looking ahead
I'm asked, now that I'm older, if I have any plans to retire. I don't believe people in the arts retire. The creative spirit endeavors to the last breath. As a teacher with forty years of experience under my belt, I still feel that sense of excitement and accomplishment when I see a student's work excel because of something I taught them. And as long as I continue to feel that way , the Branford Art Studio will carry on into the future. In the present I extend a heartfelt thank you to the scores of students who put their faith in my instruction and guidance over the last 20 years.
And into the future, I assure all of my students, new and returning I will continue to provide you with the best art instruction that I can.