| Written by Matt York |
| Thursday, 15 January 2009 16:34 |
| Get Out! sometimes likes to create his own perfume. Other times I feel like stuffing myself a brand new teddy bear, and occasionally I like to mine for gemstones. OK, none of what I just wrote is true. However, I found a place in Pembroke where you can do all that and more. Artvarks, located at 43 Schoosett Street, just recently celebrated their one-year anniversary and caters to artists of all ages. Jennifer Debreczeni came up with the idea after spending years working as a preschool teacher.Everybody wants to have fun at their job, and I know that when I was teaching, kids always loved creating stuff. When people walk through our door, they are here to have a good time, she says.
The building is three stories and has several different rooms. Upon entering, there is an area where kids can create their own perfumes, colognes and bubble bath. Jolene Moughaizel of Braintree was there with her three children and noted that my kids love the creamsicle-flavored bubble bath. I cover them head to toe in it.The first floor also features a starving artist cafe where snacks and drinks can be purchased. The downstairs area features a mining area. Debreczeni says,Kids can pick out their favorite gemstones and mine for them. The downstairs also has a play area for little ones with doll houses, a drawing area and high-chairs for starving babies. The top floor has three separate rooms. The first room features tons of different wooden pieces that kids can paint, sparkle and draw on. The middle room is where kids can create their own teddy bears. They can stuff the bears and chose different outfits for them for less money than parents might spend at other bear-building hot spots. The final room features plaster and ceramic artwork aimed for older kids.
From toddler age to their teens, there are several different classes offered. Some classes include preschool Art-U-cation.ť courses that include art from around the world, science discovery, creative writing and more. In addition, they offer knitting and scrapbooking classes for all ages. However, parents can always drop in with their kids whenever they feel like it.
Debreczeni initially planned on having one big, wide-open room that would allow kids to grab whatever they wanted to work on. However, she decided to break it up into several rooms to suit the different age groups. Moughaizel pointed out the convenience of having an area where her younger children can play while her six-year-old can go create in a different area. There are a million things I love about the place. There's something for everybody.
I brought Get Out! junior correspondent Gracie York with me to get the much-anticipated two-year-old's perspective of Artvarks. After initially deciding to eat yellow paint, she settled right in and painted herself a terrific wooden princess crown and repeatedly stole other kids' snacks. When asked if she enjoyed herself, she said she did. She's giving her experience a solid "A".
In 2009, Debreczeni plans to continue to build her business. She talked about adding a night in which parents can drop off their kids and go grab dinner and a movie while their kids create; bodycasting for pregnant women; and partnering with area businesses looking for creative ways to fund raise.
Artvarks is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. They are also occasionally open on Sundays for birthday parties and functions.
http://pembrokexpress.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=605:get-out-for-artists-of-all-ages&catid=7:arts-a-entertainment&Itemid=45
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Kids get creative at drop-in arts and crafts center
By Jody Feinberg
The Patriot Ledger
Posted Feb 09, 2008 @ 01:08 AM
JEFF LOUGHLIN/The Patriot Ledger
Brooke English, 1, of Marshfield, paints a masterpiece at Artvarks, a new drop-in center for kids in Pembroke.
PEMBROKE —
Moms get together and kids have fun at new drop-in art center
As Ellen Taft watched her pre-school daughter meticulously decorate paper with colored stamps, she glanced at the shelves of craft supplies lining the walls. “This is more fun than a candy store,” said the Rockland mom.
Along with half a dozen other mothers in her play group, Taft spiced up a cold winter morning with an outing to Artvarks, a new walk-in art center in Pembroke. It’s one of the newest destinations that gives parents a way to enrich their kids through arts and crafts, without making a commitment to an ongoing class. It’s a flexibility especially valued given that young children can be unpredictable, eager for class one day but too tired another.
And for moms, there’s the plus of a place to gather with friends without the demands of hosting and cleaning up the house afterwards.
“It’s nice because there are so many things to do for kids of different ages,” said Jennifer English of Marshfield, who came for the first time with her 18-month-old daughter Brooke, and the 21/2-year-old boy she takes care of. “And I don’t have to come up with the supplies or clean up the mess.”
While many drop-in programs focus on giving kids a chance to burn off energy, Artvarks is for quieter pursuits. It’s like giving kids free rein in a well stocked arts and crafts store, where they can check out
all the offerings and the activities they want to pursue.
Opened in a former single family home in December by former preschool teacher Jennifer DeBreczeni, the center has six rooms. Two rooms are like miniature versions of the popular Plaster Fun Time and Build-a-Bear stores. Elsewhere, kids can make jewelry, lotions and perfumes, mosaics and fabric art.
In the open art studio, they can decorate paper with all manner of items, as well as decorate pre-cut jewelry boxes, picture frames, clothing hooks, model cars and other items. Two of the most unusual activities are the gemstone mining sluice and the photo center where images can be transferred to cards, mugs, T-shirts and other items. For the smallest kids, there’s a play area with a chalkboard, books and toys.
“Especially in the winter, I’m always looking for fun things to do,” said Taft, whose children are ages 5 and 11/2. “Sometimes we just need to get out of the house. But it’s hard for me to find things that are fine for both my daughter and son. Here, they’re each having a grand time.”
Everything is well organized, with items straightened and replenished regularly. Rather than pay an entrance fee, parents pay for the objects their children make. The cost can range from a couple of dollars for decorating paper, $6 for a decorated jewelry box, and $25 for a stuffed kitty clothed in a princess outfit.
Mornings are busy with toddlers and preschoolers, such as those who visited recently with their moms from the Metro South Women’s Club. With an adult-like focus, the toddlers pressed Sesame Street stamps into colored ink pads and put their fingers in paint and pressed them onto the paper. P.J. Deshler, 2, looked from his finger to the paper and back to his finger, and grinned with a satisfied wonderment. Chloe Bopp, 2, entered the room, and her mother, Molly, helped her join in with children she didn’t know.
“You can share,” said Bopp, of East Bridgewater. “If someone else wants that color, you can take another color. Look, there’s aqua and green. Do you want to try another stamp?”
Sometimes, mothers had to say no to requests and steer their children to activities less costly than the stuff-an-animal center. But Hannah McCarran, 3, was delighted with the tawny kitty she stuffed, dressed in a princess outfit and placed in a cradle.
“I made a nice little bed for him and he has a wand and a blanket,” she said. “He’s tired. It’s time for his nap time.”
Lisa Messing, president of the Metro South Women’s Club, watched her daughter, Brooke, 4, paint a large plaster Care Bear, and then helped her finish.
“I’m sure she’s going to want to come here all the time,” she said.
JEFF LOUGHLIN/The Patriot Ledger
A group of kids and their moms work on crafts.
JEFF LOUGHLIN photos/The Patriot Ledger
Five-year-old Kaitlin Taft of Rockland works on clay animals at Artvarks.
JEFF LOUGHLIN/The Patriot Ledger
Three-year-old Hannah McCarran of Bridgewater shows off the teddy bear she stuffed at Artvarks.
Pembroke - Jennifer Debreczeni wants to cater to creative minds of all kinds. Her vision is to bring an all-access, walk-in arts and crafts studio to the South Shore, and she has decided to set up shop on Schoosett Street in Pembroke.
Artvarks will open in the next two or three weeks, according to Debreczeni, who wants to offer everyone the opportunity to express themselves through art.
Debreczeni said the studio would host a wide variety of arts and crafts projects that span all ages and skills.
“I want to have something here for everyone,” she said.
The first floor of the studio at 43 Schoosett St. has been designated for jewelry-making and mosaics and will also feature a mini-café, which will offer small snacks and juices.
Debreczeni’s studio will also include photo-crafts, where people can place their favorite pictures on coffee mugs and T-shirts.
The variety of crafts at Artvarks is almost overwhelming, but Debreczeni said people could choose whatever craft project they want, whether it’s a simple finger painting or a complex perfume concoction in her urban botanics package.
But Debreczeni isn’t stopping there. As a former preschool teacher, she plans to offer classes and after-school activities for children and parents alike.
“I like working with the public, and I love working with children, and I was trying to find a way to combine all those things in a way that was fun and creative,” she said. “It sort of took on a life of its own.”
Debreczeni said she made a wish list of the things she wanted in her own business and did a lot of research before deciding to purchase property in Pembroke.
“I started out just seeing what’s out there in other communities. I did a lot of looking,” she said. “I love the South Shore area, and looked at demographics, availability and the timeframe I wanted to do this in. It was really the timing more than anything else. The property on Schoosett Street opened up, and I thought it was perfect. It’s right on a main road and it’s in a great area. I’m at a point now where I can start planning an opening date and getting everything finished.”
While the renovations to the building aren’t fully finished, the studio’s mascot is ready to welcome customers to the studio. Debreczeni said Artie the Aardvark will be Artvarks’ spokesman, and will help spread the work of her “walk-in art-venture,” where children, adults and seniors can all experience art in their own way.
“We will have classes, but a lot of it is just open. People can just walk in and be creative,” she said.
The prices at Artvarks start at $2.99 depending on the project, but Debreczeni said some projects could get pricey depending upon the materials and supplies involved.
“We have an open art room on the second floor full of supplies, and people can use as many of them as they want to, but if they just want paint on paper, they can have that too,” she said. “You’re only limited by your imagination.”
