OUR MISSION

ART BY SPARTZ offers students of various age groups the opportunity to learn artistic techniques in an environment that is both nurturing and challenging.

SUMMER ART cAMPs

The summer program offers (1) uncompromising technical instruction alongside (2) an eclectic mix of art-aligned exploratory enrichment activities that are intended to enhance the young artist’s technical prowess and broaden his or her artistic consciousness, respectively. Camps take place at the serene, secluded, and sublimely storybook Artisan Acres Estate, whose architectural marvel and lush nature offer unparalleled inspiration to the young artist. Instruction is not fettered by the conventional studio paradigm—the Estate will provide not only the setting of and inspiration for our creations, but oftentimes even the media from which they are composed. For example, the young artist may harvest dahlias from the pre-industrial Dyer’s Garden to create a rich natural dye for their silk batiks, or snip leaves from the Winding Wooded Path to create crisp botanical prints with a professional heat press.

At the conclusion of each session, we will come together for a Gallery Reception in the Grand Little Barn, where family and friends are welcome to view our young artists’ creations as they enjoy refreshments on the beautiful property. This allows our students to not only engage with the creation phase of the artistic process, but with the curation, installation, and exposition aspects as well.

HOMESCHOOL PROGRAM

The homeschool program offers affordable, intimate homeschool enrichment courses on an a la carte basis to students of all ages. Our homeschool enrichment courses are taught (1) in an engaging context, (2) under a developmentally appropriate structure, and (3) with numerous opportunities to engage creatively with the material. We believe that in order for a student to truly grasp and make intuitive the material at hand, not only must he or she be engaged according to his or her developmental timetable, but he or she must also engage deliberately and creatively with said material—thus, each course will integrate adaptive artistic, creative, and/or kinesthetic activity. For example, a high school Calculus student might demonstrate his increased intuition for the subtlety of curvature through sculpture. Hands-on, deliberate activity enhances a student’s ability to retain, apply, and subsequently integrate the material of their study.

CONTACT US

To contact us, please click the Contact tab in the heading. We look forward to hearing from you!

Sophie (Director and Instructor) is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame with a BA in Chinese (Honors), cum laude, and is the recipient of Notre Dame’s 2019 EALC Departmental Award for Distinction in Chinese. Sophie has taken coursework at a few universities in China, including Psychology coursework (in Chinese) alongside Chinese national students at Peking University and Chinese Literature and Linguistics at East China Normal University and Dalian University of Technology. Sophie took supplemental coursework in art while at Notre Dame and also studied Chinese calligraphy while in China. She most enjoys charcoal drawing and woodworking.

Sophie oversees all programs at ART BY SPARTZ, and has taught several summer art camps and homeschool enrichment courses.

To contact Sophie directly, you can send her an email at artbyspartz [at] gmail [dot] com.

Yingjia (Instructor) began studying calligraphy (in China) at the age of six. Throughout her adolescence, she studied with several famous Chinese calligraphers, including Liang Zhenxiong, Lin Shaoming, and the illustrious “Mr. Qigong.” She later studied Architecture, World Art History, and Painting at Guangdong University of Technology. She received the Diamond Cup Award (the highest distinction) in the Chinese Double Dragon Cup (Shuanglongbei) Calligraphy and Painting Competition in addition to several other calligraphy- and painting-related honors. She was invited to participate in both Peking University’s Centennial Calligraphy Exhibition and the world tour exhibition of works by China’s top ten young calligraphers.

Yingjia has taught calligraphy, painting, Chinese language, and Chinese culture to both children and adults in China and the United States.