Preschool teacher kickstarts studio to marry passions of art and education

Brittany Aline, a preschool teacher of 12 years, has always had a love for art and helping others to discover their creativity. However, being so passionate about teaching, for a long time Aline couldn’t imagine moving away from that career path to pursue her artistic interests.

That is, until she decided to found Sunflower Creative Studio — a community art education studio featuring group workshops, classes, camps, and parties. While the programs so far have been focused on younger age demographics, before the end of the summer Aline hopes to acquire an indoor studio to provide a space for growing artists of all ages to learn new art mediums, purchase inexpensive, gently used art supplies, sell and share their work with other small local artists, and participate in community fundraising events.

“I don’t really remember when it officially clicked, but eventually I thought, ‘What if I do both things at the same time? What if I combine my love of creating and lifting other artists up (with) my passion for teaching and working with children of diverse learning needs?’ and that’s when Sunflower Creative Studio shifted into this much bigger thing of wanting to start an actual studio for other people to come and create,” said Aline.

By providing a space for artists not only to learn, but acquire the tools for and experiment with new art mediums, Aline hopes that people will find a creative passion they otherwise would have never known they had.

“Being an artist, let alone one that switches from medium to medium, is not a cheap activity,” said Aline. “So I think it would be really beneficial for people to have these materials for significantly less than what they would pay for brand new ones from a store. Especially for people that want to try something new, or that just might not have the accessibility to go out and buy new art supplies. I know as a person who is neurodivergent such as myself, there’s so many times where I will pick up a new hobby for like two weeks and then I’ll be like, ‘Nah, I don’t want to.’ and that’s expensive! So I know that there has to be so many other creative people like me that have probably been through the same thing 12 times over, if not more.”

Working as a preschool teacher in Marblehead for the past four years, where she said she’s received a lot of support and ideas from her students, Aline is looking for a studio space in the North Shore area. However, as suitable locations in the area have proven difficult to come by, she is not yet committed to any certain spot for the future site of the studio.

After transitioning from the backyard “picnic style” workshops to an indoor studio, Aline hopes to kick-start fundraisers, host a space for local artists to sell their work, and hold informative workshops for all age groups, covering diverse mediums such as crocheting or digital illustration with Procreate.

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