New St. James Business Offers Art Classes to Local Kids

For parents looking to get their children involved in the arts locally you could now do with the addition of Artsy in St. James

Artsy, an art and design school located at 438 Lake Avenue, caters mostly to an audience from pre-school to sixth grade, but has students as old as 28 years old.

While many completed art projects leave the doors of Artsy, owner and Smithtown resident Daniela Azzi said the classes offered aren’t geared solely towards the end result of the learning experience but the learning experience itself. 

“I’m not focused on the final product, I’m more interested in the process, the thinking process behind how creativity works,” she said. “The main focus is creativity, for them to be imaginative, for them to be able to express themselves.”

Artsy has been open since July with a summer program but just started offering full programs in September. The programs include a collage studio, printmaking studio, playing music with rain sticks, role-playing, numerous performing arts and more. 

Azzi, who has a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from Long Island University and a master’s degree in art education from C.W. Post, said the most popular class so far is toy design.

“We conceptualize toys and sketch them out and create prototypes with the children,” Azzi said. “They’re learning how to sketch, how to conceptualize something, think of an idea, put it down on paper, make sketches, then they build a 3D prototype.” 

Right now Artsy offers after school programs for kids in school during the day and morning programs for the pre-k students. In the not-so-distant future, Azzi is looking to hold three-hour weekend workshops on Saturday mornings, programs for senior citizens and a winter recess camp.