Today we’d like to introduce you to Ann Sobieski.
Hi Ann, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
All of this started because of my sons. I have two sons; one here and one in heaven. My still born son is Luke. In order to heal from his loss, I volunteered to teach art. My first born is John, a man of many talents. When he was in second grade, I recognized that he would really enjoy more art projects. And I also knew that it would be a blast if other kids were there too. What to do? There were no art studio teaching kids anywhere near us. So, I inquired at his school if I could teach art on a volunteer basis. After all, I had my BFA and many years of professional experience as an art director and product developer! How hard could it be? Teaching art to kids is a very specialized talent, and I was put through my paces with the children at John’s school!
The children taught me so much about how they approach art class with excitement and a sense of adventure. I wanted to meet their expectations and then some! After a couple of years, I had found my stride. Parents started to ask me for more. And I was enjoying it so much, I wanted to do more than the school had resources to handle. I started a few after school art clubs and soon grew tired of all supply hauling and set up/clean up it takes just to have a great project. Because I had parents that approached me to do classes for their kids, I just went for it. That’s when I started teaching in my dining room.
We had a fun bunch of kids and their wonderful families who all came together for them to have an art class! But that interest from families soon outgrew our dining room. I decided to make the leap to rent a space and start my art class a business. Since 2013, i’ve seen interest in art classes for children and teens grow rapidly. I am proud of what we do to reach those kids that may see things a little differently than their peers. I am excited to bring the joy of art and creative making to our artists. The team at Blue Sky may look like ordinary teachers, but they have a real fire for art. And our greatest goal is to pass that along to our artists! It may be the beginning of a lifelong passion and outlet that will serve them well in the years to come. Skills learned in art training like keen observation, problem solving, and creative output are all highly desired skills for any employer too. Kids need art, and they are uniquely qualified to create it masterfully!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Smooth is not the word I would use in relation to my life’s road, but I’m not complaining. I have multiple sclerosis and sometimes have severe heath problems. In these months, my family and a couple friends have made all of the difference. Another challenge was coming back to in person art classes after 2020 closures. We have never fully recovered, but we continue to reach out to families! We are still here after starting up in 2013. Our business model is also challenging! As an owner, I never know how many kids will come each week. I have drop in only classes to make it easier for my families. They are my priority and I am happy to ride the waves of uncertainty to serve them. It not an easy thing to do !
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have been doing creative things my entire life. As a child, I created needlepoint canvases without any printing by drawing on them and using any yarn we had to create my design. I loved musical theater and did a needlepoint of a Bob Fosse character from Caberet!
By high school, I was an AP honor student, embroiled in the student council officer role, and pursuing extemporaneous speaking through the Forensics League. I didn’t have the time to take any art classes at my school. I did I fall in love with ballet after seeing the play, A Chorus Line. I began taking ballet lessons and ended up being invited to audition for the Tampa Ballet and was in an improvisational dance troupe in college at the University of Notre Dame called Abiogenesis.
I was taking ballet classes after college and lived with my parents at the time working at Northwestern University Student Publishing. It was in biking back and forth to my job, I started to notice vision problems that were very strange. This was my first MS attacks to my optic nerve called optic neuritis. Soon after I was diagnosed with MS and I was devastated. During this time, my whole life changed. My apartment building burned down, I was let go from my job as art director of a label printing company, and I was still very ill from the MS attacks. Then I found a career path in Product Development.
As I continued into my full time career in Product Develoment, I had to hide my condition. It was the 90s and telling an employer you had a handicap was not safe to retain employment due to health insurance costs for them. It was very hard to work full time but I managed to do many wonderful things like. travel abroad to vendors all over the Pacific rim, man and lead trade show booths, and learn to create new products for concept through their first shipment. One of my Product development positions was at an education toy company as their Math Product Manager. It was at Learning Resources that I began to take a great interest in children and teaching!
Fast forward to 1999 and meeting my husband, Tony, through a dating app. He is an amazing person and a hero to me. He is retired from the Air Force but is still working for the government in Industrial Security. At that time you would never admit that you used dating apps either! We got engaged on 12/31/99 and married that September. We’ve been through so much together, but are still going strong. I retired from full-time corporate jobs to raise my son. It was my observation about him that me to volunteer to teach art.
Once I started teaching children art, it became my raison d’etre. I am passionate about bringing beauty and creative inspiration to children. They are uniquely built to be creators. Kids must have exposure to the arts in order to develop in other areas. We try to manifest this life-changing perspective for our artists and I do the same for my teachers as well. The studio is for the teachers to grow too. Several of my teachers have gone on to advance their careers using their experience I provide to them teaching art. They are given lesson plans, supplies, students, and inspiration to teach my classes. I want them to be able to walk in and shine!
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I was a natural leader and had lots of friends. I was most drawn to the kids who were left out. I was in drama classes, tap classes, Girl Scouts, and later would babysit. I was your normal happy girl in the 70s!
Pricing:
- 90 minute art class $30
- Summer Camps M-F 9-noon $250
- Special events like Santa’s Workshop $50 for. 2 hours
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.blueskyartstudio.org/
- Instagram: @blueskyartstudio
- Facebook: BlueSkyArtStudio
- Youtube: @artofcraft29
