KidsView: Dragonfly Art for Life: Art is a Lifelong Endeavor by Brandilyn Mitchell
Have you stopped by Dragonfly Art for Life during an Art Walk yet?! Add this wonderful art studio located in the heart of downtown Modesto to your portfolio when looking for fun things to do with your kiddos.
Barbara Alvarado, who opened Dragonfly in November of 2018, has a passion for art that is truly contagious. “Almost 20 years ago I was asked by my sister (who was recovering from cancer) to join her in an art therapy program for cancer patients, friends, family and caregivers. While I had not been suffering from cancer, I had ‘life drama’ and as I went through the program over the years I found the program to be as healing for me as it was for her. Over and over I would talk to others about how if this was so good for cancer patients, it had to be good for everyone. We all have stress and ‘life’ that needs a space for us to disconnect and be mindful again. I knew I wanted to create a space like this for everyone. We were allowed one evening a week from 6:00-9:00 PM to create. We were given materials and a prompt for any special art piece we would like to create. While we were welcome to create anything, the prompt always helped.”
After years of trying to work out how she could pull an open art studio, she was sitting in her car one day at a stop. She looked over and saw a sign that read “Car Insurance $14.95 a month”. “My brain woke up to the idea that if I could just sell memberships to the studio, everyone would want to come, because after all art was amazing! During this time I had returned to school for a BA in child Development and an MA in Education. My thesis was on how art supports learning and while I was doing my research I did a lot on art and healing and all the benefits of art.”
She had purchased a little house as a single mom, and during the time the equity was growing she became more and more dissatisfied with her job, and the pull to open a studio where everyone was welcome to come and create was so strong she sold her house to open Dragonfly. How did she settle on the name? “The name for the dragonfly came as Dragonflies are associated with ‘transformation’ and art for life was meant to be the transformational effects of art in our lives.” Why Modesto? “Modesto area has been my home for the past 35 years. I still believe there is space for this to happen across America…around the world, really. People need to be able to express themselves in a safe space where they can do something mindful, connect with their community and heal on their own terms.”
She offers Preschool Process Art for kids twice a week: Fridays and Saturdays at 10:30am. It is designed for preschool age kids, but depending on the kid, and you know your kid best, some older and some younger will enjoy this class as well! Barbara sets up stations in the back of the studio for kids to explore art in a variety of mediums. Playing with art leads to all kinds of important skills: fine motor control, cause and effect, sensory experience, and ultimately pride and joy in their creations!
We were able to paint, make a collage of sparklies, leaves and pompoms, play with glittery slime, decorate a birdhouse and bead a necklace. In the blink of an eye, our hour of art was over, but the memories we made will stay in our hearts forever. I asked her what her favorite medium is. “Watercolor and pencils. I end up doing a lot of work in acrylic and enjoy this also. I am loving pastels and want to do more of this with children.”
She was so amazing with the kids in class that I was curious that maybe she used to be a teacher. “I love Preschool Process Art because I love the age group. I believe too often that in preschools, the teachers are not inclined to plan for process art and more inclined to plan for teacher or parent art. I have worked with preschools for years and found a lot of teacher inspired handprints going home. The easels are clean and so are the children. Process art is about discovery. It’s about language as they discover texture and color. Children will drop the brush in every color and that has to be okay. They learn how the colors mix and what they can make with those colors. It does not need to be pretty, but it needs to be theirs. To ask them, ‘Wow! How did you do that?’ or ‘Tell me about this?’ They will roll off so much information to you when you are genuinely interested. They need to develop these fine motor skills and learn cause and effect and understanding of the materials. The sensory is engaging and sometimes revolting depending on the product. Some slime is definitely too slimy for me!”
I remembered a time when my daughter was around 2 years old, and I had gotten the playdoh out for us. The first thing she did was roll a ball of blue. Then she grabbed some red and SQUASHED it into the blue ball. “Oh no no little one, let’s keep the colors separate.” I said, completely dismissive of her experiment. Then I read a book, “The Whole Brain Child” by Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson. In the book they talk about how process art teaches a variety of skills, and even helps process emotions- I was determined next time to let her do whatever she wanted with the playdoh. It was stressful to see her mix all the colors for the first time, but you know what? She had a blast, and I promise you get used to it after a time or two! Try it, it will be worth the ball of browinish mush when you’re done!
I really enjoyed walking through the studio, looking at all the beautiful paintings on the walls. It was inspiring and made me itch to start painting again. If a night of painting whatever you want surrounded by potential friends sounds like fun, consider becoming a member for $50 a month. You are allowed to bring your own drinks and snacks, too. Not into Open Studio? She offers classes that are guided to help you build your creativity and confidence. “So many people do not try art because they feel they are not good at it. We are not here to produce the next Picasso, but we are here to support your creativity.” Classes are $125 a month. The series of monthly classes come with studio memberships that work to support your newly acquired skills in class.
“My passion for art has been lifelong. I had a deep desire to go to art school however my parents did not see the benefit of this. I was not academically inclined during my teen years, but got by. When my parents said no to art school I studied Early Childhood Education, collecting units when I was young but never finishing a degree. The days were fun and I always enjoyed the art process in the classroom. It was later that I returned to finish a BA, and MA and am halfway through a PhD in Organizational Leadership. After reading so many stories I want to illustrate children’s books as well. I have done two so far and have plans for another.”
Her future goals for the studio are to add staff to increase the time spent in certain programs, like the Preschool Process Art and our surge in art therapies like our Autism friendly programming and programming for Seniors. “It would be nice to see the Friday Night Paint be a steady item. I am never sure what painting will be a hit, but the thing is, people can always come in and paint whatever they like. We have had people come in on a date night and they just pick what they want to do and sit in peaceful conversation while creating.”
Check out the schedule of events here, and follow them on FB for updates, too. I hope you see you painting and taking your kiddos to explore their creativity!
The Dragonfly Art for Life
1210 J Street Modesto, Ca 95354
