COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

"Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun." ~ Mary Lou Cook

Art Garden Academy

This inspiring quote could well be Juli Hess’ personal motto. Hess is the owner of Gahanna’s Art Garden Academy (172 Granville St.), an artistic hub that has been encouraging creativity from children to adult students since 2009.

A longtime resident of Gahanna, Hess raised her children here and loved the community. But she noticed that it had very little arts presence. “I thought I could help with that. It’s important for a community to have someplace for every member to call home. For some, it’s a field or a court or a stage, for us it's a studio,” she said.

Working with a private art instructor from an early age, Hess said she was gifted with a creative, can-do spirit. The fact that her teacher brought her dog to work was a bonus. “Although we don’t have a studio dog, we do have the ability to bring into the studio everything a child needs to nurture that creative spirit,” she said. “That ability and awareness continues to inspire me today.”

In the 12 years since her business has been in operation, it has changed in more ways than one. Hess opened the studio in her home, but it didn’t take long until she needed more space. The Academy is now located in an older home, offering several studio spaces.

It hasn't all been easy, however, as the Academy is still recovering from the pandemic.

“Currently we are still recovering from the way the world ‘went home’ nearly two years ago. The studio contributed to the pre-pandemic hustle and bustle of getting your child into everything. Since then, our families have learned to be home,” she said. “We are still here with an amazing base of students who come weekly to spread their creative wings. That shows the kind of tenacity and perseverance we teach. Luckily, change is embedded in the artmaking process.”

The thrill of teaching new students never wanes with Hess.

“I love the opportunity to be available for our diverse community. Sometimes the importance of the arts is taught inside the home from an early age, where the expectations are already set,” she said. “I love teaching from scratch, letting the art process itself sort of tickle the creative spirit inside.”

A dozen years into this venture, Hess is seeing her impact come full circle. “It took several years to know that my business was a success, but when the early students graduated and continued to come back to be a part of our studio community—then went on to make art elsewhere, I knew we were successful. Is there any greater success than to make an indelible impression on a being in the name of creativity?

“We care less about the outcome of your work of art, but instead care deeply about what it takes inside you to get you there,” she said.

To learn more about Art Garden Academy, visit artgardenacademy.com

↑ Juli Hess and Team at Art Garden Academy