Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Adriana Saurini. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Adriana, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Neighborhood Art Studio strives to provide a safe, supportive environment where there is no such thing as making mistakes. We encourage artists of all ages to open their minds, create without boundaries, and ignite the spark of ingenuity that lies within. Through exploration of various techniques, materials, and processes, artists learn to solve problems and overcome obstacles using the resources that are available to them, while building self-confidence and pride in the art they create.

Adriana has grown up in Slovakia and she experienced communist regime in her early years. She has always had a special way of looking at the world, looking for ways to innovate systems, and use materials in untraditional ways. She often felt like she didn’t belong, she was a misfit. Her ways of looking at the world were unique and she felt misunderstood. Her creativity wasn’t supported in ways she needed to grow as an artist. The art was expected to fall into expected guide lines that she wanted to break out of.
The communist regime was overthrown when she was in 5th grade. The entire country was trying to figure things out. Some classes like geography and history were not being taught because the textbooks very not accurate. She retreated to creating art to process through the complicated feelings of adolescence and the new world around her.
She immigrated to United States right after her 20th birthday with no English language skills. Again, being creative and focusing on crafts, it got her through some tough times of adjustment.
When her son Edyn was born in 2009, she vowed to support his creativity without creating boundaries. Edyn created many works of art that showcased his unique way of processing the world around him.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Neighborhood Art Studio was born in 2017 when Adriana Saurini’s then 7 year old son Edyn wanted to enroll in art classes. After Adriana’s search turned no results with programs that would allow him to explore various techniques and materials, develop his imagination, and create art without limits in environment that supported individualism and his unlimited fantasy, Adriana pulled out her drawing board. Since she was already a well known face painter in her neighborhood, Central Park in Denver, she asked a few moms about an interest in art classes for their children. She was overwhelmed with the interest of neighborhood parents and found out that her neighborhood was lacking enough art programs to support the needs of the kids. She started offering classes twice a week in local church’s small classroom. Only 6 months into her new adventure she realized she could offer the local community so much more with an actual art studio. With a help of a local real estate agent, she found a small warehouse on the outskirts of Central Park which allowed easy access from all parts of the neighborhood.
Her husband, Paul Janik, a general contractor brought all her visions, even the crazy ones to reality in this new space. Together they worked late into the night to create an environment where kids feel welcome and inspired.

In only couple of years, Adriana realized the space was becoming too small once again and got to talk to her landlord. As the covid pandemic forced a few tenants to close their doors in her business complex, an amazing space opened up and it was just perfect. Adriana, the team of Neighborhood Art Studio and her husband once again got to work creating a studio twice as large, with two spacious and bright classrooms that double as party rooms and a lot of storage.
They opened the doors to their new space in April 2021 and love every inch of it. As Adriana often says, “The second space is intentionally designed using all her experience of running an art school for 3 years in their first location.”

Five years later, Adriana is running a successful business in her second location that is double the size of first with team of amazing art educators.
Her dream of developing an environment where students’ unique ideas are encouraged, where young artists find inspiration in the world around them and in each other, is a reality. She intuitively understands that simply providing a supportive environment for the children with educators who are genuinely interested in their ideas and ways of thinking will support their heathy development and self esteem.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Neighborhood Art Studio was growing fast, establishing a strong reputation within the community and for the first time since its doors opened, spring break camps were all booked and sold out. Adriana and her team were preparing for the most successful spring break session yet when the news of the new virus that was spreading rapidly through the world made its way to Colorado. Neighborhood Art Studio along with the rest of the country closed its doors to in-person classes in March 2020, only a couple of weeks before spring break camps were supposed to unroll. Her son along with the rest of the children in her neighborhood were isolated in their homes without an opportunity to socialize or do school. Parents were struggling to entertain their children while still trying to work remotely.
Adriana quickly realized that the art materials in the studio are no good if kids can’t use them. She brainstormed new format of art classes that could be taught via zoom. She started offering a few different classes for young artists of different ages virtually. While she learned to navigate the new online platform, she packed art kits and personally delivered them to students’ door steps without personal contact. She also started offering classes using materials found around the house.
She welcomed everyone who wanted to join whether they had means to pay for a class or not. The word spread quickly and the Neighborhood Art Studio almost doubled its numbers in student attendance. Although, financially Neighborhood Art Studio barely kept with its overhead expenses, the community never forgot the support Adriana offered in the tough times.
Nowadays, the “pandemic” students love to come to in-person classes and workshops continuing the joy of learning and creating while enjoying the therapeutic qualities of art making.
Adriana continues to offer scholarships with the help of Mrs. Fredrika Groff, who reached out to Adriana during the peak of pandemic to offer financial support. Adriana refused to accept the finances for herself. Instead she created a scholarship fund to extend the financial blessing to others. Mrs. Groff continues to work with Adriana and together they have been able to offer art education to students that would otherwise not have an opportunity to join the classes.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

At the beginning of the Neighborhood Art Studio’s journey, Adriana had a very strong vision for how the format of classes and party services would look like. As the business grew, welcoming more families and students, she was forced to admit that some of her ideas did not work for the community she served. She learned a very important lesson of ‘letting go’ and adapting to your environment and clientele. Through some hard lessons, she learned to listen to people around her. She welcomed an outside independent business counselor to guide her through the ‘growing pains’ of the studio. Adaptability has proven to be one of the most important aspects of the growing business. As proven in March 2020, without this new-learned quality Neighborhood Art Studio would have had a very hard time surviving without adapting to immediate circumstances.
Adriana has learned that it is important to let go of one’s ideas if they don’t work and adapt to new ideas. The most important thing is to keep one’s eyes and ears open, listen to your clientele and their needs and adapting accordingly while still staying true to the business’ core mission.
Nowadays, the entire team of Neighborhood Art Studio has a strong input on development of new services as well as the improvement of existing services.
Adriana understands that with improvement and growth, adaptability is the key.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://neighborhoodartstudio.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neighborhoodartstudio/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neighborhoodartstudio

Image Credits
Laura Orozco Photography