About Us
Van Grow is in its 17th year of business!
Van Grow: Studio of the Arts offers Fine Art instruction for ages 4 through adult and teaches the basics of art: drawing, painting, and sculpture plus many other creative opportunities like Dollhouse Camp (aka Unusual Architecture), Animation Camp or junk art.
Van Grow prides itself in offering original art classes to encourage creative thinking and problem solving. The studio, located in Fort Worth 's Cultural District, is a festive creative space!
Van Grow is owned and operated by Maarten and Hanna Vanderstoel. Maarten is a graduate of Dordt College in Iowa with a degree in Fine Arts focusing on graphic design. Hanna is a graduate of Northwestern State University in Louisiana with a degree in Studio Arts, and a minor in clothing and textiles. Maarten and Hanna teach a lot of the weekly classes and create the curriculum for all the classes and camps taught at Van Grow.
You are welcome to visit the studio for a tour, just give us a text Hanna - 817.348.0505
Why we teach what we teach at Van Grow!
Yes, we teach drawing lessons. Drawing well is an essential tool to becoming a better artist. However, you may notice that many more of our classes focus on creativity. We believe it is important that children learn to develop their own ideas and put those ideas into action. More important than teaching art techniques is encouraging self esteem, self discovery, problem solving skills, fine motor development, creative thinking, and encouraging the imagination. We also teach a lot about famous artists so that children will learn to appreciate art history and experience a wide range of techniques.
DID YOU KNOW?
• The arts teach kids to be more tolerant and open.
• The arts allow kids to express themselves creatively.
• The arts promote individuality, bolster self-confidence, and improve overall
academic performance.
• The arts can help troubled youth, providing an alternative to delinquent behavior and truancy while providing an improved attitude towards school.
An impressive 89% of Americans believe that arts education is important enough to be taught in schools, but the sad truth is, your kids spend more time at their lockers than in arts classes. Read the facts on how arts education helps kids do better.
DID YOU KNOW?
Young people who participate in the arts for at least three hours on three days each week through at least one full year are:
• 4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement
• 3 times more likely to be elected to class office within their schools
• 4 times more likely to participate in a math and science fair
• 3 times more likely to win an award for school attendance
• 4 times more likely to win an award for writing an essay or poem
Young artists, as compared with their peers, are likely to:
•Attend music, art, and dance classes nearly three times as frequently
•Participate in youth groups nearly four times as frequently
•Read for pleasure nearly twice as often
•Perform community service more than four times as often
(Living the Arts through Language + Learning: A Report on Community-based Youth Organizations, Shirley Brice Heath, Stanford University and Carnegie Foundation For the Advancement of Teaching, Americans for the Arts Monograph, November 1998)
