Art Academy of Dayton — Local services in Miami Township

My daughter is in the 7-12 year-old class range. So I think the youngest group.

Our daughter showed an interest in sketching and doodling at home. We asked her if she wanted to try some formal art classes. She was resistant at first. We fortunately found the Art Academy of Dayton after some searching for art instruction in the area.

My daughter absolutely loves the environment. During instruction soft instrument music is played which seems to add calm and focus to all the students. Also, as a parent, while I am sure none are turned away, it does not appear to be a day-care - most students appear interested/there for a more formal training/instruction setting.

The instruction isn't focused on a particular medium which has the added benefit of allowing my daughter to apply the techniques/principles of what she learns in class to her art at home, even if we don't have the same supplies and resources. We have seen noticeable improvement in relatively short time.

My daughter appreciates the self-paced approach to work completion. If she takes multiple classes to finish, it's ok. If she demonstrates proficiency she is allowed/encouraged to move on, but if there are areas for improvement they are addressed before proceeding to a new project.

The instructor student ratio seems good to allow students to get instruction/feedback on progress, but also not wait too long if they have questions. Sometimes it is just Alicia, but many/most classes she has a helper.

I would highly recommend this for a well-mannered young artist who has an interest in formal...

Our experience at the Art Academy has been wonderful! My daughter and I have enjoyed the oil painting class. We look forward to it every week. Alicia provides a warm, inspiring atmosphere and is an excellent instructor. Everyone in the room is working on different assignments, allowing you to move at a pace that fits you individually. Here's how a typical oil painting class goes: Students enter and gather their supplies from the organized shelves. File cabinets hold clearly marked assignments that you move through in order. As you retrieve a new assignment, Alicia is available to answer questions or teach new concepts. She always takes the time to highlight what went well on an assignment in addition to providing any feedback. The last 15 minutes or so are spent washing out brushes and cleaning up your area. I cannot recommend the Art Academy enough! Thank...

Mixed feelings about this place. Both kids love taking classes here and learning new things, but scheduling make up classes if they have to miss due to illness or other events has been extremely challenging as there was no other open spots available in other classes. They recently opened up another class because of the classes always being full but that was not communicated to parents until now. All communication is now going to be sent out on Facebook, with no other options to receive communication from them other than texting them yourself. Also they have had to close the studio and cancel your class, but instead of offering a different class time they just place another make up class in your file. Essentially since all their classes are “full” you never have a chance to...