Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Philly Art Center fills a need through arts programs

Classes in Fairmount and Queen Village teach youngsters and adults to be creative and to think outside the box.

Jill Markovitz, Founder and Director of Fairmount Art Center and Queen Village Art Center.  Andrew Thayer / DAILT NEWS STAFF
Jill Markovitz, Founder and Director of Fairmount Art Center and Queen Village Art Center. Andrew Thayer / DAILT NEWS STAFFRead more

J ILL MARKOVITZ, 40, of Fairmount, is founder and director of Philly Art Center, with locations in Queen Village and Fairmount. The centers hold art classes, after-school programs and summer camps for kids as young as 18 months, as well as workshops for adults.

 Q: How'd you come up with the idea for the biz?

A: My background is art education, and it was always my dream to have an arts center. We just celebrated 10 years in Fairmount, and [Queen Village] opened in 2011. I'd been teaching art for 20 years prior to this.

Q: Start-up money?

A: I was teaching full time when we opened Fairmount in a 400-square-foot space. I put $10,000 on my credit card and paid the rent from my teacher's salary. After three years, we used some savings, took on a new space and longer lease. Queen Village was a much bigger project.

Q: What's the biz do?

A: We offer arts programming for all ages in open studios. We've got 13 to 25 employees - 15 full-time - and all our teachers have college degrees in art or art education, and many have master's degrees. We have after-school programs, vacation day camps, adult evening and Saturday classes, music classes and weekend birthday parties.

Q: Cost of services?

A: They're affordable and competitive with other area art classes, and many include materials. Our parent-child classes, where we meet for an hour per day, are $140 for a six-week session. Our popular after-school program starts at $22 per day, five days a week, and we have fall, winter and spring terms, 14 weeks each, or $1,540.

Q: How's the after-school programming work?

A: We pick up from nearby schools at 3 p.m. and go to a park and play, then come back for homework, snack and arts classes. Kids are in the studio from 4:30 to 6 p.m. We have a curriculum developer who writes programs, so it's a program where they draw, paint, print and sculpt, individually or in groups.

Q: How many students?

A: On a given day, 100 people move through our centers.

Q: Value proposition?

A: We have a dynamic arts curriculum that teaches kids to think outside the box. Kids aren't getting art instruction in [many public] schools and they need to work with their hands.

Q: Got an example?

A: Our summer fashion camp is incredible. Girls are learning how to sew who've never sewn. The program is for tweens who'll leave here with a dress, pillow and headband, and a life skill.

Q: Your customers?

A: The adults are professionals from all over the region, 20s to 30s. The after-school programs pull more from nearby neighborhoods.

Online: ph.ly/YourBusiness