Dr. Java Joshi and Hetal Joshi announced the opening of Academy of Creative Arts on Sunday in Burlington, MA. The studio and academy, which is located at 128 Wheeler Road in Burlington, will serve as a school of arts, where various different forms of creative and performing arts will be taught under one roof.

The inauguration was attended by over 300 people, including many Boston art lovers, enthusiasts, community leaders, parents and families who love art and want to learn or have their kids learn various forms of art. People from as far as NJ and CT attended to support the objective and extend their wishes. The main attraction of the event happened to be "Students Wall of Art" where art work (drawings and paintings) from Java Joshi's students was displayed.

"I feel truly blessed to have such fantastic support from our community, community leaders, media outlets, friends, parents and all my students. This is our dream project and the support and encouragement is just outstanding — cannot thank God enough - am glad to be part of the New England south asian family," said Java.

"It was unbelievable to see such overwhelming support from everyone, as one of the attendees said "when you do something with a clean heart and noble intentions — people just get drawn in with positive energy" — we are just blessed and happy to be part of this fantastic community that is so supportive and encouraging. We wish and will work hard to make our collective dreams come true.", said Hetal.

So what is your Mission and Vision?

Academy of Creative Arts mission is to provide an atmosphere where creativity is encouraged and fostered, developing love for the art that will continue to grow forever…

The vision for Academy of Creative Arts is to become an institution of choice for any and all kinds of creative and performing arts. Our focus is to provide highest quality of education by some of the best in their field, all under one roof.

We have immense talent in the Boston area, whether it’s drawing and painting, various forms of dance, creative writing or theatre and acting – Boston area is blessed with so many talented and creative people. We wish our kids can learn from them and are sure there are other parents like us, who want their kids to get the same kind of exposure that helps in development of overall personality of our next generation.

We wish to bring the creative spirits and energy together under one roof for everyone’s benefit. We don’t want to be one of those institutions where instructors just go through motions and are out there just to do business, our focus would be high quality and personalized instruction. We as parents always want our kids to get the best and we want our Academy to be that place where only the best is being offered.  

With blessings from our elders and support from our community we hope to make a positive difference in our community through this humble attempt.

So how did this idea come to mind?

Per Hetal & Java: Necessity is the mother of invention. Having a 9yr old son (Arth) and a 5 year old daughter (Anaya), we were looking for creative art schools/training institutions around the area and found that they are few and far between… As parents, you have to run all around, over the weekend just to provide right kind of exposure to the kids. We know many other parents who also face the same challenge. Java is already teaching drawing and painting to many kids in the area and has heard this from many parents.

Honestly, we wanted to make our life easy to get our kids art education under one roof and figured other parents would also want the same and appreciate that. That’s when we asked ourselves, why wait for someone to someday do this, why not start something like this ourselves? This led to the creation of Academy of Creative Arts – an institution where parents, students and teachers can get access to various forms of creative and performing arts in one place.

Our idea is not to compete with anyone who is already providing training in the field of art, dance, theatre, design etc. but rather create a platform where all these converge into one place. In fact, we wish to provide an opportunity for other teachers and artists to come and offer their services through our academy provide their expertise and share their passion with our students under the banner of Academy of Creative Arts without compromising the quality of education as that is prime focus for us.

The initial launch will start with 3 departments. Drawing and Painting (drawing and painting for kids and observational drawing for adults), Jewelry Design and Dance-Kathak. With more creative art activities and offerings to start soon, parents and students will have the ability to choose and learn any or all forms of creative and performing arts in one place. We wish to make this a destination for parents, students and teachers to come together under roof to learn and share their passion.

Can you tell us something about the instructors?

Sure, as we stated in our mission and vision, we want to focus on the quality of education. Instructors are chosen very carefully and they are some of the best in their field. We currently have 4 instructors who will be providing their services through our academy. Here is a brief bio of our very talented and creative instructors:

Mona Mitra – Kathak Dance – Mona  is a classically trained dancer, with a “Visharad” in Kathak. She started learning Kathak at the age of 4.  Mona has trained under Pandit Chunilal Goswami and Dr Amita Dutt. Dr. Amita Dutt is a senior disciple of Pandit Birju Maharaj and the Dean of Fine Arts at Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata.. Mona has been teaching dance for the last 12 years. She has been teaching Kathak and Bollywood Fusion in the Boston area since 2010. Prior to that, Mona also taught in Los Angeles, Portland (Oregon) and in India.  Mona and her students have performed at numerous shows/events and have also been featured on local TV  channels.

Irit Kaphzan Hamami – Jewelry Design – Irit came to US 15 years ago and taught Jewish studies. She had interest in Jewelry design from childhood and started following her passion about 8 years ago. She started experimenting with different techniques making stunning pieces of jewelry for friends and family. She started getting overwhelmed and got so many positive reviews. Five years ago Irit opened her work to public through the Lexington and Concord open studios. “There is a story and emotion in each piece. I love creating new jewelry and wear it and see how much people like it. Would love to combine jewelry design with teaching. These two are the things I love best to do.“ - Irit

Judith Ann Cooper – Observational Drawing for Adults (Currently teaching Art at Harvard University)

Although trained as a painter, the joy Judith receives from "creating" has led her to utilize many different materials: fibers and textiles, clay, graphite and pastels, and mixed media with found objects. Her art has been exhibited in studio tours and galleries, and is in corporate and private collections. Judith created art since her childhood in Manhattan. After earning a BFA from Boston University, with a major in painting and a minor in education, she taught art in the Gloucester Public Schools for 28 years. There her primary focus was on high school courses in ceramics, drawing, and portfolio preparation for those applying to art school.

Retirement from public education in 1999 gave Judith the chance to concentrate on her passion, work with private clients and delve into graduate studies at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in California and Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she received a Masters with a specialization in Art and Self-Transformation. Judith is particularly interested in working with individuals and groups who wish to delve more deeply into their life process and create a piece of art that honors that journey.

Judith has recently also started teaching art at Harvard University. It is our pleasure and honor to have esteemed and celebrity artist Judith Cooper be a part of Academy of Creative Arts.

Dr. Java Joshi – Drawing and Painting– Co-founder of Academy of Creative Arts, who was also nominated for Women of the Year in 2013 for her contribution in promotion of Art. She has exhibited her work at many national and international art shows. Java, who holds a PhD in Drawing and Painting from India and Masters in Multimedia & Web Design from Art Institute of Atlanta, is also a very active member of Lexington Art community and serves on the core committee for Lexington Open Studios.

Java resides in Lexington and about 3 years ago, formed Java Joshi Creative Arts, with a mission to share her passion of the art through teaching. She teaches students from the ages of 3 to 18 years in Lexington and at her studio in Burlington. Her objective is to spread the love of art among children and create the next generation of artists.

What should people know about the Founders – Dr. Java Joshi and Hetal Joshi?

First of all, we are parents who are in quest of giving the right foundation and values to our kids. Fortunately, we both had an upbringing where in addition to academic education our parents ensured we were involved in some kind of creative activity so that we can also use right side of our brain. We both came to US for our Masters and started working here – Java in the field of advertising and Hetal in business and technology consulting. But both of us had creative backgrounds in theatre and art that bind us together as a couple.

A little about Dr. Java Joshi,  in addition to being an outstanding artist, has also been involved with theatre since childhood and has acted in 50+ plays, short films etc.  She comes from a theatre family and her parents have been doing theatre for over 45 years in India.

Java is also the co-founder of Kreative Approach Inc. – a company that provides consulting, web and branding solutions to different small and mid-size businesses.  In addition to her involvement in art, Java has also been involved with many charitable institutions like Ekal Vidyalaya, Snehalaya etc. donating her time and her paintings to support charities.

A little about Hetal Joshi – Hetal’s educational background  is in Business and Marketing Management and came to US for his Masters in Computer Information Systems from Bentley University. Hetal started his career in consulting with Deloitte and has been doing strategy consulting for about 15 years. After Deloitte, Hetal was involved with a couple of start-up ventures and now heads the CRM strategy business for North America and APAC regions.

Hetal also holds a Diploma in Performing Arts (Dramatics) from MS University, India. He also has been involved in theatre from his childhood days. Hetal has acted in over 40-50 plays and has also written and directed many kids and comedy plays, skits, mimes etc. Hetal also won national level awards for is acting during his dramatics days.

Both Hetal and Java are actively involved in theatre activities with Hindi Manch as well. Hetal & Java both have participated in many Hindi Manch plays. Last year they also wrote and directed a kids play for Bal Manch.

Some quotes from community leaders, art enthusiasts  and parents who attended the event:

“It was exhilarating. The creative art studio is a need of the community and it will be so good for kids, young and the not-so-young.. Congrats to Java and Hetal. There was such a turnout that there was hardly space to stand. Soon they might need a bigger space.” – Syed Ali Rizwi

“Congratulations! It was a superb launch goes to show how loved you are!” – Poonam Ahluwalia – Women of the Year 2013

“Our best wishes as you embark on this wonderful endeavor--- bringing best in people is not an easy task--you are truly blessed to do this !!” – Harsimrat Kumar

“Awesome opening today Java! It was fabulous to see everything that you have done and the amazing products of your students! You should be extremely proud! Keep up the good work!! “ – Vandana Rao

“Java Joshi what a fantastic studio you have!! Coming in there I felt inspired to learn painting! The studio is sure to transform the art world in New England. God bless you!” – Ranjani Saigal – WOY 2012 / Executive Director  Ekal & Lokvani.com

“Java Joshi and Hetal Joshi We are very proud of you. Keep up the good work. All the best” – Manju Sheth

“We are just amazed to see how the Indian community comes together to support each other – how close it is – its such a fabulous thing that other cultures can learn from – the support and energy was overwhelming and unbelievable” – Judith Cooper – Artist and Irit Hamami – Jewelry Designer.

For more information about Academy of Creative Arts, you can call 612.888.ARTS (2787) or visit the website www.academyofcreativearts.com.

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