Rivertowns Small Business Spotlight: Scribble Art Workshop

Every local business has a story worth sharing with the community. And that’s the belief behind this exciting series — to shine the spotlight on all our favorite local businesses, and to learn a little about the ones we may not know that well.

• Business: Scribble Art Workshop
• Owners: Sasha Schwartz & David Jarrett
• Website: www.scribbleartworkshop.com
• Address: 42 Main Street Hastings-on-Hudson NY 10706

Why start a business in this town? We have a studio in Inwood in Upper Manhattan and so the logical expansion was to Lower Westchester. For the past year and a half, we’ve run our classes at the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers and our client base mainly came from Hastings. Additionally, Hastings (and the Rivertowns in general) are filled with artists and people who appreciate art-making as much as we do!

Briefly, what business are you in? We offer art classes for people of all ages starting at 18 months and continuing into adulthood. We also offer parties, workshops, camps and do a ton of community events.

What’s the most difficult moment or challenge you’ve faced as a business owner? I think change is always difficult for a business owner. We employ a lot of young artists and invest time, energy and money into training them to be stellar Scribble teachers (and eventually teacher trainers). When one of them leaves, it’s especially disheartening but it’s usually to an exciting new adventure!

What’s been your favorite moment or proudest achievement since opening? About 6 months after we opened our Inwood studio, NY Magazine named us Best Young Artist Incubator for the Best of NY edition. It was great to be acknowledged but the title was especially specific and exciting.

How does your business give back or get involved in the community? We offer a lot of free classes at local farmer’s markets and special community events. Additionally, once a year we host a huge art exhibition in NYC where all of our students and teachers sell work and the proceeds sponsor a Scribble scholarship fund.

Would you like to see your small business showcased in this series? Email wendy.mitchell@patch.com.