EP #55 From Closet to Studio: The Art Cart Kids Journey

Ever wondered what happens when children are given true creative freedom? In this enlightening conversation with Stephanie Cox, founder of Art Cart Kids Enrichment Studio, we discover the transformative power of open-ended art education where children choose their own artistic path.

Stephanie shares her remarkable journey from keeping art as a background passion to creating a thriving studio that began as a mobile business operating in parks and borrowed spaces—including nine months in a closet at Curves—before establishing her brick-and-mortar location in Stafford during summer 2023. Her story exemplifies entrepreneurial determination and the importance of creating opportunities rather than waiting for them.

What makes Art Cart Kids truly special is its innovative approach to artistic development. Through their "Dazzle's Color Quest" program, children progress through colored pins by mastering twelve different artistic mediums, with techniques varying by level. This creates a unique multi-age learning environment where younger experienced students often guide older newcomers, fostering collaboration, communication, and friendship across age groups. Drawing from her Montessori background, Stephanie has cultivated a space where independence, self-esteem, and acceptance flourish.

The studio has become more than just an art class—it's a community where families connect, children from opposite sides of the county become best friends, and everyone feels safe to express themselves authentically. With flexible membership options accommodating busy family schedules and Stafford County's varied school dismissal times, Art Cart Kids demonstrates how businesses can provide both exceptional education and practical convenience.

Ready to see your child's creativity and confidence soar? Visit artcartkids.com or their social media pages to learn more about this unique creative haven that's changing how children experience art—and themselves.

Stephanie Cox

Art Cart Kids

artcartkids.com

[e-mail]

[phone]

77 Bells Hill Road, Stafford, VA, United States, Virginia

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
, the place where localbusinesses and neighbors come
together.
Here's your host, Dori Stewart.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome back to another episode of the FXBG
Neighbors Podcast, where weshare the stories of our
favorite local brands.
I'm excited to introduce you tomy guest today local brands.
I'm excited to introduce you tomy guest today.
We have Stephanie Cox joiningus with Art Cart Kids Enrichment
Studio.
Stephanie, welcome to thepodcast.
Good morning Thank you forhaving me Well, I'm excited to

(00:37):
learn all about you and aboutyour business.
So let's start there.
Share with the listeners alittle bit about Art Cart Kids.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
All right.
Art Cart Kids is a open-endedchild choice art studio which is
a little different fromeverything else that's around
here and very different fromwhat the kids get in school.
Very different from what thekids get in school.
Here they get to come learnabout different mediums and then

(01:08):
choose what medium they want touse and what they want to make
with that medium.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
I love that.
I love that they have thefreedom to kind of choose which
path they wanna go.
That's really cool.
I love that.
So tell me a little bit aboutyour background.
How did you get into this andhow did Art Cart Kids come to be
?

Speaker 3 (01:34):
I've always loved art , but it was like in the
background in my life, justsomething I did for fun.
When I graduated from college, Idid get a supplementary
credential in art, but inCalifornia they didn't have
elementary art teachers and Ireally wanted to stay in the

(01:55):
elementary level, so I neverused it.
Then I moved out here toVirginia and they do have art
teachers in class in schools,but of course it's a very
desired job.
So I didn't find any openingsin the area and eventually I

(02:20):
just decided that maybe I shouldcreate my own.
So, um, I started out as amobile business.
We would have classes at thepark during the summer and then
I kind of bounced around.
I went to several differentrestaurants in the area and got
to use their space when theyweren't using it, to use their

(02:49):
space when they weren't using itand spent almost a year about
nine months in the closet atCurves, which it was a big
closet, it was kind of like aroom and then I bought the brick
and mortar studio here inStafford during the summer of
2023.
Here in Stafford during thesummer of 2023.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
So I love your story so much.
I love that you created yourown destiny and I feel like so
many great businesses are bornfrom that same desire.
So congratulations on yoursuccess.
And from closet to brick andmortar location, you've come a

(03:27):
long way.
I love your story so much.
That's awesome.
That's awesome.
So are you?
Do you find that there are anymisconceptions that people have
about your business?

Speaker 3 (03:42):
Yes, because I think open ended art gives a lot of
people the impression that thekids are just going to come and
scribble and you know, that'swhat are they going to do.
They don't know what to do.
But that's not true at all.
Actually, Our kids have greatimaginations.

(04:03):
Actually, Our kids have greatimaginations.
By just having a short minilesson on how to use a material,
they use problem solving skills, critical thinking, they figure
out how to make what they wantto make and it's really amazing
to see.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
That's amazing.
So what are the ages that youcater to?

Speaker 3 (04:25):
Right now we're open from kindergarten through eighth
grade.

Speaker 2 (04:28):
Oh wow, nice A big range there, so kids can really
grow, grow with you.
I love that.

Speaker 3 (04:35):
And they all get to come to class at the same time.
They pick whatever session thatthey want to come to and it's
really neat because the kidshelp each other out and we run a
program it's called Dazzle'sColor Quest and they earn pins.
They start with white and theyhave 12 different mediums that

(04:58):
they get introduced to for eachof the pins.
They're the same 12 mediums butthe technique that they're
taught is different depending onthe color.
So we have some kids that arelike second graders that are
already on orange and middleschoolers that come in on white.

(05:19):
The younger kids, who've beenhere longer and have used more
of the materials and know how touse things and know how to find
things, actually guide theolder kids as well as the older
kids guiding the younger kids.
They do a lot of communicatingand sharing ideas and they help

(05:39):
each other, and just themulti-age range is something
that I was used to working withwhen I taught Montessori.
My oldest daughter went througha Montessori program when she
was younger and I just loved it,so I got certified in.
Was it six to nine, when mydaughter was in school?

(06:05):
And then I had my youngestdaughter nine years after my
first daughter and I did threeto six so that I could do
Montessori with her at home.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
That's really cool.
I love that.
I love the badges and how funto show up with all of your
different badges and what aconfidence boost and you're
really building independence inthe kids.
That's so cool.

Speaker 3 (06:35):
Independent self-esteem, acceptance.
We are fully inclusive.
We have all kinds of studentsthat come to us here and we
accept and know that we all haveour own differences, but we
also all have a love of art anda love of creating and so it

(06:58):
gives them, you know, a place tobe themselves and be
comfortable in their own skin.
There's no competition.
There's no you know, oh, who'smaking the best elephant today?
And they don't have to worryabout that kind of stuff.
They just come and they havefun and they make friends.

(07:19):
I've had kids from other, youknow, opposite sides of the
county become best friends andspend time together outside of
the art studio because theyfound they had so much in common
just, you know, being here andcreating together.
It's really amazing.

Speaker 2 (07:39):
What a wonderful environment you have created for
them to come to.
I love that.
Congratulations on that.

Speaker 3 (07:48):
That's really cool that was top on my list.
I wanted a place where peoplecan come or kids can come and be
comfortable and be happy andhave fun and just be creative.

Speaker 2 (08:01):
And typically, how often are they coming to you?
Is it?
Are they coming weekly?
Talk to me a little bit aboutthat.

Speaker 3 (08:07):
We do have a membership program which is 40
classes a year over the 10months.
Usually they come once a week,so that's about four a month, um
.
But we also are open on noschool days for Stafford County
schools, um, so we have earlierhours on those days where the

(08:31):
kids can come during the day, sothey may come twice in one week
, that week, or, you know, theycan kind of pick and choose when
they want to come.
We have classes scheduledMonday through Friday.
They're at different timesbecause Stafford County
elementary schools are now on atwo-tier schedule.

(08:54):
Some of the kids get out at2.45, some get out at 3.15.
So, depending on the day, wehave classes right after school,
you know, for the kids that getout at 2.45, and then we have
some on different days for thekids that get out at 3.
3, 30 or three, whatever it is.

(09:15):
Yeah, gotcha, gotcha, um, andthey, they don't have to come.
If they sign up for themembership, they don't have to
come every monday, it could comeanytime they want.
So if it's.
I had a big problem with thisin the past where there would be
a Christmas pageant and thekids would end up with, you know

(09:38):
, choir rehearsal on Thursdaynight, and that was the night
they signed up for art.
Well, now they just changedtheir day to a different day
during the week, a differenttime during the week, and they
don't miss any classes.
I don't like it when peoplehave to spend money and not get
what you know, not get theirvalue.

Speaker 2 (10:01):
That bothers me.
Yeah Well, that's so nice forparents because, especially when
you have multiple kids withdifferent interests and you know
you're, you're taking kids allover the place to this and that
and times change.
So I imagine that the parentsreally appreciate your
flexibility with that.

Speaker 3 (10:21):
Yeah, I started doing it this summer just to see how
it would work.
And they loved it.

Speaker 2 (10:28):
Absolutely loved it Nice, nice.
So I imagine there were manychallenges when you started your
business.

Speaker 3 (10:47):
What advice would you give a new entrepreneur who is
thinking about?

Speaker 2 (10:49):
starting a company.

Speaker 3 (10:59):
Probably the most important thing is, unless you
are buying into a franchisewhere everything is already
given to you and you're toldexactly how to do things, your
business should reflect who youare.
When I first started, I wasn'tsure who I was and what it was I
was doing, and so I did a lotof what everybody else does.
I had been an art teacher in aprivate school for five years,
so I tried to run my studio asif it was in a classroom and it

(11:25):
wasn't who I was, and it's takenme a few years to really find
my niche, and I'm really happywith what has been created here,
and I think that your place ofbusiness should be uniquely you
and not like everybody else.

Speaker 2 (11:47):
That's really really great advice.
You don't have to follow whatothers are doing.
You can create your own pathand create something completely
unique in you.
I love that.
Thank you for that.
You're welcome.
What is something that you wishthe listeners knew about Art
Cart Kids?

Speaker 3 (12:10):
That we're here, just really that we are a community.
When the kids start coming toArt Cart Kids, they become part
of a family and the parentsstart chatting with each other

(12:35):
and the kids start chatting witheach other and I, of course,
I'm one of those people whereevery child who looks at me
sideways has, you know, becomemy child.
And it's just, it's a verycaring, very open.
They help each other out, theypick up each other's kids and

(12:57):
people that didn't even knoweach other before that find out.
They all go to the same schoolor starting carpools and things
like that, and it's just thatthat's important to me.
I'm a big community person, soI wanted this to feel like a

(13:18):
safe place for everyone.

Speaker 2 (13:20):
Yeah, amazing.
If the listeners want toconnect with you or learn more
from you, where can they findyou?

Speaker 3 (13:28):
They can go to our website, art cart kids.
com.
We're also on Facebook andInstagram and if they're
interested in just checking outthe studio, they're welcome to
call and make an appointment,and I love showing off the
studio, so I'll give them a tourand they can check it out

(13:50):
before they decide if they wantto join the membership or not.
Nice.

Speaker 2 (13:55):
Well, Stephanie, you have created something really
special for our community.
Thank you so much for joiningme on the episode and sharing
Art Cart Kids with us.

Speaker 1 (14:06):
You're very welcome.
Thank you for listening to theFredericksburg neighbors podcast
.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go tofxbgneighborspodcast.
com.