Victor Bimah
Cody Thibodeaux
Jasmin Foret
Ahmad Magee
Nicholls State University
Christopher Castille
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The purpose of the innovation was to get the name of The Purple Penguin out more positively around the Thibodaux community. They encourage all ages to come to The Purple Penguin to take some art classes and have fun. They offer a variety of classes, from pottery, painting, watercolors, and sculpting. They give everyone an opportunity to broaden their horizons with art. No prior art skills or background are necessary to participate.
Now in business for over seven years, Mrs. Stephanie has created a company that allows people of all ages to express themselves in a way that caters to their own artistic abilities and creativity. The Purple Penguin Art Company strives to offer a wide variety of art classes with a large array of artistic techniques to express people’s inner abilities to create. Unlike a school classroom, where one is graded for the end product, The Purple Penguin allows the minds of customers to run free and gives them the freedom to create whatever they want. Art should be a tool to express oneself in a way that releases stress and anxiety, and it should relax oneself.
The original idea came about for The Purple Penguin when the owner's (Stephanie) art classes were no longer offered at a local high school. She wanted more of a safe haven for people to express themselves via art.
While thinking about the need or the idea to start up The Purple Penguin, Stephanie went through several ideas with various people, from her husband, to her friends, to family, and even former students. The majority of the people she sought out for advice picked the name for her. She had all the support and backing from those who cared about her and her vision.
The impact that The Purple Penguin has in the community is in improving creativity and artistic abilities among members within the local community. Getting people of all ages involved with art can help with their mental health and outlook on life. During the interview, Donaldson said, “Discover the artist in you,” which was a tagline that she created to inspire people to express themselves and find their inner artist. With the school system cutting back on art courses, Donaldson wanted to create her own way of involving art in the community. The Purple Penguin Art Company’s innovation of fostering an environment for creative learning gave this art studio meaning to develop into a dynamic business today.
The short-term effect that The Purple Penguin had on the community was that it raised excitement for people to try new things like art. The long-term effects that the innovation has on the community is providing art education. The continuation of art throughout the community will involve people expressing themselves in the form of art.
With The Purple Penguin staying in business for seven years, the point is proven that Donaldon’s innovation toward the community was successful. Donaldson enjoys what she does in servicing the community with The Purple Penguin for art education. One of their competitors, Painting with a Twist, closed their store located in Thibodaux because of less demand for the services provided, which opened up much more demand for The Purple Penguin Art Company and their services in the Thibodaux community. This business allows community members to express their feelings through art and helps them along the way.
Throughout the interview, Donaldson talked about the impact that her business has on the community. In one part of the interview she said, “At the beginning, I had many volunteers, which included family and fellow students.” This shows that art has an impact on the students she taught while teaching. Their volunteering at The Purple Penguin, and also eventually working for the business, shows the influence art had with them. This is one of the reasons why she decided to open her business and serve the community through art programs outside of school.
The Purple Penguin has several business benefits that relate to both employees and customers. The employees work closely with clients on all the different activities. The Purple Penguin offers field trips and team building workshops. Instructors will guide activities for a group's day of fun and bonding with either canvas painting, painting pottery, or glass fusion. Wheel-throwing pottery, hand-building with clay, and much more are also great for school groups and/or team building activities.
The Purple Penguin offers art camps that can range from $50-$85. The Purple Penguin has Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday art camps for kids to have fun making seasonally inspired art creations.
Private parties range from kids' birthday parties $300, to adult art parties up to $550, with many options provided and all materials included.
The Purple Penguin Art Company also offers their studio display and custom artworks such as portraits, murals, backdrops, etc., upon specific requests from customers.
Kids and students can attend weekly art classes that progressively develop their artistic knowledge, technical skills, and creativity. Students will explore the elements of design through various mediums and techniques including drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, pottery by hand and on the wheel, etc., as well as develop a vocabulary of art terms, historic art movements, styles, and master artists. There are wheel-throwing pottery classes offered for beginners. The classes are for learning the beginning techniques of using a pottery wheel taught by The Purple Penguin art instructors. Pottery classes begin at $25 a session, with discounted classes given one night of the week. Glass fusion classes cost $35 per session for a two-hour class. Students can learn glass cutting techniques to collage various types and colors of stained glass together to create realistic or abstract designs that are fused together with the studio’s kiln. Resulting products can range from simple tiles to bowls, plates, elaborate vases, lamp shades, jewelry, etc. There is a “pick your own painting” activity given as a three-hour class, which costs $45 per session to work on any artwork of your choosing. The customer picks a painting from the "pick your own painting gallery," and the canvas is provided.
The Purple Penguin Art Company provides an open environment for the community to express themselves through art and receive educational assistance with art. Art is beneficial to mental health in several ways like helping to reduce stress and promote relaxation for people who are battling mental or physical illnesses. Stress relief is important to mental health and overall well-being.
Creating art can contribute to the development of life balancing activities to reach an ideal level of life balance. This can also be a coping mechanism for individuals to manage their stress. Art can be an outlet to express oneself creatively and achieve a better mentality with a more positive outlook for relieving stress. Research has shown that creative activities, such as art, can be relaxing and very effective at reducing stress. Some activities include painting, pottery, sculpting, and drawing.
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From once a high school art teacher to now a successful businesswoman, Stephanie Donaldson sought to create a business not only to profit from but to also let the community express themselves through art. The education system narrowed the creativity and expressiveness in the classroom setting, and art classes in schools were not a necessity to the curriculum. Mrs. Donaldson saw the limitations and opportunity there was for people wanting to take art classes and use their artistic talents. At that point, a decision had to be made to either teach art with restrictions and a controlled environment or branch out of the formal education system and take the dive into the unknown. With the support of her partner, family, and students she created her own business and opened her art studio.