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Sugar House Journal

Art Haus caters to the creative minded

Dec 01, 2017 08h00 ● By Spencer Belnap

The Art Haus is located on 717 E Simpson Ave in Salt Lake City. (Courtesy of the Art Haus website arthaus-slc.com)

By Spencer W. Belnap | [email protected]    

If you’re a Sugar House resident looking for a creative outlet, Art Haus may be exactly what you seek.  

The local establishment offers painting, drawing, and pottery classes to children and adults Monday through Saturday. They celebrated a one-year anniversary in October. Owner and instructor Stephanie Hillman is happy with how the first year has progressed. 

“We started off pretty slow, having just one student at first. And now, we have almost 60,” Hillman said. She became interested in art and drawing at a young age. Her mom enrolled her in art classes in the third grade and she has been working on her craft ever since. She was an instructor at Sugar House’s Petersen Art Center for 10 years. It was there she fell in love with teaching and decided to open her own studio with the idea of having a space where people could learn and be creative. 

Everyone has artistic talent she believes. 

“People come here because they love the environment,” Hillman said, “and it helps people find creativity within themselves.” 

Makele White has been attending a pottery class for several weeks and loves the studio. 

“I did some art and pottery classes growing up, but Art Haus has been great for their small class sizes and one-on-one attention each student receives,” White said. “The class schedule in the evenings fits well with my work and school.” 

In addition to the painting, drawing, and pottery classes, the studio also offers specialty classes such as paint parties, figure drawing and children’s summer workshops. Their private paint parties are popular outings for dates and group events. A staff artist instructs people step-by-step in creating their own piece of art. 

Art Haus also gives back to the community by hosting fundraiser paint parties on a continual basis. These are just like the themed private parties, but proceeds go to a non-profit that Art Haus pairs up with. 

“I was approached by someone in the community that wanted to raise money for a non-profit,” Hillman said. “We came up with the idea to host a paint party with the proceeds going to the non-profit. It was a big success and I’ve been hosting them ever since. So far we have worked with Pit Crew, Best Friends Animal Society, Planned Parenthood and The INN Between. Each one has been so much fun, and we plan on doing many more.”

Located at 717 E. Simpson Ave., the studio plans to stay here for a long time. 

“I love this community,” Hillman said. “It’s the perfect mix of business and residential, and it creates a very family-friendly environment. And our great central location makes it easy for kids to join us after school for classes. It’s a wonderful place for kids to be creative and reach their full artistic potential.”

Looking back on their first year, Hillman said it’s been a steady upswing for herself, her instructors and the studio mascot dog, Gabe. 

“Art Haus has grown so fast. I think that it is really telling of the community and how important the arts are to the people of Salt Lake,” she said. 

Check out www.arthaus-slc.com for an up-to-date schedule.