TRUMBULL — Art is a powerful tool for children, said Camille Chistoni.
It can unlock their creativity and give a child who might not excel in other areas a sense of purpose, she said.
“Coming into an art class gives kids a way to express their feelings and express themselves,” said Chistoni, a Trumbull resident who, with her husband, Walter, has run art classes through the mobile art education program Abrakadoodle since January 2020.
Abrakadoodle is a Virginia-based franchise business with locations throughout the United States, as well as programs in Singapore and China. Its main focus is bringing art education to schools, camps, private clients and others. But, later this year, the Chistonis will open Connecticut’s first brick-and-mortar Abrakadoodle art studio.
The business is expected to open in late October at 2285 Reservoir Ave. in Trumbull, next to the Learning Experience preschool. Both Camille and Walter Chistoni said they feel the studio will enrich the region and provide more arts education opportunities for families.
“Parents would be able to bring kids in according to their schedule and convenience,” Walter said.
Camille said the business would also help fill what she sees as a gap in Trumbull, where they have lived for 17 years. “We feel that, in this part of our little world, people are looking for this,” she said. “There really aren’t a whole lot of options for visual arts here.”
Camille has an education background and Walter’s background is in marketing. A few years ago, they were looking to go into business for themselves and participate in a franchise. Abrakadoodle seemed like a good fit, they said.
The arts have always interested Camille Chistoni in particular. She said, as a child, her son had a learning disability and was on the autism spectrum and struggled in school. Art, she said, was the one area in which he excelled. That’s why it was sad when he came home from school one day in middle school, disheartened over an art project.
“I told him it was great and I wanted to hang it up,” Camille said. “He told me ‘It’s not good. It’s terrible. My teacher doesn’t like it.’ I don’t know what the teacher told him. I’m sure it wasn’t all negative, but the message he came away with was that it sucked.”
She said, in her Abrakadoodle classes, students are taught that anyone can be an artist, and that it’s more about the process than the result.
“I love art,” she said. “It’s very subjective. I don’t think art should be graded on the finished product.”
Camille said the new studio will provide her with the opportunity to connect with more kids. “We’re thrilled to be opening this studio,” she said.
Trumbull economic and community development director Rina Bakalar said she was thrilled as well.
“This mixed use area continues to attract a variety of new businesses,” she said. “This creative business for children and adults fits nicely into this area that has residents, recreational, arts, medical, nonprofit and light industrial businesses.”
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