News! News! News!
From Donna, owner/ artist/ instructor at iagoArts:
It's finally official! The studio has moved. This Summer, 2022, we have created beautiful spaces for teaching and painting in our home near the historic downtown Staunton. I am excited to work here now after a wonderful 6 years in the Stonewall building. Goodbye to all my great neighbors there. I will miss you.
But everything else will remain the same- classes and painting!
Except! Thank you to the wonderful and gracious Aioli Mediterranean Cuisine on Augusta Street in downtown who have graciously agreed to host our paint parties- starting now! Thank you, thank you. So- you will still book everything the same way- it's just the venue for the paint parties that has changed. I am excited to be looking forward to new adventures. Thank you Staunton for all the love!
It's finally official! The studio has moved. This Summer, 2022, we have created beautiful spaces for teaching and painting in our home near the historic downtown Staunton. I am excited to work here now after a wonderful 6 years in the Stonewall building. Goodbye to all my great neighbors there. I will miss you.
But everything else will remain the same- classes and painting!
Except! Thank you to the wonderful and gracious Aioli Mediterranean Cuisine on Augusta Street in downtown who have graciously agreed to host our paint parties- starting now! Thank you, thank you. So- you will still book everything the same way- it's just the venue for the paint parties that has changed. I am excited to be looking forward to new adventures. Thank you Staunton for all the love!
THE EXCITING ART PLACE IN
Staunton, Virginia Located in a home studio near the historic Staunton, Virginia, the IagoArts Studio gives every person an opportunity to create and relax, regardless of your artistic skill level. The Studio serves a three- fold purpose: First, to give the public a chance to create, offering Art Classes and Art Parties. Secondly, to be a working studio and gallery for the Shenandoah Valley plein air artist Donna Cruce Koćka. And finally, the studio serves as a place for Art Classes for the community. Mostly for children's classes. Mrs. Koćka has been teaching for over thirty years and loves working with both adults and children. Along with teaching, she is a muralist, portrait painter, set designer, and plein air painter. She and her husband opened this studio in order to expand the opportunities for local art lovers to play and learn together. She is a firm believer in learning to become 'whole brained' and loves the prospects of strengthening that cerebral cortex. Let's do some art to become a healthier community.
Staunton, Virginia Located in a home studio near the historic Staunton, Virginia, the IagoArts Studio gives every person an opportunity to create and relax, regardless of your artistic skill level. The Studio serves a three- fold purpose: First, to give the public a chance to create, offering Art Classes and Art Parties. Secondly, to be a working studio and gallery for the Shenandoah Valley plein air artist Donna Cruce Koćka. And finally, the studio serves as a place for Art Classes for the community. Mostly for children's classes. Mrs. Koćka has been teaching for over thirty years and loves working with both adults and children. Along with teaching, she is a muralist, portrait painter, set designer, and plein air painter. She and her husband opened this studio in order to expand the opportunities for local art lovers to play and learn together. She is a firm believer in learning to become 'whole brained' and loves the prospects of strengthening that cerebral cortex. Let's do some art to become a healthier community.
iagoArts Students Summer Art Camps 2022
Join us for a week each month for four days of HeArt Smart fun! Classes limited to eight students so the instruction will be personal and pertinent! The second week of each of the summer months iagoArts will present a new opportunity to get your HeArt full of amazing Art.
July 18-21 Hone up those drawing and plein air skills. For these four days we will take to the streets of Staunton to sketch and paint! Fresh air, sunshine and our pencils, acrylic and watercolors. Learn the basics of color and composition and get ready for some real 'plein air' painting!
July 18-21 Hone up those drawing and plein air skills. For these four days we will take to the streets of Staunton to sketch and paint! Fresh air, sunshine and our pencils, acrylic and watercolors. Learn the basics of color and composition and get ready for some real 'plein air' painting!
Because I love teaching SO much, paint parties, children's classes and adult art classes, I sometimes forget to tell people that I am first and foremost, an artist. I've been drawing and painting as long as I can remember. I have a BFA (that's an Art degree, :) from the University of Tennessee (that's why I can say, 'Ya'll' so well) and could never get enough time to just create! Please check out my artwork here on the D. Cruce Kocka Art page. For paintings that are available to buy and place in your beautiful home, click here! Nearly everything I do is LOCAL: people, scenery, pet portraits, etc. So my work is all VERY Staunton, VA. Mostly because I love it here. If you see something and are not sure if you want to buy it without seeing it in person, let me know. I will gladly meet you at the studio so you can browse my paintings!
The Art Institute of Chicago's MONET exhibit, May 2021! Woot! |
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Children's Art Classes at IagoArts
The Children's Art Classes are ideal for children, ages 8 through High School, who are being homeschooled or student's who are home bound. They meet regularly on Mondays, throughout the school year. Classes run mostly contiguous with the local school calendar beginning in August and ending the middle of May. Every year there are no classes between Thanksgiving and New Years Day.
Mrs. Kocka teaches her Art Classes with a four year rotation so that no class or activity is repeated for four years. This enables students to stay with her classes throughout their homeschooling years continually learning new and exciting skills and working with as many different media as possible.
Some classes will begin with a short five minute presentation of Art History. Every year the history follows a timeline beginning in the Fall with Prehistoric Art and moving toward Modern Art in the Spring.
Each year begins with a review of drawing skills then moves into a diverse use of painting and drawing materials which can include watercolor, acrylic, pastels and usually some form of sculpture to reinforce their lessons. Each class for that year will focus on one or two of the 7 Elements of Art- Color, Line, Space, Form, Texture, Value and Space- reinforced throughout that year.
Classes for High School students who are interested in exploring the possibility of pursuing Art after high school are offered as the High School Portfolio classes. These classes are generally after school hours so students from any school setting can participate.
Finally, each Spring we end the year with a beautiful Annual Student Art Show, complete with each student's work shown in a professional style, and the 'all important' punch and cookies to share with family and friends. To email for more information click HERE.
Mrs. Kocka teaches her Art Classes with a four year rotation so that no class or activity is repeated for four years. This enables students to stay with her classes throughout their homeschooling years continually learning new and exciting skills and working with as many different media as possible.
Some classes will begin with a short five minute presentation of Art History. Every year the history follows a timeline beginning in the Fall with Prehistoric Art and moving toward Modern Art in the Spring.
Each year begins with a review of drawing skills then moves into a diverse use of painting and drawing materials which can include watercolor, acrylic, pastels and usually some form of sculpture to reinforce their lessons. Each class for that year will focus on one or two of the 7 Elements of Art- Color, Line, Space, Form, Texture, Value and Space- reinforced throughout that year.
Classes for High School students who are interested in exploring the possibility of pursuing Art after high school are offered as the High School Portfolio classes. These classes are generally after school hours so students from any school setting can participate.
Finally, each Spring we end the year with a beautiful Annual Student Art Show, complete with each student's work shown in a professional style, and the 'all important' punch and cookies to share with family and friends. To email for more information click HERE.
Paint Party!
New! IagoArts is partnering with the beautiful downtown tapas restaurant Aioli Mediterranean Cuisine, to provide you with your perfect space for a paint party. It's time now to schedule your Paint Party!
Boy, do I love Summer!
NOW is the time to schedule that paint party you have always wanted! I am booking parties for the Fall already so call now! Things are a changin' around the studio these days. Due to some unexpected life-demand, IagoArts will no longer be having regular public paint Parties. BUT, we will schedule YOU a private paint party, large or small. It's easy. And you can pick the date and the painting for your party.
Just contact me and let me know a date range and painting idea you are interested in. Mountains, flowers, birds, animals, whimsy?
Call now! We are now booking Private Paint Parties! I would love to make your very own Paint Party with your friends happen! Only a two person minimum. Click here to start the conversation about your very own paint party
At IagoArts, you can come to Aioli Medditeranian Cuisine in the historic downtown Staunton and relax and listen to some music while you are given everything you need to make a masterpiece. We provide everything from the aprons down to the canvas and brushes. We can even travel to you!
At IagoArts, we will walk you through any number of options from start to finish and in a couple of hours you will be able to display your work on the wall at home. To come to an IagoArts Paint Party you can schedule a Paint Party with friends, by yourself or as a date for two, as a team building party for your office complete with complementary canvases. Once we pick out a date that works for you and find the perfect painting for you to do we will schedule a date and then sign you up. The paint events vary in cost from $25 to $65 per person depending on the size of the canvas, the size of the party and difficulty of the painting.
For a special event, such as a birthday party or just a girls night out you can schedule an ArtParty! You may contact Donna to make arrangement for a smaller party, or schedule as many as 12 at Aioli for a group event. The Group ArtParty events are $300 for up to 10. For over 12 people contact me for pricing. We have other venues but we will have to discuss what your are looking for.
Do you want to remember that sweet little furry friend? She specializes in Pet Portrait Parties. Woof! It's easy- each of your party attendees will email the photos to the studio and when you come to paint your dear furry ones your will already find a helpful drawing on the canvas waiting on you. It's sort of like a paint by number.
Scroll to the bottom of the page for some IagoArts Paint Party painting ideas. Or check out Pinterest for ideas...
Just email us to let us know what type of Paint Party you want and IagoArts will make it happen!
NOW is the time to schedule that paint party you have always wanted! I am booking parties for the Fall already so call now! Things are a changin' around the studio these days. Due to some unexpected life-demand, IagoArts will no longer be having regular public paint Parties. BUT, we will schedule YOU a private paint party, large or small. It's easy. And you can pick the date and the painting for your party.
Just contact me and let me know a date range and painting idea you are interested in. Mountains, flowers, birds, animals, whimsy?
Call now! We are now booking Private Paint Parties! I would love to make your very own Paint Party with your friends happen! Only a two person minimum. Click here to start the conversation about your very own paint party
At IagoArts, you can come to Aioli Medditeranian Cuisine in the historic downtown Staunton and relax and listen to some music while you are given everything you need to make a masterpiece. We provide everything from the aprons down to the canvas and brushes. We can even travel to you!
At IagoArts, we will walk you through any number of options from start to finish and in a couple of hours you will be able to display your work on the wall at home. To come to an IagoArts Paint Party you can schedule a Paint Party with friends, by yourself or as a date for two, as a team building party for your office complete with complementary canvases. Once we pick out a date that works for you and find the perfect painting for you to do we will schedule a date and then sign you up. The paint events vary in cost from $25 to $65 per person depending on the size of the canvas, the size of the party and difficulty of the painting.
For a special event, such as a birthday party or just a girls night out you can schedule an ArtParty! You may contact Donna to make arrangement for a smaller party, or schedule as many as 12 at Aioli for a group event. The Group ArtParty events are $300 for up to 10. For over 12 people contact me for pricing. We have other venues but we will have to discuss what your are looking for.
Do you want to remember that sweet little furry friend? She specializes in Pet Portrait Parties. Woof! It's easy- each of your party attendees will email the photos to the studio and when you come to paint your dear furry ones your will already find a helpful drawing on the canvas waiting on you. It's sort of like a paint by number.
Scroll to the bottom of the page for some IagoArts Paint Party painting ideas. Or check out Pinterest for ideas...
Just email us to let us know what type of Paint Party you want and IagoArts will make it happen!
Plein Air Painting October, 2018 in the Adirondack.
OOOh the Fall colors! |
Donna Cruce Kocka Biography
Born and raised in a southern family, Donna has been drawing since she could hold a pencil. Donna Cruce Koćka, BFA, University of Tennessee (1986), is a Staunton, VA resident. She is married and has three children, one beautiful grandson. Currently she is enjoying teaching homeschoolers in her Monday art classes at her new studio. When she is not teaching or painting, she leads group bible studies. She also loves to hike in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, read, walk in the park with her dog, traveling and have tea with friends.
She began teaching art to children during her senior year of college. And along the way as Donna was raising her children she was painting portraits, murals, theater set design and construction, faux finishes and a little graphic design.
In 2011 she took a landmark oil painting class with Cedric Egeli, an internationally known colorist and portrait artist on Cape Cod. This outdoor portrait class began a new journey for her. She is fascinated with the effects of light and color and has since studied on the Cape again with Camille Prezwodek and at Maryland Hall with John Ebersberger. At the local Beverley Street Studio School she has taken classes with Elise Blake, Jeffery Stockberger and numerous classes with the renowned colorist, Ron Boehmer. Boehmer is recognized as one of Virginia's foremost landscape painters and has had a heavy influence on Koćka’s painting.
In the Springs of 2018 - 2022 she was represented at the Queen City Plein Air Festival. She has has been in numerous shows and festivals in and around the Shenandoah Valley. Her love for painting plein-air painting often draws her outdoors to the beautiful Virginia countryside or to historic downtown Staunton. She also spends time at her studio and gallery, IagoArts, in downtown Staunton.
Donna is currently painting outdoor children’s portraits, landscapes and murals and is available for commission. Or contact her to schedule your very own private paint party at Aioli in historic downtown Staunton to get a chance to play and create art with her or just come by the studio for a visit. She is drawn to her love for painting plein air in the beautiful Virginia countryside and in downtown Staunton. She also spends much of her time at her new studio, IagoArts, near downtown Staunton.
Donna is currently painting outdoor children’s portraits, landscapes and murals and is available for commission art work. Schedule and art party with her or check out the link below to see her gallery of new work.
She began teaching art to children during her senior year of college. And along the way as Donna was raising her children she was painting portraits, murals, theater set design and construction, faux finishes and a little graphic design.
In 2011 she took a landmark oil painting class with Cedric Egeli, an internationally known colorist and portrait artist on Cape Cod. This outdoor portrait class began a new journey for her. She is fascinated with the effects of light and color and has since studied on the Cape again with Camille Prezwodek and at Maryland Hall with John Ebersberger. At the local Beverley Street Studio School she has taken classes with Elise Blake, Jeffery Stockberger and numerous classes with the renowned colorist, Ron Boehmer. Boehmer is recognized as one of Virginia's foremost landscape painters and has had a heavy influence on Koćka’s painting.
In the Springs of 2018 - 2022 she was represented at the Queen City Plein Air Festival. She has has been in numerous shows and festivals in and around the Shenandoah Valley. Her love for painting plein-air painting often draws her outdoors to the beautiful Virginia countryside or to historic downtown Staunton. She also spends time at her studio and gallery, IagoArts, in downtown Staunton.
Donna is currently painting outdoor children’s portraits, landscapes and murals and is available for commission. Or contact her to schedule your very own private paint party at Aioli in historic downtown Staunton to get a chance to play and create art with her or just come by the studio for a visit. She is drawn to her love for painting plein air in the beautiful Virginia countryside and in downtown Staunton. She also spends much of her time at her new studio, IagoArts, near downtown Staunton.
Donna is currently painting outdoor children’s portraits, landscapes and murals and is available for commission art work. Schedule and art party with her or check out the link below to see her gallery of new work.
Six plus years in the Stonewall building. So sad to leave but excited for the next adventure. Thank you to the Staunton, Virginia NewsLeader when I opened, for the lovely article in the paper... find it at: IagoArts Paint Party articlePhoto credit:Ted Tripp, Staunton NewsLeader
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