My 5 year old daughter has been coming to Teacher Maria's class for a year since she was 4. She really enjoyed Maria's class and learned so much from her. Since English was not my daughter's primary language, Teacher Maria graciously agreed for me to stay and translate until my daughter is comfortable. Every week they explore different theme and art medium, which makes it fun for the kids. Teacher Maria is very clear on what she wants kids to get out of each lesson. Within that parameter, she allows them to run free with what their hearts desire. The outcome is not copy cat art work but wonderfully unique art work created by each child. I am so impressed with Teacher Maria's ability to work with each child individually and encourage them to do the best they can! My daughter can't wait to return to another year of drawing with Teacher Maria!

Pei-Hua Wang

Mountain View, CA

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My 7-year-old daughter has been enrolling in Art school of SF bay(Mountain view) for more than1.5 years. She fell in love with it at her first class. The art projects are always fun and stimulating, different each week, covering art /culture from different countries of the world. The class environment is relaxing and teachers are all very encouraging. I highly recommend it!

Hui Zhao

Mountain View, CA

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From a perspective of a father of a 6 yr old, I would highly recommend this place. Maria is a great teacher and is very good with kids. After three months my 6-yr old son went from doodling to something that resembles drawing. It's a long and difficult process but I can see that Maria puts a lot of effort into it and always encourages the kids to be their best. My son does not like to skip the art class, which tells me that he enjoys it. And I can see the results that I like. Again, highly recommended.

S C.

Palo Alto, CA

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My young son has taken classes in Mountain View with Masha and now a week of camp in San Jose with Maria and Marina. Every class he learns something. In the camp they were indoors for 6+ hours and he was never bored. The teachers played games and kept it fun, while guiding the students. My kid even skipped lunch one day he was so engaged in his project.

John L.

Mountain View, CA

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My 7 y.o. daughter has been taking classes here for over a year now and we couldn't be happier with the school! The teacher, Maria, inspires the love of art and teaches them new skills every class. I can see my daughter's amazing progress. And what's more important, she loves the classes and always can't wait to come back! I appreciate their make up policy and love their new studio: very spacious and bright!

Galina T.

San Jose, CA

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This is our third year with Art school of SF Bay. All lessons are informative, very well led and guided. Students get instant comments and instructions from a teacher and apply to their work. Lessons teach not only art techniques but also a history. My children are always enthusiastic about upcoming lesson and very excited to share their complete works. I could clearly see the progress!

Shushanik A.

San Jose, CA

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We are in love with this art school. My 7yo son really loves it and when we were trying to switch to something easier - like in the school - he was so upset they're completely different. Here they teach techniques, different material to deal with, different type of coloring and so on and so on. So he's really improved his draw skills; also he is extremely happy to go there and try something new.

Natalie Alshevskaya

Mountain View, CA

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TL/DR: My 5 year old daughter attended to separate camps at the school this summer and they were incredible. Long form: I grew up surrounded by art. I have close friends that are professional artists (painters, dancers, photographers, sculptors and so on) I'm married to an amazing photographer, my stepmother is a (great and inspiring) public school art teacher. I've taken a lot of art classes and know enough to see that, with a few exceptions, most people are doing it all wrong. Some (most) err on the side of concentrating on the "how" and not the "why". You can always tell when that's the case by the cookie-cutter results. Others have a fast and loose approach that is fun and creative, but leaves students on their own when it comes to theory and technique. While much better than the former, and a lot more fun, those tend to be really hit-or-miss when it comest to actually learning anything. This school is one of those rare examples that just nails it. The work that my daughter brought back was both sophisticated (incredibly sophisticated all things considered) but also clearly her own. She has been drawing and painting a lot since (on her own, we never push this on her) and I can tell that she's thinking about composition, uses negative space effectively, and generally speaking went from doodling to a form of self-expression. It's mind-blowing, really. That, and she begs to go back. If you have an opportunity to enroll your kid in any of these classes, don't miss your chance.

Alex F.

San Francisco, CA

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