July 8, 2004

Artopia Creative Arts Studio allows patrons to release their artistic flair

By Lorraine Gabbert
Staff Writer

Within the vibrantly colored walls of Artopia Creative Arts Studio, children and adults alike joyfully add finishing touches to their artistic creations. Glazed ceramics, painted glass, spin art, and decorated stepping stones adorn display tables, while terracotta pots, wooden birdhouses, and blank canvases beckon to be designed.

Buoyed by the successful opening of their first store in Pleasant Hill, Artopia recently opened a site in the Almaden Plaza Shopping Center, across from Costco, with its grand opening scheduled for August.

Artopia’s third studio is scheduled to open next month at Cupertino Crossroads Shopping Center, and negotiations are underway for a fourth Bay Area store.

Artopia’s goal is to provide patrons with an innovative and enriching creative arts super studio where they can experience creativity through a range of art media. “We wanted it to be a colorful and stimulating environment,” enthuses Artopia founder and CEO Doug Wright, who along with his children, and co-founder Monica Bezore, designed the brightly hued walls and tabletops to reflect the colors of the letters in Artopia’s palette-shaped logo.

After frequenting a ceramics studio in Walnut Creek with his children, Wright was inspired. He thought it would be interesting to create an art environment where customers could access different kinds of art media in a mix-and-match format. “For instance,” says Wright, “certain terra-cotta pots can be fired in a kiln, so you put on a ceramic glaze and they come out beautifully. You can also mosaic them, or paint them with patio paint, or place a candle in them. There are many ways to create art with a simple terracotta pot, which is an illustration of the concept we’re teaching.”

“When I was creating art at the ceramics studio, other customers looked at the pieces I was making and asked me if I was a professional artist,” reveals Wright. “I was really flattered. I used to joke with people that I could never make a living being an artist, but this light went on one day that perhaps I could, if I had a business where art was the focus. I pursued law and being a tax attorney more from a practical perspective but have a lot more passion for creative arts.”

“The more I considered it, the more inspired I became,” shares Wright. “At first I thought I’d try to set up this kind of business on the side, as I was a full-time international tax partner with Pricewater-houseCoopers, but as I looked at it more closely, I decided it could be a real opportunity. I contacted an old college friend, Monica Bezore, who was enthused about the business, and she came up with a business plan.”

“When Doug asked if I’d be interested in getting involved in the company, I jumped at the chance,” asserts Bezore. “Doug is a visionary. He’s entrepreneurial as well as artistic, and I liked the whole concept of this business. It’s a really unique kind of studio environment, and very comfortable and inviting for people. I would like to see it expand in numerous communities, and eventually internationally,” she remarks. “It’s a great experience helping to grow the company and learning in the process. Hopefully we’ll be successful at it.”

As vice president of studio operations, Bezore delights in daily interactions with customers and creating special experiences for them. “It’s wonderfully therapeutic for adults,” she contends. “They’re painting a bowl worry-free, and before they know it, four hours have gone by. With the kids, it’s such a nice family thing to do.”

According to Bezore, sometimes dads will come in with their daughters, and the daughters will be painting a fairy, and the next thing you know, the dads are sitting there, painting the fairies. “I also enjoy watching the interaction between the parents and their children and the grandparents and their grandchildren,” she relates. “It’s a very warm experience to be watching people create. The children, especially, come up with such neat ideas like pink and blue or red polka-dotted pigs. We have processed thousands of mugs and no two are alike.”

Bezore also learns innovative ideas from her customers and shares them. “I’m constantly looking for fresh ideas and interesting, fun pieces,” she notes. “People can come back again and again, and have a variety of things to do.”

As studio art director, Carla Newsom holds a fine arts degree; her position at Artopia was made to order. “It has so much to it, and caters to all age groups, which appeals to me,” expresses Newsom. “Everybody walks away with a sense of increased self-esteem. Children, especially little ones, are so proud of their work. I always ask them if they’re happy with it, and they always say ‘yes!’ With older children, it brings out their personality, and gives them something to reflect upon when they’re older. It’s exciting, new and different,” she states. “There’s nothing like it in the area.”

“By keeping our prices more affordable, and offering a wider range of art media, we think we’ll be able to create a regular customer base,” attests Wright. “In the summer, we offer art camp every day, plus we host moms groups, birthday parties, scout groups, and families.” Meeting the needs of the entire community, Artopia also provides a range of opportunities during the school year, including moms and tots programs, and age-specific classes for elementary school students, teens, adults, and seniors. “We try to target classes for individuals of different age groups so they’ll feel comfortable,” he notes.

Customer Donna Hoeft finds creating artwork at Artopia enjoyable to do in the summer with her family. “We picked up a box full of artwork today and we’re starting another box,” she laughs while painting a terracotta pot. “It’s really fun. We came last time at 10 a.m. and stayed until 4 p.m.!”

Customer Pat Chandler appreciates the variety of projects her family can create at Artopia, and is looking forward to future creations. “I think the candle making looks cool,” she says.

“It looks like a fun place,” remarks Nancy Andrews upon entering through Artopia’s doors. “It’s interesting. I was looking for something for the children to do, and today I’ll concentrate on them, but I’d like to come back here with friends and do something myself.”

“It’s a neat environment—there’s so much to do,” observes Wright. “The kids love it, and so do the adults. They come in and we have all the materials and they don’t have to spend a fortune to make a project. We help set them up, instruct them, and clean up the mess. It’s really an ideal situation for all ages.”

The seeds for Artopia are sewn
Wright, Artopia’s founder, president, and chief executive officer, is an attorney and has specialized in international tax, business, and legal consulting for the past 23 years. He has a bachelor of science degree in Political Science from Santa Clara University, a J.D. from Boston College Law School, and a LLM (masters) in Tax Law from New York University Law School.

As an international tax partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Wright specialized in assisting technology companies with their international business structuring and expansion, but in August 2003, he decided to turn his full business acumen to Artopia.

Although he credits his entrepreneurial spirit and enjoyment in visiting a ceramics studio as sparking the idea for his business, his passion for creating art began when he was a Leland High School student.

“I discovered the potter’s wheel my sophomore year, and began to spend most of my free time throwing clay pottery,” recalls Wright. “I became so engrossed in it that my art teacher, Mr. Mays, recruited me to load and unload the ceramic kilns a couple of evenings a week.” In exchange, he gained the private use of the art room during the evenings, on weekends, and during the summer months. “I used to experiment with different glazes on my finished pots and produced some really interesting results,” enthuses Wright. “It was a fantastic opportunity—it was like having my own studio.”

Upon graduating from Leland High School, Wright received an Outstanding Art Student award from the art faculty. He was also hired by the San Jose Unified School District to instruct elementary school teachers in the use of various art media at a summer workshop at Leland. “It was in this workshop that I was first introduced to the concept of a mixed-media art program,” he mentions, “which later formed part of my inspiration when I started thinking about Artopia.”

Back when he was a boy, Almaden Valley was mostly undeveloped. “It was very rural, with all kinds of agriculture, ranging from fruit orchards, to corn, tomato, and even strawberry fields,” reminisces Wright. “At the time, Almaden Expressway was simply Almaden Road, with just one lane going in each direction from Branham Lane all the way out to Almaden Dam. It was a great area to grow up in with a country feel, and it had a real sense of community.”

“Being such a relatively small area, you pretty much knew everybody you went to school with then,” says Wright.

He attended Simonds Elementary School, Bret Harte Middle School, and Leland High School.

“When I was in junior high school, I earned extra money during the summers and after school in the fall by picking apricots or prunes,” Wright recalls. “I worked for some of Almaden Valley’s most notable farming families, including the Pfeiffers, the Mancusos, and the Rajkovichs. At the same time, I attended school with children from each of those families, as well as other notable Valley farming families. My best friend from those days lived on Henwood Road, where his family owned several acres and raised sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, and rabbits. They used to have me house-sit and feed all the animals when they went on vacation each summer.”

Wright also remembers biking with friends to Almaden Plaza and playing hide and seek in the Emporium store. “It’s strange to now be leasing a small corner of what used to be that store,” he reflects.

A gifted athlete, Wright played football and baseball all three years in high school. “My senior year, our football team was undefeated, 13-0, and was the first Central Coast Section championship team,” he remarks. “We played the championship game at Spartan Stadium, and my parents woke me up the next morning to show me the front page of the Mercury News sports page which had a picture of me catching a pass the night before during the game.” He has kept in touch with football and baseball buddies and coaches from Leland, and for a number of years they played in an annual golf tournament together.

Wright also received academic honors upon graduating from Leland, including a California State scholar award to attend Santa Clara University. “At Santa Clara University, I was a political science major, studied hard so I could get good enough grades for admission to law school, and unfortunately, dropped most of my interest in sports and art so I could focus on my career ambitions,” says Wright. He graduated from Santa Clara University with honors.

At Boston College Law School, Wright discovered international tax law and upon graduating, was hired by Exxon Corporation, then the number-one company on the Fortune 500 list.

“Unfortunately, with my high ambitions to attend law school and pursue my professional career, I pretty much stopped doing any art during and after law school. Several years ago, I rediscovered my interests and talents in art. My children asked me to take them to a local ceramics studio to glaze some pottery. We only spent a couple of hours at the studio, but I quickly became hooked, and one day, while painting ceramics, I started thinking about the business possibilities of offering a studio where customers could choose from a wider range of decorating possibilities for art media.” And so, his career in art has come full circle.

Wright hopes that Artopia will be successful enough that he can continue to devote full time to it, and would like to see the company expand across the country, and eventually internationally. “There really isn’t anything quite like what we’re doing,” he remarks. “A lot of people think that they can’t create art, but they come in and find something they really enjoy doing, and they come back time and again. With art being cut back in the schools, we provide a great forum at affordable costs. My daughter and son love it, and my dream would be to someday pass the business on to them.”