Keep Free Open Doodle Hours 2022

By donating, help the doodle academy keep free open doodle hours! See below for more details. To become a Patron of The Doodle Academy click here Become a Patron 

 

 

Hey, my name is Alena Jennings. I am the owner of The Doodle Academy located in Ponca City Oklahoma. I have been serving our community since 2018. My studio has continually evolved its services to fit the needs and requests of residents. My dream was to open a space that provided art for everyone. In my attempt to fulfill that goal it has grown from a gallery, ceramics, painting, and one pottery wheel to now offering pottery for up to 6 students, a free gallery, parties, fundraisers, kids, and adult classes for mediums such as painting, drawing, ceramics, pottery on the wheel, and even glass fusing. My studio has continued to grow and flourish thanks to the support of our community, continual hard work, and big dreams. Over the years we have pushed our space to accommodate more art, people, and events; these changes have allowed The Doodle Academy to thrive to the point that now we are having to reassess the best way to continue serving our community.

 

With the changes in our society due to Covid and the new addition of my twins Ella and Elizabeth, I am no longer able to maintain our past studio hours. Since opening, I have strived to maintain school season hours and summer hours for our community and have only been able to do so by working without pay. By making this sacrifice I was able to use all the funds we made to buy more art supplies and fund more projects for our community. But with becoming a mother of twins I'm unable to commit this many hours financially. So I am shifting what the doodle provides to the community to now focus on showcasing artists' work by hosting art exhibitions each month and being open every Saturday.

 

If we achieve our goal of $9,000 we will be open every Saturday 1-6 for walk-ins and host art openings every 4th Friday of the month. By switching to one day a week we can lower our cost to pay an employee significantly and still maintain having open hours to the public. By providing an art exhibition every month we will be better serving artists so that they can showcase their work and our community by providing an opportunity to come to view current and growing artistic creations. Each month our artists have selected a local nonprofit to partner with and we will be giving a percentage of sales to raise awareness of the non-profit's mission.

 

Our goal is to raise enough funds to provide both of these services to our community. With a goal of $9,000, we will be able to provide 11 openings and pay an employee to keep the studio open every Saturday from February until 2023. That means we will be open for valentines parties, mothers/fathers' day paint parties, and other holidays such as Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, and Christmas. The $9,000 will provide us with funds for monthly marketing, refreshments, and labor for preparing for the art exhibitions throughout the year. Our monthly marketing will include postcard mailers, press releases with our local news outlets such as radios, magazines, and the newspaper along with a drawing for a prize partnered with 10+ locally owned businesses.

 

With the goal of $9,000, we will only be open on Saturdays for walk-ins. If we can achieve $19,500 this would allow us to be open 3 days a week plus allowing us to expand our studio space to better accommodate more pottery classes. As of now, we are just dreaming of $9,000 but those in our community that are hoping for more opportunities and wishing to see us continue to grow to achieve a dream of $19,500 would be out of this world. I appreciate all help given and plan to continue serving our community in the years to come.

 

In serving Ponca City I have learned that my life's passion is to bring art to everyone. And while right now I am having to focus more energy on raising two little humans rather than studio hours, I know my dream will never change. If we do not reach our goal of $9,000 we will be open for art openings, only one Saturday a month, and by appointment only for the 2022 year. Your support will determine the success of this year, so click to donate, and get ready for an exciting new year.