Today we’d like to introduce you to Donald Jackson.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Donald. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Color Wheel Studio began as a project in 2010 with the intention of giving proper fine art education to the children in the Chicago area. Starting in 2000, prior to the opening of Color Wheel Studio, my studies in Neuropsychology and brain development through the plastic arts helped develop the unique approaches taught here at the studio. Color Wheel became a specialized teaching facility putting my developed teaching theories in practice and becoming the first fine art school for brain development in children.
Now after seventeen years of this focused study, I am working on two books explaining my unique theories to this specialized arts education, its impact on brain development and how this can be integrated into the school system for a new approach to education as a whole.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Nothing of worth is ever a smooth road. I would say the biggest struggle is and always has been the monetary side of the business. Although I am considered a for profit business, no profit is ever taken. It is an extremely misleading title for businesses. All money from classes goes back into the business to pay its bills. All money from sales of my art work goes back into the business just to keep my doors open. If I turned my school into a non-for-profit business, although I would be eligible for grants and other monies, I would only be able to work with a very select group of children. For my studies and for just common sense I prefer to have my school open for everyone. So, if you don’t have children and want to support the school you can always purchase my artwork through the studio.
Color Wheel Studio – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Color Wheel Studio is primarily a fine art school for children and yes, I do work with adults as well. What I focus on here is a real fine arts education which means I do not do craft. I have been a professional artist for the past thirty years and Color Wheel Studio actually takes place in my own working studio. The great thing about that is the children (and adults) actually get to see how an art studio works. They get to see all of my artwork from the conceptual stage all the way through a finished product and sometimes the selling part of it as well. They see how art goes through many changes and they get to ask all of the how and why questions that people never get to experience first hand. This is a very unique opportunity for anyone that has an interest in the arts as well as brain development.
What sets me apart from others? Everything.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moment of my career so far is easy, that’s my son. He was my first test subject, the one and only time I will have the chance to work with a blank slate (brain wise). Throughout his childhood, he is now eleven, I applied all of my theories of art and brain development to him and making adjustments as both he and my theories developed. By age nine his love and focus was and still is quantum physics. Not only math but highly developed abstract math is what he is capable of. Of course, my wife is a huge part of his development as well, I certainly do not want to downplay that. My son grew up in my studio as well as my wife’s store Virtu (which is across the street from my studio). Growing up in a small business family creates a very unique individual.
Contact Info:
- Address: Color Wheel Studio
2034 N. Damen Ave.,
Chicago, IL 60647 - Website: www.TheColorWheelStudio.com
- Phone: 773-661-1743
- Email: Donald@TheColorWheelStudio.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheColorWheelStudio/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheCWS
- Other: Artwork by Donald Jackson: www.LittleGreyLies.com
Image Credit:
©Color Wheel Studio 2017
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