Contacts
Ai Studios events & programs
Attention: Antoinette Coppola Feinman
Phone: 973-257-1500
Please contact Ai Studios via email: aistudios@optimum.net
Class Schedule (click here)
Ai Studios Events/ News Archives
April 1st, 2014- “Girl Scouts Northern New Jersey Boonton/ Boonton Twp, Troop 5617 Painting Badge”
Ai Studios worked with Girl Scout Troop 5617 getting their Painting Badge.
On Tuesday, April 1st 2014, Ai Studios and the Girl Scouts (second graders, ages 7 & 8) worked together to get their painting badge at Rockaway Valley in Boonton Twp. Artist / Muralist Antoinette Coppola Feinman from Montville Twp spoke to the girls about how she loved to draw and paint since she was a little girl, and how in high school and college, because of her passion for art, she went on to receive Bachelor of Fine Arts and Education degrees.
Troop 5617, as part of their Painting Badge, learned about different painting styles, techniques, and how the use of color can depict mood in a painting. The girls were taught composition, how to get an image onto a canvas, how to use various paint brushes, how to mix colors for blending, and how to apply paint to the canvas. The girls were able to successfully complete their paintings by the end of class while having lots of fun being creative.
Click here for Montville Patch article
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March 22nd, 2014- “Bloomingdale's Spring Children's Fashion Show”
Bloomingdale's Partnered with Ai Studios for Annual Young World Spring Fashion Show; Saturday, March 22nd At Bloomingdale's In The Shops at Riverside Mall
On Saturday, March 22nd, Ai Studios partnered with Bloomingdale's for their annual Young World Spring Fashion Show. This fun event for children, their families, and friends featured real kids walking the catwalk wearing this season's new fashions, all of which were and are available at the retailer.
As part of their aim to inspire confidence in children, Ai Studios, a developer of child enrichment programs, created this fashion event which featured children of real Bloomingdale's customers instead of professional models. Said one of the parents, "what a shot of confidence it gave the kids!
" Ai Studios owner, Antoinette Coppola, said of the event, “I loved seeing how the childrens' self-confidence grew from first rehearsal to final show time. I was inspired myself watching their faces as they walked down the runway. Ai Studios was created to inspire children to imagine, dream and create, and I have to say that today’s event inspired me to continue creating programs that allow children to grow their potential in every way.”
Over 100 people attended the fashion show, making it a great success. Each parent wrote a short bio detailing their child’s unique talents, skills, interests, and activities to be read as he or she walked down the runway, Each child modeled the clothes with their own personal style, showing everyone their personality and making it even more enjoyable. The reactions of the parents were overwhelmingly positive, saying their children "really had a wonderful time," calling it "an experience they will never forget."
Ai Studios works with local schools and communities to provide unique after school and summer enrichment programs that emphasize using the creative process to better a student’s prospects in life. Ai's programs make for a more well-rounded student by encouraging children to think outside the box as well and gain self-confidence through discovery of their skills and talents. Covering a wide variety of disciplines and activities, from fine arts to theater to wellness to computer graphics to fashion designing and more, Ai strives to develop unique, stimulating, and inspiring classes that are hands-on and customized to each student.
March 19th, 2014- “Bloomingdale's Spring Children's Fashion Show” Rehearsal
Ai Studios and Bloomingdale's Annual Kids Spring Fashion Show
This Saturday, March 22nd at 2pm, Ai Studios and Bloomingdale's present their annual Kids Spring Fashion Show. This fun event for children, their families and friends features real kids - not professional models - walking the catwalk wearing this season's new fashions, all of which are available in Bloomingdales. The children's department on the first floor will be transformed with a runway and seating to become a fashion event showplace.
Ai Studios (Artistic impressions) is a unique, multi-faceted arts studio offering customized multifaceted after school and summer enrichment programs to meet the needs of public, private, and home schools and the community through courses in Fine Arts, Fashion Design, Digital Arts, Writing, Acting, Dance, Wellness and a variety of other creative opportunities. "We strive to bring our students engaging and fun-filled educational activities, which are both academic and recreational in nature, taught in a safe and structured environment; and provided with their peers in the actual schools themselves during after school hours," says Ai Studios founder and director Antoinette Coppola. "We save parents much time and effort and money spent finding baby sitters or interesting activities for their child to do. Our goal is to inspire our students, to help them express themselves creatively, and to accentuate their creativity in a nurturing and developmental environment." In addition to offering courses and working with local schools to better enrich students, Ai Studios has created art and fashion work programs that have grown to include partnerships with colleges, universities, and corporations, such as Bloomindale's. Coppola explains, "We create fashion shows in collaboration with companies like Bloomingdale's. These events are expressly for non-professional everyday youth and adults, designed to promote their self-esteem, help them gain confidence, and allow them to be exposed to professional level activities."
For more information on this event or to learn more about Ai Studios and its programs, please visit aistudios.net or contact AI via e-mail: aistudios@optimum.net or phone: 973-257-1500
May 4th , 2013- “Ai Studios Children's Summer Camp Fashion Show”
Children's Summer Camp Fashion Show at Bloomingdale's, Shoppes at Riverside, Hackensack
Fashion Show Photo Gallery (click here)
by Sal Canzonieri
Artistic Impressions Studios (Ai Studios), a developer of after school and summer enrichment programs for schools, holds semi-annual fashion shows in conjunction with Bloomingdale's. Their latest children's fashion show, at the Bloomingdale's, Shoppes at Riverside, in Hackensack, NJ on Saturday May 4th, 2013, features non-professional children from the studio as models, displaying the latest fashions on the runway.
To help children gain a sense of self confidence, Ai Studios developed a unique "Intro to modeling" class, which leads to a child's appearance in a fashion show at Bloomingdale's. Acording to founder, Antoinette Coppola, "Ai Studios was created to inspire children to imagine, dream, and create. Our programs develop strong character, self-respect, and self-confidence in children as they discover and develop their skills and talents. I believe that our enrichment programs will lead to a more focused, well-adjusted, and engaged child that is proud of his or her achievements. The modeling class is a great way for children to have fun with their peers while also doing something that will instill a greater sense of self confidence. You can see a big change in the children from first rehearsal to final show time. They start out shy and quiet at rehearsals, but end up being all smiles at the actual fashion show, waving to the audience and walking and acting like a professional model would."
Ai Studios' fashion show events are a continual crowd pleaser at Bloomingdale's, with strong attendance by the models' families, friends, and by the store customers. Those in the crowd say that "they look forward to Ai Studios' fashion shows, which are always engaging and fun." Parents have remarked, "What an enlightening and inspiring experience this has been for their children." Besides fashion shows where the children show off the store's clothing that are for sale, Ai Studios is also known for their all-volunteer annual "Bloomingdale's Brown Bag Fashion Show" events where children create their own spectacular garments from paper and plastic shopping bags, with models wearing them as they walk the runway.
December 15th, 2012- “Bloomingdale's Hackensack Paper Bag Fashion Show”
Fashion Show at Hackensack Bloomingdale's Show Off Creative Paper Bag Fashion
Posted on Saturday, December 15, 2012 7:03 pm
by Erinn Connor
A dress designed by 11-year-old Libby Perler.
(Photo by Don Smith, staff photographer)
Fashion Show Photo Gallery (click here)
Cameras flashed and Christmas music blared as first-time models strutted down the runway wearing nothing but paper and plastic bags. The handmade, couture designs were created entirely out of the iconic Bloomingdale's brown paper bags (and plastic ones) by children as young as 10 years old to adults with an interest in fashion, all who attend New Jersey Artistic Impression Studio in Boonton. Students in the fashion design class were given the challenge to create ready-to-wear looks that were shown off during a runway show on Saturday afternoon at Bloomingdale's at The Shops at Riverside in Hackensack.
The detailed and fragile designs were modeled by the designers' family members and friends (some tottering on high heels for the first time), as proud parents snapped dozens of photos of their children's creations. Dresses ranged from full-on gowns inspired by the Academy Awards to a corset with intricate lacing to menswear pieces like a blazer and vest. Some dresses were lined with Christmas lights for an extra festive touch.
The show grew out of a simple idea at the studio to hold a class where the fashion students made designs out of paper bags. Owner Antoinette Coppola contacted Bloomingdale's about getting some of those “big brown bags” that make a Bloomingdale's purchase instantly identifiable. The store said if the students made wearable garments, they could show them off in a runway show.
“Most of the designs were put together in about two weeks,” Coppola said. “We let people use whatever inspiration they wanted to and it was really a collaboration effort between everyone.”
The studio welcomes students of all ages, and encourages them develop a personal artistic style rather than following a curriculum. For the school-aged designers like 11-year-old Libby Perler, the class is something done outside of their regular school work.
Perler said it felt “absolutely amazing” to see her pleated paper bag skirt topped with a plastic bag bodice walk down a real runway in front of a crowd.
“It took a few weeks to make and was really hard to do,” she said. “With normal fabric, if you want to make something poofy you just add more layers. Doing that with bags was way harder, because it could break or tear at any moment.”
Perler's mom Loren said her daughter is now a budding designer in the making. “She watches ‘Project Runway' all the time so her getting to do this was a dream come true for her,” Loren said. “Who knew she'd get to have an experience like this so young?”
Ten-year-old Olivia Poremba designed two dresses that drew audible gasps from the crowd because of their detail. Poremba designed two dresses out of one inspiration, a complex, woven lattice design. One was a short tube dress with the woven bags across, and the other design was a floor-length plastic gown with the criss-crossing paper bags on the bodice. “It took me a few days to figure out each of them,” Poremba said. “I did a lot of sketches, and after making them it felt good to see them on people.” Her mother Connie, who helps teach at the Impression Studio, said she was surprised by her daughter's designs and didn't know she could create a whole outfit out of just bags.
“I look at paper bags very differently now,” said Connie. “Who knew that these kids could come up with so many amazing designs out of them?”
October 18th, 2012 - Ai Studios Partners with Bloomingdale's First Brown Bag Fashion Show for Breast Care Awareness Month
Fashion Student Struts in Brown Bag Dress at Bloomingdale's
Posted by Ariana Cohn-Sheehan (Editor) , October 24, 2012 at 04:05 AM
Montville Township High School sophomore models original designs
Fashion Show Photo Gallery (click here)
Models ages 1 to 49 sashayed down the aisle to great acclaim on Oct. 18 at Bloomingdale’s at Willowbrook Mall wearing fashions made out of Bloomingdale’s famous paper and plastic "brown bags."
More than 300 people attended this most unusual fashion show, which was the result of collaboration between Bloomingdale’s and Antoinette Coppola, owner of Ai Studios / Artistic Impression Studio.
“We’re thrilled to have given our students and teachers the chance to display the wildly creative fruits of their labor in such an esteemed venue,” said Coppola, who originated the idea of having students and graduates of fashion design programs from New York City’s Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and Art Institute teach a fashion design course at the studio.
As the 24 models strutted down the catwalk, Carlton Spence, celebrity fashion stylist and image consultant, shared background information about the designers, fashions and models. Each player added his or her own special flair and the fashions were strikingly original.
The show was a great success and the studio has been asked to run additional fashion shows with new creations, including one at The Riverside Square Mall this December.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Coppola said. “Our designers will offer classes at the studio this fall and we look forward to teaching and guiding any and all who have the ‘passion.’ And we’ll continue to look for outlets for displaying the creativity of our students—not just in fashion, but in all of the arts.