Photo courtesy of Svetlana Belotserkovskaya
Svetlana Belotserkovskaya is an artist and art instructor at the Art Zone studio in Shades Mountain Plaza.
Svetlana Belotserkovskaya is an artist and art instructor at the Art Zone studio she owns at 736A Shades Mountain Plaza in Hoover. She also taught for about 17 years at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center and more recently has taught classes at the Hoover Senior Center, Hoover Recreation Center and Riverchase United Methodist Church but now mostly teaches from her studio.
Q: How long have you been doing art?
A: All my life. I have a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from Russia. I have a bachelor’s degree in studio arts from UAB. I have a master’s degree in art education from the University of Florida. Go Gators!. Now I’m thinking about getting a Ph.D. Maybe I’ll do it in the future.
Q: What type of art would you say you specialize in?
A: I’m trained academically, so when people come, they can do drawing, painting, anything. I have three groups for teenagers and adults. Everything in my studio, they can work on anything they want. They can work on drawings, on watercolor, acrylic, collages.
Q: How long have you been teaching now?
A: I think I’ve been teaching about 23 years. I do different commissions for people as well. Last year, I had my first international student. She finished Hoover High School, and she got accepted into a university in Florence, Italy, where she’s going to get a bachelor’s degree in fashion.
Q: Why do you enjoy teaching art?
A: Last year, I had a 16-year-old boy student. He wants to enter a fashion school of design in New York, and he told me, “Mrs. Svetlana, I want to be rich.” I said, “Everybody wants to be rich.” He goes, “No, you don’t understand. I want to be very rich.” I said, “I want to be very rich, too.” And he’s like, “Why do you need it? You look so happy with your students. You enjoy teaching. You like your job. You like your students. Why do you need to be rich?” And I’m like, “I have so many dreams I want to follow. I want to expand. I want to have like a lot of different artist classes. I want to get my Ph.D. one day.” People tell me I’m a good teacher. I had a student who told me, “Some people are artists but not good teachers. Some people are good teachers but not good artists.” And she told me, “You have both.”
Q: Why do you enjoy it?
A: One of the most rewarding aspects of teaching is seeing my students’ progress. I love ensuring they are happy with their results and proud of their finished artwork. Watching them grow, improve and gain confidence in their abilities brings me great joy. Many of my students have won art competitions, earned scholarships and been accepted into prestigious schools and colleges. Hearing their success stories fuels my dedication to teaching. … I had one student who won first place in Homewood Middle School. I had a few who won in middle school this year. I have a boy who just submitted his work for a duck competition. In June of this year, one of my high schoolers will have a personal art exhibition at the Vestavia Hills library. And in August of this year, I will have my children’s student art show at the Vestavia library as well.
Q: Where all do your students come from?
A: I have a lot in Vestavia Hills, Hoover, Alabaster. I have some from Trussville and Chelsea. I used to have students from Gardendale and Argo — all around, within one hour sometimes.
Q: How much do you charge for classes?
A: It depends. I give discounts for siblings and if you pay by the month. All this information is on my website [art-zone.us]. Before COVID, I had a very nice group of home schoolers. A lot of classes died during COVID. This year school, finally, I started back. Right now, I have about six home schoolers. Next year, I expect from 20 to 30 home schoolers. I already have people signing up for the next school year.
Q: Do you have hobbies other than art?
A: I don’t have time. I like to learn new things. Right now, you have to get familiar with ChatGPT, more familiar in artificial intelligence and how it can change the art world. I always like to learn new things. … I sometimes take classes online, and I learn from children as well because our world is changing, and I’m working with kids and adults. My youngest [student] now is probably 5 years old, and my oldest is maybe early 80s. … I hold a lot of camps — winter, spring, summer camps. People are signing up already for spring and summer camps. And, actually, this school year was very weird because every time we had any holidays like Labor Day, Presidents’ Day —a school day off — parents would contact me: “I want to have a workshop. I would like my daughter to attend. I would like my son to attend.” So I had workshops every single federal holiday this year.
