Warli Art: Indian Wedding Village Scene
By Nishika Sharma, 7th Grade PleasantonOriginating from Maharashtra, a style of tribal, or folk, art, Warli art, is believed to be one of the oldest art forms of
We strongly believe in the power of creative learning, and design thinking, especially in today’s digital world, where attention span is defined by the length of YouTube videos and creativity by the chat box emoji icons. More and more schools are looking into these abilities apart from your perfect score in your academia. Empower them to create, imagine, and explore the world of art at Kalaa.
By Nishika Sharma, 7th Grade PleasantonOriginating from Maharashtra, a style of tribal, or folk, art, Warli art, is believed to be one of the oldest art forms of
By- Anika Shiroor, 8th Grade During this past summer holiday, our art school was deciding projects for all of us. I was given a watercolor landscape village project
By- Saesha Sharda, Sophomore, 2021 My grandmother, Nani, had a beautiful saari: a purple one with floral patterns all over. Nani was amazing at dress-making and knitting. As
By- Vivian Gao, Senior 2023 Food has always brought people together, and my family is no exception. Family meals provide an opportunity for family members to come together,
srivani nemani2023-07-07Kalaa Art is like second home for my daughter who rediscovered herself.Under the guidance of Dr Nidhi, she honed her artistic skills and started making wonderful art pieces for which all are very proud. She started with simple sketches and went exploring different mediums and types of art. I am very thankful to Mrs Nidhi to have led us so far. I would definitely recommend Kalaa Studio to all.Vivian2023-06-04I had initially signed up for Ms. Nidhi's art classes last year to prepare my portfolio for college applications, and since then, I've learned a lot of art techniques, especially in acrylic painting. She's always been supportive of my art journey while offering advice and critiques, and it's thanks to her I was able to become aware of and apply to art competitions and events. It was under her tutelage that I received 1st place awards in the Alameda County Fair. About a year ago, I began assisting in her classes for young children, and I can see that she's truly passionate about teaching and fostering a passion for art. Students, myself included, feel very comfortable around Ms. Nidhi, and along with being our teacher, she is also our friend.Kalyanjit Ghosh2022-05-08Great Art Studio and classes for young kids. Our son has been going here for the last 2 years and he loves it.Deepika Priyadarshini2022-04-14I have known Ms. Nidhi for over 2 years now. She is an amazing artist, wonderful teacher, and a great person. While I can write lines and lines about how she teaches kids, today I want to talk about the generous side of her. I along with two other friends initiated a fundraising campaign and we were looking to partner with few service providers. Without any hesitation Ms. Nidhi agreed to offer her services for free. She crafted time from her busy schedule to offer these classes for free to kids who came through our fundraiser. Every parent felt that their kids learnt so much with Ms. Nidhi in a short span of time. Ms. Nidhi made every class engaging by creating a theme for every session along with different types of color. She is really one of the best art teacher in the area and I highly recommend her!jyotsna dandekar2022-04-04Nidhi is the best teacher. She is very patient with young students and very knowledgeable and talented.Rahul Gupta2021-11-30We have a portrait from Nidhi as a central feature of our living room. Suffices to say that it's one of the best features of our house. Nidhi is not only an exemplary artist but a world class teacher. I have been to her exhibitions and can confidently attest that her teaching is as good as her own work.S A2021-02-24First of all I'd like to thank Ms. Nidhi for being an amazing teacher for kids. My daughter has been taking classes at Kalaa Art for about a year and I have noticed very positive changes in her drawings and adoption of arts and new concepts. Her visualization has improved and she can now think of many things to draw and paint on her own. Thank you Ms. Nidhi for helping kids improve their creativity.Zareena Begum2021-02-10My daughter has been attending art classes since almost an year now. We are noticing tremendous improvement in her skills and techniques. In spite of being a small group class, all the students are getting quite a bit of personal attention all through the class. Nidhi is well aware of the skill levels and approach needed with each student in her class. Special thanks to Nidhi and her team for conducting the classes online throughout the pandemic time and also making sure the content and quality are not compromised.
Lisa earned an M.S. in Education and the Certified Professional in Talent Development credential during her career as an instructional designer, leadership coach, and head of learning and development. In parallel, she has been a tutor, instructor, and mentor for youth in academics and the arts. She’s even mentored junior sailors. Lisa studied and practiced painting all along, first with Eleanor Antin while an undergraduate at University of California San Diego and recently with professional artist Andrea Cermanski in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She has participated in group and solo shows. In 2022 Lisa made a career pivot. She owns a travel advisory business and focuses on art.
Sophomore at UC San Diego, Vivian is mentored in art under the guidance of Dr. Sharda. currently doing major in Visual and UX UI Design
Saesha is mentored in art and Fashion Designing under the guidance of Dr. Sharda for more than 8 years. Apart from Kalaa Studio, Saesha is a tutor at College Board for SAT Preparation and USA Biology Olympiad tutor for Biology Club. Currently Saesha is doing Molecular & Cell Biology Major from UC Berkeley, Ca.
Sophomore Highschool student, Triahas done art with Dr. Sharda for more than 2 years.
Dr. Richa is a hobbyist and Crochet artist. Doctor by profession she has been knitting and doing crochet for nearly 20 years
Sindu completed her Masters’s in Cellular & Microbiology. Leading her passion she learned fine arts and painting at Luz Fine Arts Gallery. She is an avid painter and an experienced teacher with nice artwork in her portfolio. Sindu began to draw and color at the age of 8 and was deeply inspired by Van Gogh’s impressionism paintings Cafe Terrace at night and Starry Night at the age of 11 and tried to recreate them using oil pastels. She went to Luz Fine Art Gallery to study painting and displayed work in the San Mateo Art exhibition for several years winning multiple awards. She is responsible for creative direction, curriculum design, and training. Apart from Art, she loves listening to music, learning about interior design, and hiking.
Dr. Nidhi L Sharda is the Founder of Kala Art & Design Studio, Pleasanton, California, and is Visual Art and Design Educator and Researcher. Prior to this, She has spent 15 years of her career at the University teaching in a Design College, as a Professor & Head of the Department. she was responsible for guiding design projects for the design collection, and, supervising research projects at the Doctoral and Post Graduate levels and planning and administering departmental goals including International academic program. She was also a Nodal officer for Swiss Textiles College for three years before moving to the USA. She has presented and published many scholarly papers in International Journals. Her applied research focuses on the area of Fashion & Textile Design, with research experience in the field of natural dyes, sustainable design, Indian Textiles, and Surface Art. Her pedagogy involves an appreciation for art and design forms with their innate beauty involving a Scientific and sustainable approach to better ecological models.
Vrushali Dhage(SF Bay Area) is an art historian and curator whose current area of research considers artistic research, public participation, and interdisciplinary collaborations as vital in understanding ecological transformations, urban development, and possible sustainable practices. This stems from her doctoral thesis which focused on tracing the impact of economic globalization on contemporary Indian art. She was a faculty member at the Dept. of Art History and Aesthetics, MSU Baroda, and has lectured at various other universities and institutions in India. Dhage has participated in and facilitated art residencies. Her research work and writings have been published in various art magazines, portals, books, and research journals internationally