More and more schools are looking into hand dexterity abilities apart from your perfect score in your academia. Engaging in creative skills does not necessarily mean that you are aiming to be only a designer or an artist, but, it nurtures an ability to become efficient in certain skills that require high precision, hand-eye coordination, and application of fine motor skills like performing surgery Extracurricular activities in the arts and design can show colleges and universities that you are well rounded and understand the value of the arts in society. Creative pursuits can be very rewarding and even stress-reducing throughout your academic journey.
The Kalaa Art & Design is a classical teaching studio and online school, not a recreational facility. We teach the Art & Design ideas, theories, techniques, and methods of different media in the visual arts, and Fashion & Textiles Design covering both Western and Asian traditions. Our students excel in all the core aspects of any of the subjects they explore with us. We focus on giving students both Art & Design learning, rehearsing, and creating their own ideas.
Art and painting classes: Group of 6, allotted by age and skills acquired.
Fashion Design and Embroidery class: Group of four to five.
You will learn in a small group of students in your age group, Your current work is always based on skills-building and creative thinking. Each course has its syllabus, and each syllabus carries at least two levels of advancement. It may take a teen or an adult anywhere from 10 months to a year and a half to cross from one level of advancement to the next. It all depends on the time you may devote to it. Children will work more slowly idea is to build their skills and creative thinking (most of us can copy nicely but can’t create). Most students of all ages will begin with Drawing, which includes color theory, brushwork, many different work surfaces, and different media continuity and practice is the key !
No. You need the will to learn, and the desire to appreciate your skills. We will mentor both beginners and more experienced students. We emphasize the use of traditional techniques, tools, and methods in new and creative ways. Our objective is that studio skills become life-skills in seeing and knowing, problem-solving, self-confidence, respect, and appreciating beauty as such and using designs to add dimension to your profile and lifestyle.
Kalaa students come from all walks of life, and bring an enormous amount of knowledge to bear on our studio practice! Our adult students include Engineers, an economist, CPAs, Physicist, as well as others serving as computer software designers, interior decorators, psychologists, homemakers, grad students, school teachers, and office administrators, to list a few.
Sessions are based on levels. Please check the below link for the details
A student enrolled in a regular session can enjoy up to three make-up classes, the make-ups must be booked and fulfilled within the current session, make-ups will not be honored after the term ends.
The studio will be closed on all National holidays and makeup classes will not be given in the account of these holidays, as in lots of months there are 5 weeks with the same monthly fees.
Please view Kalaa Art & Design Holiday Calendar.
There is car parking on the premises. Please park your car as per traffic regulations.
We provide all the art supplies needed for the class. (Included in registration fees). Online students may not pay registration fees and can procure their own materials if they are far away located from the studio.
For the Fashion Design course, we provide machines for sewing projects and drafting supplies. Sewing fabric and materials for garment construction, the student has to buy on their own.
Parent’s responsibilities
What is Kalaa doing?
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