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GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. (Gwinnett Daily Post) — “Amarillo, rojo, azul, rosado,” six children, all under the age of 10, repeated after Joana Pratt, co-owner of Art for Life in Buford, meaning yellow, red, blue and pink in Spanish.
The children learned the words to different colors in Spanish and more during a recent Monday afternoon at the studio while dancing and singing and doing all sorts of activities until they finally settled down to work on their Frida Kahlo inspired self-portraits in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.
Children of all ages and of all backgrounds visit Art for Life four days a week for Pratt’s one-of-a-kind classes, where children learn to create art while also learning to speak Spanish.
Normally the studio would be filled with people listening to music as they painted, especially on the weekends for “Paint ‘N Sip” events, but over the last few months Pratt has had to rethink how she provides art classes for the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She is the only Latina art studio owner in Gwinnett County, opening it along with her husband, Timothy Pratt, in December 2017.
Joana Pratt said the first year they opened the studio after moving to Gwinnett from Las Vegas was very hard, as this was the second time in eight years they were starting over someplace new. However, the second year was “a little better.”
“And then the third year business was growing in February and March (of 2020),” Joana Pratt said. “We started getting booked all of April and May. Then on March 13 everything shut down. I had to close the studio. I started to try to learn how to navigate again in a new situation for me.”
At 52 years old, Joana Pratt said she had to learn how to use social networks like Facebook and Zoom to conduct business. Timothy Pratt said they lost about 80% of the business within one month of the shutdown.
“We’re not even starting over,” Timothy Pratt said. “We’re just trying to survive now.”
When the couple moved to Gwinnett, they quickly noticed the county’s growing Hispanic community and saw an opportunity to transform Joana Pratt’s dream of owning an art studio into reality.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that as of 2019 Hispanics make up 21.7% of the population in Gwinnett. But in October 2019, the Atlanta Regional Commission stated in its 2050 population projections for metro Atlanta that the largest group, at 28% of Gwinnett’s total population, is expected to be Hispanic. Whites will be the third largest group, making up 18% of the population.
“I thought opening an art studio would be a good idea for me,” Joana Pratt said. “I’m bilingual. This county is growing in the Hispanic community, and they don’t have a place to do art in their own language or bilingual. I thought it could be really good access for the community, but I didn’t want it to be like everybody else does it.”
Given her background in theater and interior design in Cali, Colombia, Joana Pratt enriches each class — for both children and adults — in unique ways to reflect her and her husband’s essence through music, dance and even puppetry.
“As a teacher you have to be like a performer to keep people’s attention,” Joana Pratt said.
Timothy Pratt said he estimates that about 30% of the studio’s clients are bilingual, either of African or Asian backgrounds, and about 10% to 15% are Spanish speakers.
“I’m really happy to have people from my Latinx community, because this is the only kind of place where people can hear the same music, we can talk about stuff that we both really enjoy and at the same time I can engage with people from other places,” Joana Pratt said.
During Hispanic Heritage Month, Joana Pratt held a class for the public to paint a “calavera” or sugar skull. Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated each year from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 to honor the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.
Joana Pratt said she focused on art from Mexico, because it is the reference most people are familiar with.
In recent months Art for Life has also hosted an outdoor art camp for kids, as well as various virtual events with friends from Colombia, Puerto Rico, Spain and Switzerland, with the option for the local community to attend the events in person.
For in-person events, Art for Life is continuing to follow social distancing guidelines. For example, small private events are held with a minimum of six people and a maximum of 10 during weekends and weeknights. The couple is also continuing to brainstorm new events to offer.
“I’m a part of the community, and the people who have experience with us through their kids or because they came here themselves have a connection with us,” Joana Pratt said. “I know everybody is trying to survive, but if people can support their community by doing virtual or doing small classes or commissioning art I would really appreciate that.”
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