Maria Ojascastro Art Studio
Subtitle
Welcome to Maria Ojascastro Art Studio
I provide expressive tools that help individuals adapt to everyday challenges and teach them to observe their world in a productive way, thus enabling them to grow in well-being. I have led workshops and classes for other educators, medical and mental health professionals, cancer survivors, recently incarcerated men and victims of trauma at cultural, mental health, medical, and educational institutions both regionally and nationally. I have taught individuals with developmental delays, hearing impairments, significant medical conditions, dementia and learning disabilities, as well as typically developing and gifted students. To see my most up to date artwork and classes, please visit B EXTRAORDINAIRE.
Private Art Classes for Kids and Adults
Private art lessons range from 45 minutes to 2 hours depending on the student's age and ability. Expressive art opportunities are also available for individuals who want to explore their journey in life through visual arts. Come discover the joy of creating in a relaxing and encouraging environment either virtually or in my socially distanced outdoor studio. To register, please visit Ojascastro Classes and Camps.
About the Artist
Maria Ojascastro is the Art for Well-Being instructor at PALM Health. She has taught visual arts for The Center of Creative Arts (COCA) since 2007. There she conducts creativity programs for individuals in business through COCAbiz, the business training division of COCA, a national leader in arts-based education. COCAbiz offers programs for both individuals and corporate teams that challenge and teach the skills needed to unlock creative energy.
She has been a guest teacher at Washington University, St. Louis University and Webster University and has taught art to individuals whose lives have been touched by cancer at the Siteman Cancer Center, the Cancer Support Community and St. Anthony's Cancer Center. As a Community Art Trainer, she presents workshops for many educational and cultural institutions including Kemper Art Museum, The Brown School of Social Work, The Missouri Mental Health Counselors Association and The Center for Survivors of War Trauma and Torture. Prior to teaching, she worked at several prestigious cultural institution including Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Art St. Louis.
In her art studio, she creates mixed media pieces that incorporate prints and paint reflecting the vibrant colors and rich textures of the Philippines, Jamaica and Italy. Her art was featured in a two-person exhibit in the Millstone Gallery at the Center of Creative Arts, entitled Breathe. Breathe is an exhibit of works that layer prints, paint, text, and found objects as a meditation on resilience, salvaged from the relics of interrupted journeys. Her art has also been exhibited at Park College in Kansas City, Kansas; the Midwest Museum of American Art in Elkhart, Indiana; the Colfax Cultural Center in South Bend, Indiana and many other galleries and alternative spaces. To see current work, please visit Ojascastro Gallery.
Ojascastro received a Masters of Fine Arts from Washington University in St. Louis; studied in Santa Reparata International School of Art in Florence, Italy; and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana.
Ah Ha Moments
July 6, 2020. Art lesson inspired by Pablo Picasso's Bottle of Suze.
Maria provided me with the "ah -ha" moment that I needed to finish my project. I struggled figuring out what to add to my collage, based on Picasso?s Bottle of Suze. She encouraged me to use a shape that has meaning to me, it may mean something else to others and that?s ok. That permission, to create for me, was just the boost of confidence I needed to finish my artwork. ~Jennifer Miller, Vienna, V
"I love that I?m still in process and this class/interaction with a Picasso with which I wasn?t familiar and which seemed so simple has given me a wealth of inspiration into my own creativity but also that of dare I say Picasso?s workings. It has sparked questions of art history and background of Picasso?s career and development particularly. Where to go from here? The possibilities are infinite. ~Trish Dewey, Memphis TN
October 25, 2011
"Never judge a book by its cover. I have heard that my entire life and this is the first time that each and every word made the most sense to me. I have never seen so much variety mixed together to create such wonderful and whimsical pieces. The book was used as the base and from there, the pages were altered to create windows, envelopes, words exposed, drawings over multi-media, etc. The book enabled the patient to do whatever they wanted to create. Paper already existed, binding was present, and the rest, is history, as they say! What a great process and product."
~Vicki Friedman, Arts as Healing, Director at Washington University School of Medicine responding to Maria Ojascastro's "Altered Works" workshop for cancer patients.
August 31, 2011
"On Monday, Entrepreneur Peter Sims was asked,
"How do you measure success?"
As an artist and an educator, I struggle with that question often.
On Tuesday, a young architect took my "Altered Works" session at COCA's Business Creativity Conference. One of the directions I gave the class was to highlight interesting words that pop out on the page. He found words about love and family in the book he was given for the project. Halfway through the book, he found the heading "Grace" in large letters and highlighted that word. When he shared his book with the class, I saw him fight back tears. "Grace is the name of our daughter." I was stunned that after less than two hours, he was comfortable enough to be so open with his creation. I fought back the urge to run across the room and give the architect a hug.
I received my success that day." ~Maria Ojascastro