'Irrelevant Elephant' Offers Art for All Ages

Since opening in early October, Laura Craig has been offering a range of art courses at her new Mount Kisco studio.

Dubbed Irrelevant Elephant, the space offers folks a shot at hanging their own work for exposure and letting little kids draw from their favorite books, among others this fall.

Craig, who is originally from Bergen County, NJ and has a background in art education, noted the choices and creative control she has in providing them.

“If you wanted to come here and just do open studio time, that’s an option," she said. "If you wanted to hang your work, try to sell it.”

The studio's quirky name comes from an experience of Craig's from when she was a student teacher during graduate school, when an art teacher she worked along with drew a picture for kids of a pachyderm being swallowed whole by a snake.

“It doesn’t really have any relevance,” to art or education, she explained. But, she added, that it stuck in her head.

The new entrepreneur has been interested in art since she was a kid. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees at the School of Visual Arts, and has applied her skills at many places, including summer camps, student teaching and helping special needs children at a behavior therapy program in California.

Running a studio has its benefits for Craig.

“I have complete creative control," she said about the positive side of starting her own business.

As a new business owner, Craig is still trying to get the word out, but she says that feedback has been good.

“It seems like so far, so good," she said. Customers have ranged from a man who started drawing again after 40 years, to a young preschooler.

For the winter, Craig's tentative plans include offering sculpture work, drawing illustrations from Greek myths that are read, and an open-ended art class for adolescents. One thing, however, about Craig's business is she is willing to change her plans based on what the demand and interest is from customers.

“It’s good to be organized and have a plan and everything, but it doesn’t matter," she said about her offerings.

Irrelevant Elephant is located at 293 Lexington Ave., next to Mahopac National Bank. The phone number is 914-666-2797 and its website is ieartstudio.com. For its Facebook page, click here.