Meet Deborah Kobayashi of Articipate

Today we’d like to introduce you to Deborah Kobayashi. 

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Driving home from an art therapy class at Wayne State University, I passed a For Sale sign in the window of a Berkley shop on Twelve Mile. It started me thinking about a public art studio where everyone and anyone could come and make art. It made me recollect an experience I had had with a friend in Athens, Ohio. We were strolling downtown and ran into a paper store where one could use paint and lots of tools to make paste paper inside. We spent hours of fun there. Thus, I began my entrepreneurial exploration back in 2013, and now we are approaching our 10th year. Articipate has evolved from a drop-in center and ladies craft nights into a school for artistic expression. I want Articipate’s circle sign to be the catalyst that calls anyone and everyone with an inkling of curiosity about art to take the first step and start their own exploration. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Obstacles? I knew nothing! I went to business courses and kept talking up my dream of bringing art experiences to the public, and fortunately, the business mentors would ask me, “but how will you make money? It is a business, correct?” I learned; goals, profit streams, advertising, social media, computer programs, etc. I was significantly challenged by it all. Having been recently divorced, I put my all into it and enjoyed the variety of roles. It’s like a marriage. It takes nurturing, testing, learning, and commitment. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Articipate?
This is what I would love for people to know about making art: the vision you hold in your mind about your future art project is instrumental to your resilience. First, you have to believe that you, like everyone else, is capable of making art, or you won’t try it. Then you have to resolve so many inquiries; Which idea is most important for you to convey? What size? What materials? What tools? When will you do it? It takes focus, imagination, decision-making, and failure! And starting over. Then, when it’s done it takes courage to share it. But all the while, through the process you will be thinking and planning and anticipating with excitement and positivity and forward progression. It is the antidote to feeling helpless and hopeless. 

Articipate can help as a stepping stone toward this progression by teaching art to students of all levels. We offer one-day workshops and five-week classes or private lessons. Also, students’ artistic endeavors are displayed in the gallery as a celebration with the community several times per year. 

Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
The term “risk-taking” sounds scary. I prefer to think of it as trying new things. Perhaps, because I’m an artist, trying new things is just part of the process. Making mistakes and failing is also part of the process. One gets used to it. The excitement of newness is instrumental in propelling me forward. I just signed up for my first class in sculpture at OCC this January. 

Contact Info:

• Website: articipate.us
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/articipate/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/articipateinberkley
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/articipate-berkley?osq=articipate