About Us

This art studio builds students in their enjoyment, genuine passion, and creativity for art. With students who hail from all over the world, we are imparting in them concepts and abilities to critique and create art; cultivating their minds with inter-disciplinary and multi-cultural aesthetic sensitivities and knowledge for art, while fostering a refined taste to enjoy art in its different forms. For example, music, literature, and philosophy are brought into their paintings or sculptures; analyses of film or animation connected with their compositions and design; and different art styles learned in various art movements are promoted in their creative processes.

Over the years, students from this studio have been admitted to and enrolled in prestigious art and design colleges around the country—including the Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, School of the Art Institute of Chicago*, Rhode Island School of Design, Pratt Institute*, USC School of Cinematic Arts*, UIUC Industrial Design Program, and The San Francisco Art Institute*, The California College of the Arts, Purdue University, Ohio State University, and University of Illinois at Chicago. (* means with scholarships). We are carefully preserving students’ idiosyncratic artistic ways and innovative art ideas budding through their respective journeys and at their own paces, which are easily discouraged or compromised in an attempt to win a competition. While this studio never puts emphasis on competitions due to art education concerns, from time to time, students enroll in competitions on their own with works from this studio. These students have been Gold Key and Silver Key award recipients at the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, CA Central Coast Region as well as 1st-prize and Best of Class – Youth award recipients at the Alameda County Fair. In addition, they have been named an Exceptional Awardee in the Bay Area Creative Foundation’s 2024 Creative Youth Award, and placed first and second in the GFWC Dublin/San Ramon Women’s Club Student Art Contest.

本畫室敎學著重建立和培養學生真實對藝術的愛好、認識與創意。建立學生藝術鑑賞分析與創作的能力；培養跨學科對藝術的敏感度、認識和享受不同藝術形式的能力。例如，將音樂、文學帶入繪畫與雕塑中；將畫面的設計和創造與電影和動畫的賞析結合；應用不同的藝術文化運動中的不同的風格在創作中。

十多年來畫室曾助學生成功入學藝術或設計相關科系如康奈爾大學建築、藝術與規劃學院、School of the Art Institute of Chicago*、Rhode Island School of Design, Pratt Institute*、 USC School of Cinematic Arts*、UIUC Industrial Design Program, and The San Francisco Art Institute*、The California College of the Arts、Purdue University、Ohio State University、University of Illinois at Chicago（有*授予獎學金）。另一方面，鑑於藝術敎育的一些考量，爲避免在參賽追求得獎的過程中抹煞和斲傷學生在一己各自不同的習畫步程中漸萌初生的自我特色與藝術新意，本畫室從不特別鼓勵學生去參賽。但偶有學生自主的將本畫室的習作拿去參賽而得獎，如Scholastic Art and Writing Awards –  CA Central Region 相繼得過五幅Gold Key 和三幅銀牌；Alameda County Fair 藝術展得過第一名、第二名、同組最優獎（Best Of Class – Youth）和幾幅特優作品。另外，他們也在多種繪畫與創作比賽中優勝得標，如Bay Area Creative Foundation 2024 Creative Youth Award和GFWC Dublin/San Ramon Women’s Club Student Art Contest。

Ms. Lee (Teaches Ages 10-Adult)

Ms. Ching-Lan Lee has been teaching art through her private studio in Pleasanton for over a decade. Prior to coming to the US, she taught art at Zhanghe Junior High School in Taipei, Taiwan. In addition to maintaining a successful private art studio, Ms. Lee has taught art at Valley Christian Schools in Dublin, and Feixiang Bilingual School in Pleasanton. Ms. Lee is a graduate of the Taiwan Normal University Department of Fine Arts, holds an MA in Linguistics from University of Hawaii at Manoa, and an MDIV degree from CIU.

The VCS 2023-2024 Open House Art Gallery of her students’ exceptional artworks exemplifies Ms. Lee’s outstanding teaching ability and quality.

Mr. Archer (Teaches Ages 10 and Under)

Mr. Archer Chu has been teaching alongside Ms. Lee in Pleasanton for over a decade. Mr. Archer is a graduate of the Taiwan Normal University Department of Fine Arts and holds an MFA Degree in Printmaking from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and an MDIV degree from CIU.

李靜蘭 老師（敎10歲以上至成人）：

畢業於臺灣師範大學美術系。來美前曾於過去的臺北縣漳和國中任敎；來美後曾獲夏威夷大學語言學碩士、南卡CIU大學道學碩士。定居 Pleasanton 逾二十年，在此私人畫室教學十幾年。除了成功地經營此私人畫室，李老師也在 Valley Christian Schools 和飛翔雙語學校教學。

從 VCS 2023-2024年Open House Art Gallery 展出的令人驚艷的作品成果可以窺見李老師教學的超凡品質，帶出學生無窮的創作力。

徐世昌 老師（敎10歲以下）：

畢業於臺灣師範大學美術系。來美前曾任教於臺北市實踐國中；來美後曾獲夏威夷大學版畫碩士、南卡 CIU 大學道學碩士。定居 Pleasanton 逾二十年，在此私人畫室協同李老師一起教學十幾年。