Best In Show: Dream studio helps artist fulfill calling
• Celebrating Another Today Anniversary
• This article was the cover story in the November 2024 edition of Today Magazine, our monthly publication — this story was first published as the debut Today Publishing cover story in October 2018 and is just as relevant today — the facts documented here were checked and vetted through that time frame only •
• July 2024 was the fifth anniversary of the rebranded Today Magazine, and our August 2024 edition celebrated that milestone — October 2024 was the sixth anniversary of the Today Publishing media outlet — this debut cover story from Canton Today Magazine has been republished to observe this milestone •
By Bruce Deckert — Today Magazine Editor-in-Chief
COLLINSVILLE AND THE ARTS go hand in hand — like Hartford and insurance, like Walden Pond and Thoreau, like New England and the Patriots.
SEO keyword — Dream Studio Helps Artist Fulfill Calling
Sure, someone could quibble with the precise accuracy of these comparisons, but you get the point: The arts are an essential part of Canton’s ethos and history. Jim DeCesare is one of the gifted artists who carries the creative baton in Canton today.
“This community clearly embraces the arts,” he says, “with well-attended local festivals and activities. The Canton Artists Guild, at the Gallery on the Green, is a wonderful local arts organization. I have participated in exhibitions for my work, as well as for my teen students. I appreciate and support the broad breadth of arts-related groups, galleries and artisans in Collinsville and throughout Canton.”
A resident of Collinsville since 2004, DeCesare (pronounced De-CHEZ-a-ray) has garnered a cornucopia of honors.
His work has been included in juried exhibitions at the New Britain Museum of American Art, the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts and the Connecticut Society of Portrait Artists. His oil paintings have been featured at Syracuse University, the Barnes-Franklin Gallery at Tunxis Community College in Farmington, the Silpe Gallery at the University of Hartford, and other exhibition venues.
Since 2006, DeCesare has been an adjunct professor of painting and drawing at Tunxis Community College. Since 2008, he has served as an art teacher at The Master’s School, a private school for nursery through grade 12 in West Simsbury, where he is the head of the visual and performing arts department.
“The relationship between artist and educator is truly symbiotic,” says DeCesare, who was born and raised in Laconia, N.H., and graduated from Laconia High School. “Art-making feeds the passion in the classroom. While tech-savvy students are increasingly accustomed to quick access of digital tutorials, they have become increasingly captivated by live demonstrations, lively instruction and personal critique.”
SEO keyword — Dream Studio Helps Artist Fulfill Calling
SEO keyword — Dream Studio Helps Artist Fulfill Calling
In addition to his on-campus teaching, DeCesare regularly mentors teens at his studio in Collinsville, helping them develop scholarship-level art portfolios.
“I am relevant in the classroom when I am living out the disciplines I teach,” affirms DeCesare, who is primarily an oil painter, utilizing traditional studio methods and various mediums such as charcoal, pastel and watercolor. “It is important for the artist educator to demonstrate the vulnerability, struggle, process and perseverance necessary to succeed.”
DeCesare’s eclectic experience as a teacher has included the following roles: figure drawing instructor at the New Britain Museum of American Art, adjunct instructor of painting at the Hartford Art School, and portrait painting instructor at the West Hartford Art League.
Plus, he has given myriad lectures and demonstrations, speaking to students and faculty at various Connecticut colleges on the topic of “Creativity in the Digital Age” — including the University of New Haven, Middlesex Community College and Tunxis Community College.
On a shelf in DeCesare’s art studio is a notebook. Not just any notebook, but a book of dreams ... dreams that have largely become reality. This noteworthy notebook is filled with drawings, designs and written plans that date back to the early 2000s — plans for an art studio that would support his calling.
The notebook contained “a vision for what I wanted to do with my life,” says DeCesare, who lived in Hartford at the time. “I just had to get over the hump of daring to dream against conventional wisdom.”
DeCesare’s early drawings of the studio he envisioned are a remarkable near-facsimile of the studio adjacent to his home in Collinsville today.
“It is important for the artist educator to demonstrate the vulnerability, struggle, process and perseverance necessary to succeed” — Jim DeCesare
“Our studio construction was, perhaps, the most significant creative endeavor my wife Kelly and I have been a part of, aside from raising three young children,” DeCesare says.
Kelly and Jim met in 2000 at an art show — naturally — that he was curating in Hartford for a mutual friend. They were married in 2004 and moved to Collinsville the same year.
“We had both lived in downtown Hartford,” he says, “and we fell in love with this quaint, historic town.”
Once they found a house with a suitable property, they made the studio a priority together.
“After years of painstaking design and labor, we created the most ideal space for art-making we could dream of,” says Jim, who has earned three degrees with highest honors at Syracuse University (master of arts) and the Hartford Art School (master of fine arts, bachelor of fine arts). “The space is an extension of our home. We are blessed to have realized this dream, and we enjoy using the studio to serve students and our community.”
From groundbreaking to completion took about five years, roughly from 2005 to 2010, as he recalls. During that time frame, Canton celebrated its bicentennial — the town was established in 1806. “We worked in phases, hiring help when we could but doing much of the work ourselves,” Jim says.
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Artistic Partnership
DeCesare Studio of Drawing and Painting, a portrait-painting studio and private fine arts school, is intended expressly for the creation and exhibition of traditional studio art and for instruction in such art. The historically inspired design, expansive space, large wall of north-facing windows, sizable art library, and vintage studio easels and furniture “offer a truly unique experience,” Jim says.
With a ceiling that soars and peaks at about three stories high, the studio manifests a museum feel while also being comfortable and home-like. Large-scale paintings adorn the welcoming walls, and works-in-progress rest on easels like beach-goers on sand chairs awaiting the next rise of the tide.
After designing the building, Jim acted as the general contractor for the project. He hired contractors to pour the foundation and frame the structure, but he installed insulation, drywall, windows and doors, and he excavated for the electric, water and sewer lines. Jim learned the construction trades from his father, who was a home builder.
Oh, in case you’re wondering — yes, he painted the studio, both the interior and exterior. The array of paintings displayed throughout this studio of dreams indicates that Jim has put the space to good use.
“Over the years,” he observes, “I have been developing a substantial body of large-scale oil paintings and drawings that express a sense of place, and that reflect a love of home, family and faith.”
Kelly has partnered with her husband in a commitment to the arts since the beginning of their relationship.
“I have always appreciated and enjoyed the world of art,” she says. “We met at an art show, and it was an incredible part of who he was that attracted me to him the first moment we met. Early on in our marriage, I took some of his art classes, workshops and demonstrations in the role of student to see what that experience was like and to learn about him as an artist and educator from a different, firsthand perspective. He truly can teach anyone to draw — even me!”
SEO keyword — Dream Studio Helps Artist Fulfill Calling
SEO keyword — Dream Studio Helps Artist Fulfill Calling
Born and raised in Avon, Kelly has a wide-ranging résumé, including experience as an English teacher at Windsor High School, a literacy teacher at Two Rivers Magnet Middle School in East Hartford, an adult ministry assistant at Valley Community Baptist Church in Avon, and a developmental reading and writing adjunct instructor at Capitol Community College in Hartford and Tunxis Community College.
Further, she has worked as a freelance writer and editor for various publications and organizations, including the Hartford Courant, Preservation Magazine and the University of Hartford.
“As a writer, I am sensitive to nuance and detail and how these pieces affect and construct a larger context and story,” Kelly says. “It is how I see and respond to the world around me.”
She notes that Jim is similar in the way he approaches his artwork and creative vision: “This helps us to really listen to and understand one another’s hearts and discern what God’s direction may be in whatever is in front of him or me or us,” she observes.
“It helps us communicate about a particular painting he might be working on, a lesson he might be doing in the classroom, a vision one of us might have for our home or work or community, or all those moments in raising our three amazing children.”
Jim and Kelly have two daughters — second-grader Annie Rose (7 years old) and early-kindergartner Madeline (5) — who both attend The Master’s School, where Jim teaches high school students. Their son, Luca, is 3 years old.
“Jim is a visionary and can think outside of the box,” says Kelly, who graduated from Avon High School. “He is the most amazing problem-solver I have ever known.”
SEO keyword — Dream Studio Helps Artist Fulfill Calling
SEO keyword — Dream Studio Helps Artist Fulfill Calling
Case in point: Kelly says the 100-year-old barn adjacent to their Collinsville home needed new front posts because of rot issues.
“How would one man ever lift up a huge, 100-year-old barn?” she asks — rhetorically. “Jim’s solution was to saw through the bottom of the rotted post, jack up the barn with a car-jack, attach a new piece to the bottom of the post, and bring it back down.”
Kelly recalls a winter break when Jim wasn’t able to paint because their children needed attention that week. Instead of going into the studio, he utilized his imagination via innovative Lego constructions with his kids.
“I love how his passion for art-making and creativity infuses our home and family with unique opportunities in the yard and in our home,” says Kelly, who has a master of fine arts from Goucher College in Baltimore and a bachelor of arts from Central Connecticut State University.
Kelly says she wouldn’t want to share “this wild life journey” with anyone else. For the record, Jim says the feeling is mutual.
Reflecting on the studio and his work as a painter and teacher, Jim says, “It’s a family thing — without my family and my faith, I have nothing.”
Regarding that faith, Jim and Kelly believe in a Creator who is the source of human creativity. While theirs is a traditional Christian worldview, for Jim and Kelly the implication of such a faith isn’t merely traditional — rather, it has a far-reaching impact that permeates the arts and all of life. The DeCesare family attends Valley Simsbury, a small church community affiliated with Valley Community Baptist Church of Avon.
SEO keyword — Dream Studio Helps Artist Fulfill Calling
Appreciation for Canton Connection
The Canton community plays a pivotal role in the life of the DeCesare family. A deep appreciation for the town comes through distinctly.
“We enjoy our neighbors, our library, the liveliness and enthusiasm for this community,” Jim says. “We can think of no greater community to raise our family. We especially love the Farmington River.”
The family’s home in Collinsville provides close proximity to the river, which “helps our family build a genuine connection to nature and beauty,” he says.
“Every adventure with our kids riding the bike trail or paddling the canoe is a new experience — from seeing bald eagles, great blue herons and egrets fishing, to beavers building dams and trout swimming in the clear water,” Jim says. “I enjoy the freedom, the peace and simplicity the river and this community provide.”
Jim was telling a recent visitor about how often his family has seen bald eagles while on the river, but this was met with a certain skepticism. Part of the itinerary with this visitor was a canoe trip. Soon after they were out on the river — you guessed it — a bald eagle swooped within 10 feet of their heads as they paddled.
SEO keyword — Dream Studio Helps Artist Fulfill Calling
SEO keyword — Dream Studio Helps Artist Fulfill Calling
Jim didn’t say “I told you so” — but yes, he felt a certain vindication. His love of the Farmington River has inspired a series of large paintings he has been working on for several years that is nearly ready to be exhibited.
Kelly, meanwhile, values a both/and that she sees in the fabric of Canton.
“What I enjoy most about living in artistic Canton,” she offers, “is a unique duality of casual, small-town community with vibrant innovation and growth.”
She likewise relishes the recreation available on the Farmington River and the Farmington River Trail in Collinsville, noting that these pursuits build community and bring neighbors together.
“I am proud to raise my children in this town,” she says. “I am appreciating a growth of diversity in town and hope that diversity will only continue to grow.”
Regarding the importance of the arts in a community, Jim says, “The arts matter! All towns, municipalities and especially school districts can take a more objective look at the value and benefits of the arts — building the character of a community, fostering innovation, loving neighbors, building real relationships, growing empathy and compassion. Canton does a good job fostering the arts, and there is always room to grow.”
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Student and Supervisor Kudos
Violet Kim, a 2016 graduate of The Master’s School, attends the prestigious Parsons School of Design in New York City on a scholarship. She tried her hand at art because of the encouragement of a certain teacher.
She says the most important lesson she has learned from Mr. DeCesare is that it’s never too late to begin pursuing art.
“Since I was young, I was afraid to do art,” Violet says. “I thought it was too late [as a teenager] because there are a lot of people who started when they were young. But he told me that I can do it and I should try it and to not give up. ... He is one of the best teachers I know and a great friend.”
Ray Lagan has been the head of school at Master’s since January 2015.
“Jim’s greatest strength is deep com-passion for the students he serves,” Lagan says. “No doubt, Jim loves art and sees it as a vehicle for all types of students to express themselves with something other than words. He has a great talent for giving students a nonverbal voice for internal expression.”
Lagan was Master’s chief operating officer from 2011-14.
SEO keyword — Dream Studio Helps Artist Fulfill Calling
SEO keyword — Dream Studio Helps Artist Fulfill Calling
“What Jim brings to The Master’s School is a platform for every student,” he says. “When he releases them into the world of art and art appreciation, each student has an opportunity to stand tall in front of their peers and has equal value.”
Carianne Mack Garside is the arts and media department chairperson at Tunxis Community College and has been Jim’s supervisor there for the past eight years. They’ve been department colleagues for a dozen years.
“Jim loves art and he loves mentoring students,” she says. “He is so fluent in drawing and painting, his natural prowess always inspires the artists he works with. He also has an incredible wealth of art historical knowledge that he generously shares with heartfelt passion.”
Garside notes that technical skill alone doesn’t automatically translate to effective teaching.
“What makes Jim so special is that he also loves every single one of his students,” she says. “He really cares about seeing them develop as artists ... and ultimately thrive in all their endeavors. Because he cares so much and has such a high level of integrity, he creates a warm and welcoming classroom environment for every student ... [and] offers them creative challenges that yield beautiful results.”
For Jim, art has been a lifelong pursuit, a constant companion since his youth.
“I am relevant in the classroom when I am living out the disciplines I teach” — Jim DeCesare
“I have been drawing as long as I can remember,” he says. “Picture-making was always a playful escape and part of daily life. My interest was continually sparked by a simple need to feed a very active imagination.”
Naturally, not every student will win a scholarship to an arts university. It’s as evident as the stars in Vincent van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” that not everyone possesses a keen artistic gift — just ask anyone for whom stick figures are a magnum opus — but Jim contends that everyone is capable of creating art.
“I believe drawing is the basis for most visual art — I also believe I can teach anyone to draw,” he says.
The difficulty for most people, he explains, is not technical skill but rather embracing a new mindset — “to view drawing as a means of expression, not a means of facsimile.”
What is the difference between expression and facsimile?
“One is like trying to chisel a masterpiece from marble with a white-knuckled death grip,” he says, “while the other is like playfully drawing in beach sand with a long stick — if you can tap your foot to music, you can learn to draw.” +
• Editor's Note — November 2024 •
Jim DeCesare has provided the following career update:
• He is currently teaching art (drawing and painting) at American School for the Deaf in West Hartford.
• He moved on from The Master's School after the 2021-22 school year.
• He continues to teach college art classes at CT State Tunxis in Farmington.
• This debut feature on Jim DeCesare and his family received an award from the Society of Professional Journalists, the first SPJ award for Today Publishing — Today has won 68 awards overall in its first six SPJ contests — this year Today won more than twice as many awards as all other state magazines combined — 2024 Award Story
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Quick Questions for Jim DeCesare
Your three favorite artists
Very hard to choose only three! Joaquin Sorolla • Anders Zorn • Ilya Repin
Your favorite book/story as a child
The Lord of the Rings trilogy
Your favorite TV show as a child
The Muppet Show
Your favorite book as an adult
The Art Spirit — by Robert Henri
Your favorite TV show as an adult
Shark Tank
Your favorite restaurant/eatery in Canton
Giv Coffee • Joe’s Pizza
Other favorite businesses in town
Larsen Ace Hardware • Benidorm Bikes
Websites
• DeCesare School of Drawing and Painting — www.decesarestudio.com
• Jim DeCesare Fine Portrait Painting — www.jimdecesare.com
• Today Magazine covers community news that matters nationwide, focusing on the heart of Connecticut’s Farmington Valley
• Canton Today, a predecessor of Today Magazine, launched in October 2018 as a print-and-digital monthly that covered Canton exclusively — in April 2019, Today Publishing expanded to comprise three town publications: Avon Today, Canton Today and Simsbury Today magazines — in July 2019, a rebrand established Today Magazine
SEO keyword — Dream Studio Helps Artist Fulfill Calling
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