For nearly four decades, families across the Upper West Side have been whispering about a sunny art studio where kids don’t just make crafts — they become artists. Arts in Action Visual Arts Program (AIAVAP), located at 711 Amsterdam Avenue (northeast corner of 94th Street), has quietly built a reputation that speaks for itself: 95% of its portfolio development students have been accepted into New York City’s most coveted specialized art high schools, including LaGuardia and Frank Sinatra School of the Arts.
“Many of our families have called us ‘the best-kept secret on the UWS,'” says Founder and Director Angela Tripi-Weiss, a three-time NYC Blackboard Award winner for excellence in fine art education. “Our students call what we do ‘serious fun’ — they’re building real skills while genuinely enjoying the process.”
What sets ARTS IN ACTION VAP (AIAVAP) apart from the crowd? While most art programs for ages 5 to 18 focus on arts-and-crafts type projects, AIAVAP offers a process-oriented fine art curriculum that teaches children to truly see what they are drawing from observation. Students learn the building block skills of visual art — edge and line, form and space, color, light and shadow, composition through a sequential curriculum designed to unlock creativity and confidence while building on past lessons students were given. The studio’s guiding philosophy is simple: “There are no mistakes in art, just opportunities to explore.”
The results extend well beyond the finished drawing or canvass. Research shows that sequential, skill-based art education strengthens critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and attention span — abilities that carry over into reading, writing, math, and beyond.
It all started 39 years ago, when Tripi-Weiss and fellow artists launched Arts in Action after funding for her daughter’s school art teacher was cut. The program grew to serve over 1,000 students across 36 classrooms and earned recognition in Susan Mansell’s book How to Give Your Child an Excellent Public School Education as well as a place on the Honor Roll for the Arts for offering “incredibly sophisticated instruction,” and awarded three Blackboard Awards for art education.
Today, AIAVAP offers semester-long after school and weekend classes that families can register for at any time during a semester where seats are available. These include one-time trial classes, school break camps/workshops, in persons and zoom private lessons for children and adults, group Zoom classes, NYC specialized art high school portfolio development classes, and college portfolio development — with 95% of their middle school portfolio students accepted into nyc art high schools, and 98% of high school students accepted into their top college choices. As a Dept of Ed vendor, AIAVAP offers school day art programs, and mural design/creation to private and public schools. AIAVAP’s commitment to its entire community offers needs-based tuition assistance opportunities. Also, families can apply AIAVAP’s tuition towards their FSA credit accounts for reimbursement.
AIAVAP’s semesters offer open enrollment and seats are still available for this spring semester. Summer Art Camp registration is also now open. Visit artsinactionvap.org to explore the full schedule and find the right fit for your young artist.
Questions? Please contact AIAVAP program director Angela Tripi-Weiss at 917-741-2297 or artsinactionvap@gmail.com.
