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Art and fitness make successful combination – Springfield News-Leader

Fitness Comments Off on Art and fitness make successful combination – Springfield News-Leader

Juliana Goodwin, For the News-Leader Published 4:25 p.m. CT Feb. 18, 2017 | Updated 4:56 p.m. CT Feb. 18, 2017

Laura Rush, left, and Cathy Russell outside of the businesses they own: Art Zone and Studio Fitness in Nixa.(Photo: Juliana Goodwin)

When Cathy Russell opened Art Zone in Nixa, in May 2014, she only planned on a part-time gig hosting childrens birthday parties.

Russell is an art teacher in the Clever school district and already has a full-time job. But 14 months after opening, she found herself taking on a business partner Laura Rush and expanding. Now the venture has morphed into two distinct businesses that share the same space: Studio Fitness, which offers a variety of fitness classes; and Art Zone, which hosts birthday parties, monthly clay projects, paint your own pottery and more.

In December, they moved into a new space at 107 W. Aldersgate more than doubling their size and business has been booming ever since.

We get walk-in traffic all the time. We never got walk-in traffic at the old location, Russell said.

They are still in the middle of an expansion, and once it is complete, they will dedicate separate spaces to each business. As it stands now, if Art Zone is open for a party, then they cant offer a fitness class and vice versa, so they have to plan accordingly. With nine different fitness instructors at Studio Fitness, and only the two of them at Art Zone, they juggle a lot of schedules.

Laura Rush, left, and Cathy Russell outside of the businesses they own: Art Zone and Studio Fitness in Nixa.(Photo: Juliana Goodwin)

Monday through Friday, the fitness side of the business is busier; weekends are mostly dedicated to the art side because of classes and birthday parties. In winter, both aspects of the business are busy, but in summer, the birthday parties slow down as people spend more time outside, and the same goes for the fitness classes. However, they compensate by offering summer camp art classes, which keeps them busy.

Theyve added homeschooling classes, which have been popular, and they plan to expand those.

Also, once the new space is complete hopefully in April they will add wheel throwing classes.

It seems an odd fit for an art business and fitness business, but that evolved as well. Several years ago, the Clever school district encouraged its teachers to get fit, so Russell took a Zumba class and fell in love with it. Soon she was teaching Zumba, and that is where she met her best friend and business partner, Laura Rush.

When the owner of the studio where Russell taught developed health problems, she wanted to sell it, which is when the friends teamed up to become business partners.

Rush has a background in social work and is the former community outreach coordinator for Victory Mission, but she left that job to pursue this business full time. Rush says she brings marketing experience to the table and did not expect this to turn into a full-time job so quickly.

That seemed like a pipe dream, said Russell.

Studio Fitness offers a host of classes, and its only $5 to drop into any class. Theres yoga, a hula hoop fitness class, Zumba, Pound, REFIT, which is a Christian-based exercise class, RIPPED and more.

This summer, Rush is getting certified to teach additional classes, including a mother-daughter Zumba course, which they will add to their roster in late summer.

Russell is currently qualified to teach 10 different classes.

The days are long. They are at the studio at 5 a.m. to register students and help the teachers. Then Russell works a full day in Clever and comes back to the studio and teaches an 8 p.m. class.

We get about five hours of sleep a night. We love coffee, said Rush.

These are examples of projects created at Art Zone, which offers birthday parties, home-school events and more.(Photo: Juliana Goodwin)

Weekends are packed with Art Zone activities.

At Art Zone, two-hour birthday parties start at $60. Theres a monthly clay project for $5 and paint your own pottery every Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. (the cost ranges by project selected).

Russell says they have tried to keep prices reasonable on both sides of the business because she was raised by a single mom and they couldnt afford to do much as a family, so she wants families to be able to afford to let their children explore creativity at Art Zone. While they have opportunities for all ages, children 8 to 12 tend to be most involved in the activities.

The concept for Art Zone evolved from an after-school club. Several years ago, Russell had an after-school art club with more than 100 student members, but budget cuts eliminated the extracurricular activity.

Still, Russell had many parents asking about birthday parties and private art lessons, which is why she eventually opened Art Zone, expecting it to be a side business.

A table full of figurines which are available to paint from noon to 5 p.m. each Sunday. This table has $9 items, but theres a variety of others to chose from, too.(Photo: Juliana Goodwin)

Everything I did in art club, I did in my business, she said.

For birthday parties, there are a variety of options from mosaic, papier-mch, paint your own pottery to painting a picture. The child picks the theme, and then Rush and Russell design a project for them. In the front window are examples of previous works.

If its art, we can do it, Russell said.

Russell received her B.S. in Education with an emphasis on K-12 Art Education from Missouri State University in 2004; she earned a Masters in Studio Art and Theory from Drury University in 2013.

Throughout her career, Russell has been active in the Missouri Art Education Association, holding the Elementary Art Teacher council position from 2010-2012 before transitioning to District 10 council position in 2012-15.

While Rush previously had no art education, she wanted to be an art teacher growing up.

Working together has been a pleasure, they say. The only fight theyve had so far is what color to paint the walls, laughed the ladies.

Coming from an art background, Russell thought the walls should be colorful; Rush thought the walls should be more neutral more fitting for a yoga class. In the end, they compromised.

They hope the businesses continue to grow.

Its been fun, said Russell. But it takes passion to keep this going.

Art Zone and Studio Fitness are located at 107 W. Aldersgate Drive, Suite 6, Nixa. Call 417-861-0338. Art Zone has monthly $5 clay projects; birthday parties start at $60; theres paint your own pottery from noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Studio Fitness has a variety of exercise classes from yoga to Zumba to hula hoop fitness. Cost: $5 to drop in to any class. Online: http://www.artzonenixa.com; and http://www.studiofitnessnixa.com

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Art and fitness make successful combination - Springfield News-Leader

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