Kristy Drinkwater had a dream – with a strong desire to make it come true.

Drinkwater teaches art on Thursdays at Covenant Christian School and she loves what she does.

“But I wanted to do more,” Drinkwater said with a smile. “This is more.”

Drinkwater was about an hour from the realization of her dream Monday morning. The door of Make Art Troy would open and a stream of young boys and girls would pour in just to make art.

“I’m excited, very excited,” Drinkwater said. “My dream has been to have a place where I could reach more people through art. I wanted a place where I teach art to young people. I wanted a place for home-school students to come and adults and to have art night classes and art parties. I wanted a place where people could leave their inhibitions at home and play and have fun. But to do that, I needed a dedicated space. This space.”

That dedicated space is on the corner of North Three Notch and East Walnut streets in downtown Troy … on the Troy downtown artistic corner.

Troy artist Jerry Johnson is in the process of opening an office/studio next door and the Johnson Center for the Arts is just around the corner.

“So, we have a lot of art going on around here,” Drinkwater said.

Make Art Troy is a visually fun place. Art is everywhere –kids’ artwork, prints of “the Masters,” books about art, art objects and art supplies.

“It’s just the way I imagined,” Drinkwater said. “This is my dream.”

On the first day of Make Art Troy, the young students learned to mix two colors to make another color, red and yellow make orange; yellow and blue make green; and red and white make “pink!”

Avery Tate said making different colors was “almost” as much fun as painting a “big beautiful flower” that grew from a tiny seed.

The paintings of the flowers were as different and unique as the young artists themselves.

“Uh, oh!” said Stone Shirah. But Drinkwater quickly reminded him “There are no mistakes in art!” And the young artist quickly brushed the runaway paint into the eye of the flower.

His teacher smiled.

The first classes at Make Art Troy are being held during Spring Break for schools in Troy and will be offered on school holidays, including Good Friday and a couple of weeks in June.

On May 4, a Mexican themed art class will be available for adults who would like to make art centered around Cinco de Mayo and might be called taco art.

“I want Make Art Troy to be a fun place and everyone who comes here to have a good time,” Drinkwater said.

For more information visit makearttroy.com