Today we’d like to introduce you to A To Z Artistry Heather Alvarado And Ivey Zoellers.
Hi A to Z Artistry, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
A to Z Artistry is a local art school dedicated to providing accessible and engaging art education opportunities throughout the Kansas City region. By partnering with local organizations, we create collaborative programs that inspire creativity and make artistic expression available to learners of all ages and skill levels. Our mission is to foster a vibrant arts community by making high-quality art education both inclusive and enriching.
A to Z Artistry was founded in 2019 by owners Heather Alvarado and Ivey Zoellers. With over 45 years of combined experience, A to Z Artistry offers small class sizes, and a passion for providing opportunities in art education to the Lee’s Summit community.
A to Z Artistry was selected for the 2025 Best of Lee’s Summit Award in the Art School category by the Lee’s Summit Award Program. Each year, the Lee’s Summit Award Program identifies companies that they believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Lee’s Summit area a great place to live, work and play.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
A to Z Artistry established its roots during the height of the pandemic. With the imminent lock down looming, we, Heather and Ivey, decided to become partners and pursue the impossible. Starting a business from scratch during social distancing, predominantly working with children ages 5-14, presented monumental challenges but also created lots of learning opportunities for us and ultimately led to exciting new, and eventually permanent, changes to how we manage the art room. One of the primary obstacles we had to maneuver was how to keep our students safe from the spread of germs. We typically would expect classmates to share supplies but to minimize cross contamination, we chose to pivot by investing in additional materials to provide separate art bins for every child. This decision was costly in the beginning but ultimately our classrooms benefited in unexpected ways. Our class time management improved and we observed our students achieve a sense of ownership towards their provided materials and we believe this enhanced the immersive art experience we were offering and that it more closely resembles working in an art studio as a professional artist.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Miss Heather graduated from East Central University in 1995 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education. Her talent is working with our Early Elementary students, ages 5-9, by helping them establish the building blocks for success in the art room. She prepares our younger students by reinforcing expected classroom behaviors and developing early creative skills like safely using tools and manipulating materials. Her contributions are vital to development of young artists and her work serves as a springboard that launches them towards being the most confident and capable artists they can be before graduating to the Intermediate level.
Miss Ivey graduated from the University of Central Missouri in 2013 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Art Education, Certified K-12, as well as a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art. Her time is spent primarily with students at the Intermediate level, ages 10-14, and her role is to challenge students to use the skills and knowledge about art elements and principles they learned with Miss Heather. Miss Ivey’s students are asked to apply what they’ve already learned towards more advanced projects that allow them to flex their creative muscles and evolve into independent artists with the ability to recall a variety of processes and methods for making works of art outside the structure of the classroom.
As a teaching duo, we are most proud of our student’s, at any age or level, when they step outside of their comfort zone to try something new. We teach kids that come from a variety of educational backgrounds and we enjoy meeting each one where they’re at when they come to us, watching them grow, and eventually flying the nest and moving on to greater art opportunities.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Sharing our love for the arts with our students. It brings us tremendous joy to inspire the next generation of art enthusiasts. Our hope is that we play a small role in keeping the arts alive by passing on our wisdom to young people who will carry the knowledge and skills with them throughout their lives and possibly pass it on to their own children when the time comes.
Pricing:
- After School Art Classes : $65/mo
- Seasonal Art Camps : $85-$180
- Children’s Birthday Paint Parties : Starting at $150
- Adult Painting Classes : $30/session
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.atozartistrykc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atozartistrykc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atozartistrykc
