Welcome to the
Fred Dolan Art Academy
Unleash Your Creativity with Us
At The Fred Dolan Art Academy, we invite aspiring artists to discover their creativity through expert-led lessons in various art forms. Fashion your skills and express your unique voice.
About
The Fred Dolan Art Academy provides a learning sanctuary free of charge for art students from disadvantaged neighborhoods in the Bronx. We provide excellent teaching and guidance by professional artists as well as providing art supplies, lunch and snacks when students attend our program. We help them develop their skills through hard work and build portfolios to audition for Art colleges to advance their education.
Services we provide
We provide our students with the means to strive.
Free Classes
Free Supplies for Lessons
Free Breakfast & Lunch
Free Smiles
Limited Quantities
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Our Staff
Instructor
Aurekis L. DiSalvatore
Aurekis L. DiSalvatore is a veteran NYC Visual Arts Educator with over 22 years teaching experience in the Bronx, NY. She specializes in Secondary Art Education and has been a dedicated instructor with FDAA since 2006. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts from Adelphi University and a Master's Degree in Art Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Most recently, in May 2022 she was awarded the Al Isaac Memorial Scholarship from The Salvadori Center for her outstanding contributions as a collaborating teacher, enthusiastic interest in the built environment, and her commitment to student learning. She is currently a cooperating teacher for the Art & Art Education Program at Teachers College hosting field observers wishing to become future art teachers. At FDAA she works with our newest scholars focusing on the fundamentals of art and design, with a deep dive into drawing, refining basic skills and helping each student find the confidence and determination to reach their full potential.
Robert Casilla
Instructor
Ying-Hwa Hu
Instructor
Robert Casilla was born in Jersey City, New Jersey to parents from Puerto Rico.
His formal training in art took place at the School of Visual Arts in New York City where he earned a BFA degree.
Since 1984, Robert has worked as a freelance illustrator for magazines, book publishers, postage
stamps, educational publishers and others.
He has illustrated over 45 children's books, many of which are picture book biographies of people such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks and John F. Kennedy. He has also illustrated many multicultural children's books such as Jalapeno Bagels, The Little Painter of Sabana Grande, The Legend of Mexicatl and First Day in Grapes which won the Pura Belpré Honor Award.
Robert has also written and illustrated Mariano’s First Glove/ El Premer Guante de Mariano
Robert lives and works from his home in New Fairfield, Connecticut with his wife Carmen and 3 little dogs
When Ying-Hwa was little, like many children who love art, she drew on everything she could get her hands on, text books, napkins, homework sheets, and much more. Since she couldn’t stop drawing, it only made sense that she should study art and become an illustrator. After having illustrated more than 50 books and winning many awards, working solo sometimes as well as collaborating (other times) with her husband, Cornelius Van Wright, she is still loving it. She lives with her husband in New York City.
Instructor
Cornelius Van Wright
Cornelius Van Wright has worked in advertising doing retail ads, storyboards, and national commercials. He then pivoted to his true dreams of becoming an Illustrator. Since then, he has become an award-winning children’s book Illustrator/Author and an art instructor at the Fred Dolan Art Academy. He has been with the Dolan Academy for over 15 years.
Along with his wife Ying-Hwa Hu,(also an Author/Illustrator), they work with High School students helping them to prepare for college portfolio auditions. They also help Junior High School students prepare to audition for NYC High Schools in the Arts.
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Our Location
40 West Tremont Ave
Bronx NY 10453
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JANUARY
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MARCH
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Latest Updates
Exhibition Announcements
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Don’t miss out on our upcoming art showcases that celebrate our students' creativity this Spring!
TBA
Our Vision
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This portion is under reconstruction.
It is the mission of the Fred Dolan Art Academy to give wings to young Bronx artists. We do this by providing the finest professional art instruction,
while guiding our students in the building of the portfolios they'll need
for college acceptance.
This happens in a warm and pressure-free environment
where young artists gather every Saturday
and work together toward the realization of their dreams.
There are no academic requirements at the Dolan Academy,
and no minimum grades are needed for acceptance.
We only ask two things of our students:
That they attend classes regularly,
and that they work steadily while with us.
Our students are highly motivated people who've chosen
to spend their Saturdays working with us on their art.
Once they realize that high GPA's and outstanding portfolios
can lead to college scholarships,
almost all of them become academic achievers.
Since our genesis in 2006,
ninety-three percent of our graduates
have gone on to college with scholarships.
Today, many Dolan Academy graduates
are attending colleges around the country,
majoring in such diverse subjects as toy design, art history,
computer graphics, architecture, animation,
creative writing, painting, sculpture, theatre, and pre-med.
Many are also working in Fine Arts, Fashion Design,Illustration, Toy Design, Education and in diverse other fields
Remarkably, all this has been achieved
with an annual budget of just $50,000