Education & Classes in Brentwood

Brick Factory Nashville acts as a nexus for local artists to teach, learn, and share creative ideas. Cofounders Joshua Cooper, Daniel Heering, and Ryan Schemmel, along with team members Zach Duensing and Jonathon Kingsbury, kindle the senses of participants with a spectrum of classes in woodworking, photography, dance, fine arts, and design. Students can have their choice of well-appointed workspaces including a photo studio, wood shop, and coworking space accented with amply sized shared desks. Future studios for jewelry, ceramics, and other hands-on projects will provide artisans with a creative workspace beyond their own cramped apartments or a neighbor's doghouse.

Pro Music Academy's founder, Chad Chapin, was fresh off a five-year tour as a percussionist and guitar player for Ben Folds when he returned home. He was greeted by his 2-year-old daughter, who promptly said “Thanks, Daddy, for coming over.” The statement tugged at Chapin’s heartstrings and he had a revelation: that he could spend more time with his family by practicing music right in Nashville. He called on other professional musicians to form an elite group of instructors, and thus, Pro Music Academy was born. During 30-minute lessons, instructors known for touring with recording juggernauts such as The Rolling Stones, Sheryl Crow, Carrie Underwood, and Toby Mac teach pupils how to master vocals, instruments, and how to squeeze a tuba into the driver's seat of a tour bus.

At The Wine & Easel, Old World aesthetics in the form of brick-accented walls and warm lights lend inspiration to students of all artistic abilities as they perch in front of canvases. Elevated above the easels, an instructor doles out guidance as scenes⎯from impressionistic landscapes to abstract still lifes⎯unfold under flicking brushstrokes. With the company of fellow artists and BYOB sips, students render their own interpretation of each class's theme, from a peacock's plume to a desert cactus, using studio-provided materials and self-provided longing for existential validation.

While parents and teachers navigate the dense underbrush of educational materials at The Learning Circle, their kids clamber through the one-of-a-kind tree house that dominates the aisles. Math, science, and language-arts materials for grades K–eight mask a dose of learning in a layer of fun, making education as easy to swallow as a buttered-up fruit snack. While teachers find all the resources they need among the colorful rows, parents also benefit from a smorgasbord of home-school workbooks and summer learning programs that help to stifle the learning loss that often results from months away from the classroom.

Tending fires of 1,300 degrees, the artisans of Designs by Sylvanye Glass Studio create jewelry, glass art, and dishware from molten materials. Their students, who range from aged 9 to adult, learn to use cutting systems, grinding equipment, and designing tools as they build their own pieces in a safe and supportive environment.

For inspiration or purchase, shelves and shelves of luminescent custom designs inhabit the studio's gallery and workspaces. The school also keeps independent artisans supplied with innovative products, including the pint-size MicroKiln, designed for use in a standard microwave oven.

Renowned dance coach Anthony Lewis, who’s mentored many nationally ranked clients, boasts several competition titles, as well as a fourth-place win at the World's Championships himself. His teaching experience spans the country, having overseen studios in Kentucky and California, and his staff of instructors emulates his star quality with their devotion and skill. Yet, for all of their impressive credentials, the teachers at Nashville Ballroom specialize in training adult beginners, deriving fulfillment from transforming two left feet into comfortable twirling tools.

As Nashville Ballroom’s students sashay through the studio's three-step schooling approach—composed of private lessons, group classes, and social practice—they can choose from more than 20 dance styles. Instructors stress that their setting is "not your grandma's ballroom," culling modern steps from Latin, swing, and country-western choreography. Though they do tutor such classical styles as the waltz and foxtrot, lessons typically focus on the modern techniques needed for nightclub outings and wedding receptions in the year 4012.