Education & Classes in Creve Coeur

When camped out at a picturesque St. Louis spot—from an old barn to the iconic Arch—Brian K. Owens sees more than just the opportunity to take a pretty picture. The fine-art photographer and owner of STL Photo Art grasps for stories in each of his photos, stories that he seeks to bring to his clients through commercial shoots and instill in his students during photography classes. The shutterbug guides beginning shooters through Forest Park and the St. Louis Zoo, dispensing photography know-how along the way. Owens also lends his talented eye to elegantly capture moments at weddings, engagements, and knight-christening ceremonies.

Fire. Hammers. A pottery wheel. Some of humanity’s most elemental and primitive tools, yet into the 21st century they remain. And Craft Alliance Program Director Susan Donahue Yates attests that they’re some of the coolest. With each season’s catalog of classes, some of the most popular, according to Yates, let students play with fire, hammer metal into jewelry, or shape a lump of clay into something as fundamentally beautiful as a baby seal mimicking the Mona Lisa’s wry smirk.

At Craft Alliance, the focus is art in all its forms. Whether the tool is the raw flame fusing cut copper or a Mac loaded with Photoshop image-editing software, the intention to inspire and to create remains the same. Its two locations schedule seasonal terms with four- to six-week classes, as well as intensive workshops and children’s classes. Guiding each student along his or her adventure, skilled faculty instruct from experience. Most are working artists who exhibit their work and who have reaped their experience from the trenches of the art world.

Craft Alliance is not just empowering people with knowledge; they are also helping people make mugs, bowls, wooden spinning tops, rings, rugs, and digital photo albums. Many of these things are practical and serve a functional purpose. But many do not—they’re just beautiful things, like vestigial tails. A good number of these pieces are created by hand and are meant to remind us, as Yates remarked, that everyone can do something different from their everyday, workaday lives by adding beauty to a world that truly needs it.

The student and faculty artists backbone the Craft Alliance community, which in 2014 celebrates its 50th anniversary. The Grand Center location represents a regeneration of an arts district already pillared by the Fabulous Fox Theatre, Powell Symphony Hall, and St. Louis University.

Air Associates of Missouri’s sky-gazing staffers immerse patrons in a comprehensive aviation environment, fulfilling needs ranging from flight instruction to aircraft maintenance and rental. FAA-certified instructors guide aspiring aces through each of the outfit's flight training programs, including sport, private, instrument, multi-engine and commercial license training. A Cessna Pilot Center, Air Associates of Missouri operates a modern fleet of Cessna aircraft, each available for by-the-hour rentals.

The Fencers Academy's head coach Hossam Hassan boasts an impressive résumé. The expert has trained fencers for more than three decades, and he holds nine certifications from the French fencing federation and the International Olympic Committee. Of course, the biggest testament to Hassan's expertise is his students’ success. Seventy-five percent of his current fencers are nationally ranked, and he has trained top finishers in international youth tournaments and world-cup events.

The Needlepoint Clubhouse supplies knitters and crafters with inspiration, a wide selection of materials, and needlepoint classes that gather small groups of students for hands-on learning. The store’s rainbow of thread skeins shimmers with metallics and gleams with silk, canvas unfolds in an array of thread counts, and magnifying lamps spare eyes or uncover hidden hovercrafts woven into ancient tapestries. Sectioned tote bags ferry projects about with ease, and frames and expert frame-finishing services ready masterpieces for display. Savvy stitchers, including a master teacher, helm classes, the subjects of which range from needlepoint basics for beginners to advanced decorative stitches for those with thimbles welded to each finger.