Brentwood Art Center Turns 40

Five years after Ed and Linda Buttwinick sold the Brentwood Art Center to their bookkeeper Sarkis Melkonian, the Santa Monica school remains vibrant and thriving as it celebrates its 40th anniversary. The founders’ vision continues to permeate the Center’s seven studios, located in a 6,700-sq.-ft. space on the corner of 26th Street and Montana Avenue. When the Buttwinicks sold, they were asked how they chose Melkonian, Ed said, ‘We prayed to find someone in the family whose heart was in the same place.’ Some people may have questioned their decision to sell the center to a 28-year-old with no background in art. But it was in keeping with how the Buttwinicks took chances with business decisions, including when Ed quit teaching to open the art school in 1970, buying the building in 1979 and then hiring David Limrite to teach. Instinctively they made the right choices. A recent trip to the Center showed a few changes over the past five years: fresh paint on the walls and ceiling, a new studio carved out of storage space, and an increased number of employees, from 50 to 75, to handle the 600 students ages 4 to 90. During the school year, about 400 adults take one of 79 scheduled classes that include mixed media, portrait and figure drawing, acrylics and watercolor, photography and printmaking. The 200 young students can choose from the same array as the adults, but they also have the option of taking cartooning and clay sculpture. During the summer, the ratio changes to 500 youth and 200 adults with the addition of summer day camps. Other changes include promoting Limrite, who was also teaching at the Pasadena School of Art, to become his full-time curriculum director, and hiring Jordan Blaquera as the school’s administrative director.   As one learns about the new owner, Buttwinick’s choice doesn’t seem random. As a 19-year-old, Melkonian moved from Moscow to the United States with his family in 1995.   ’There is not a simple answer of why we came,’ says Melkonian, who is Armenian. ‘When the system collapsed and it became the Wild West with violence that surpassed what was happening in Colombia, those who had the means to leave did so.’ Before moving to the U.S., Melkonian had graduated from the Conservatory of Music in Moscow. His father, Grant, was a renowned dancer with the State Dance Academy of Armenia, who later became choreographer for the Mirinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. His grandfather was a professor of physics, and his grandmother taught chemistry at a state university. ‘In the Russian system, if kids get into trouble when they’re young and at school, the recommendation is to keep them busy,’ says Melkonian, noting that was how his father discovered he had a natural talent for dancing.   Melkonian’s mother, Rose, is a doctor. Her father was a developer and her mother an architect. ‘In the Soviet system, architects have more to do with art than someone who makes money,’ Melkonian says.   Given Melkonian’s background, his parents decided that their son should be a dancer, but his likelihood for success was doubtful. ‘Your physical appearance has to be perfect,’ Melkonian says. ‘My elbow sticks out slightly when my arm is extended, which means that when I lifted someone, there was a bump.’ He was rejected from the program, but soon discovered he had a musical talent and switched to piano. His father is now retired, his mother is a radiologist at the USC Medical Center, and his sister, Maria, is a nursing student. After moving to the United States, Melkonian completed a four-year degree in music from Cal Arts and then enrolled in an accounting extension course at UCLA. ‘I didn’t want to be a CPA,’ he says, ‘but I knew I wanted to run my own business.’   In 1999, he began working at Brentwood Art Center, and a year later met his future wife, Aurore Feugret, at the school. Also an immigrant, Feugret was born in Paris, but grew up in Gabon, West Africa, where her father was a banker. From there, she moved with her family to Tahiti and Andorra. Feugret finished her studies at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and moved to Los Angeles in 1995. ‘I saw this gorgeous girl signing up for a class,’ Melkonian says. But he also noticed that she had a boyfriend. Eventually, he was able to win her over. The pair married in April 2005 and bought the school two months later. They are now expecting their first child, Lily, in March. Melkonian is quick to give credit Limrite and Blaquera, who have been a couple for 15 years, for the school’s continued success. ‘It’s like a family business here,’ Melkonian says. In addition to having art degrees from San Diego State University (1980) and the Art Center College of Design (1983), Limrite was a freelance illustrator before joining the Los Angeles Herald Examiner in 1988. He worked as the newspaper’s art director for four years. ‘It was fantastic because I got to do maps, graphs and illustrations for the editorial department, and layout,’ Limrite says. ‘It was great because it was something different every day.’ He met Blaquera, who was temping at the newspaper. At that time, she also performed with her musical group, The Damn Band, in the evenings. ‘We’ve been together ever since,’ Limrite says. ‘We work together as a team. She organizes my fine art career.’ His work is exhibited at the JoAnne Art Man Gallery in Laguna Beach. Blaquera and Limrite were founding members of the Brewery ArtWalks, a bi-annual art event downtown. After the Examiner folded in 1992, Limrite applied to teach at Brentwood Art Center, but Buttwinick rejected him, explaining that he required at least three years of teaching experience. But a student advocated for Limrite, asking Ed to meet Limrite in person. ‘The meeting went well, and he gave me a chance,’ Limrite says. ‘That was the kind of guy he was. He listened to students and he took a chance.’ Similarly, Buttwinick hired Blaquera to work at the front desk, but three months later, he realized that she would make a good administrator and promoted her to oversee all the front desk staff and customer service. Limrite credits Buttwinick with implementing almost every type of fine-art class offered at the school. Lately, they’ve brought back printmaking and pastels, as well as a classical painting class that replicates the Old Masters’ style. ‘We’re offering a serious drawing class for 9- to 12-year-olds that teaches light/shadow, perspective, line quality and composition,’ says Limrite, who teaches advanced classes in mixed media figure work. ‘We’re never afraid to try a new class or something different; we take suggestions from students. ‘We have excellent instructors,’ Limrite continues, noting that adult classes have a maximum of 15 students, and the limit in children’s classes is 10. ‘We provide a friendly, light environment, where people can have fun. We’re not for everyone, but we have something for everyone.’ Given the economic times, art lessons might be the first thing to go, but Limrite has had one student tell him, ‘This is my safe haven, my sanctuary; this is the one place I look forward to coming every week.’ Blaquera trains the front office staff to be sensitive to the students: ‘I keep my ear to the ground on what’s happening in the school, and what folks are looking for, so we can bring it to the school.’ She quotes student Roberta Goodman-Rosenberg, who says her time at Brentwood Art Center was ‘my favorite four hours of the week.’ Brentwood Art Center is open six days a week. Contact: 310-451-5657 or visit www.BrentwoodArt.com.