May 1, 2017

Meet Laurie Morrison of Main Street School of the Arts in Tucker

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Laurie Morrison.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My husband, Kevin, and I launched the ‘Main Street School of Music’ in 2003. In January 2011, I added art classes to the mix and we now have music lessons in piano, guitar, ukulele, and voice, plus home-school, after-school, and Saturday art classes, plus a variety of Summer camps.

As a child, I was drawing obsessively before I could walk or talk. My mother made sure that I had various papers, paints, charcoals, clay, and pastels at my disposal, and I soaked it up. I love being able to provide the same thing to my students. We play around with various mediums, learn drawing techniques, and learn about art history and artists along the way. I think it is important for students to realize that art is about culture, and that it happens in a social environment. I want them to know “why” they are dabbing paint on the paper.

Kevin has a background as an Atlanta musician and studio owner. He had achieved a moderate success with his band, landing a major label record deal with Sony/Epic and touring internationally. Kevin teaches guitar and ukulele and manages our stable of music teachers. I love hearing budding future musicians in the background as I am teaching art. I’m one lucky Art Genie!

Has it been a smooth road?
As crazy as it sounds, it has been a fairly smooth road for us. It seems like everything we have done in our past has lead up to creating our school. I worked as a graphic designer creating training materials for MCI/WorldCom, where I learned about the various types of learning styles and how to create an excellent art curriculum. I also have the ability to create my own marketing materials and website.

Kevin has been playing guitar for nearly 40 years. He also started our real estate business, where we owned residential rental property. He parlayed those properties into being able to buy the multi-tenant building where our school is located. It helps to be your own landlord!

Mistakes have been made but we’ve learned how to fine tune our business to make it run more smoothly. Kevin and I make a great team — as we balance out our strengths and weaknesses perfectly.

So, let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Main Street School of the Arts story. Tell us more about the business.
Along with our excellent art and music programs, our Summer camps are full of excitement. We provide Art, Ukulele, Singing, Puppetry, Mythical Creatures, Painting, Imrov, Anime, ARTstronomy, Drama, Gift making and Toy Making Camps. Creativity gives the brain a terrific workout!

We are also adding music workshops, clinics and live performance streams.

Pricing:

Group Art Classes are $14 for a 1-hour lesson, no commitment — just come when you can!
Individual Music lessons are $25 per 30-minute lesson.
Summer Camps are $125 for half-day week/$250 for full-day week. Before and After care are also available.

Contact Info: