An art studio offering classes in oil painting, watercolors and mixed media has joined the collection of wineries and food trucks at Columbia Gardens Artisan Village in Kennewick.

Brandi Dayton Art has set up shop at 313 E. Columbia Gardens Way in Suite 110, a space formerly occupied by Gordon Estate Winery, which was a tenant for six years.

Brandi Dayton first started teaching art classes out of her home around five years ago, a space she’s now outgrown. 

Dayton had always loved the building she’s now in – the tall ceilings and river views with nearby food trucks appealed to her. She contacted the Port of Kennewick, which owns Columbia Gardens, about one of the spaces, but Wheat Head on the Water had already signed a lease for it. 

Later, Dayton was having a glass of wine at Gordon Estate Winery, the neighboring suite, when she found out that the winery would be closing and that space would be available for lease. 

She signed a 3-year lease and moved into the space in March and has already begun holding classes there. 

Her students appreciate the bigger studio.

“There’s a lot more elbow room to kind of play a little more and discover more about ourselves,” said Angela Tyree, a nurse at Lourdes Health and one of Dayton’s first students. 

After having had Dayton watch her students grow over the years, they’re now excited to see her grow into a new space, she said.

“It’s a great community, and we’re really lucky to have such a beautiful space, and food that’s real close to us, and eventually some drink,” Tyree said.

The port is happy to welcome the studio to its tenant mix. “Her retail space, student classes and planned events with the other businesses will bring new and exciting vibrancy to this destination waterfront,” said Tim Arntzen, the port’s CEO, in a statement. 

The port recently dropped “wine” from the development’s name – it previously was Columbia Gardens Wine and Artisan Village – to better reflect the diversity of businesses in the development. 

From painting to teaching

Dayton has been doing art professionally for 30 years, using oil, acrylic and watercolor paints, as well as mixed media. 

She started out painting murals in Corvallis, Oregon, and she eventually ended up winning an award at the Oregon State Fair.

She began spending time in the Tri-Cities when her husband, Jon, got a job in Boardman, Oregon. He went back to working in Corvallis for some time, commuting on the weekends, but the couple loved the Tri-Cities and decided to stay.

While she has sold her own pieces at Richland’s Art in the Park festival and elsewhere, after her teen son died 10 years ago, she wanted to do more than sell her art: She wanted to give back to the community in some way.

Tyree recalled the first time she saw one of Dayton’s paintings in Art on the Columbia, a store now owned by Spectrum Studios. She was struck by the beautiful art. Tyree learned that the store owner was trying to persuade Dayton to teach classes, and Tyree was able to ask Dayton herself.

Tyree said that Dayton taught classes out of the store until the Covid-19 pandemic, when she began taking students in her home, instead. Many students have been with Dayton for four or five years, Dayton said.

Classes

At the new studio, oil painting classes are held Tuesdays and Thursdays, mixed-media classes are Wednesdays, and Friday mornings feature a watercolor class.

The Tuesday and Thursday night classes are booked up, Dayton said, with 11 people in each class, while the other classes have about five students. She’s planning to add more classes soon.

Since she’s no longer operating out of her own home, she has put her studio address on Google, which has resulted in a few more students.

Classes run three hours a week for three weeks, then there’s a weeklong break before the next month of classes start. The cost is about $200 for one month.

Dayton still sells her art and is working on restocking after last year’s Art in the Park sales. Dayton plans to use the studio for her own work as well as classes. One corner of her new studio is a small gallery, with pieces of her own artwork and that of her students. Her husband helps with the business side of things by putting her art on tote bags, coffee mugs, mouse pads and more, and Dayton said she hopes he will be able to offer that service to other artists and businesses as well.

She anticipates that the gallery will be able to officially open in June.

“I believe that having a retail space will bring not just students to Columbia Gardens, but also their families and friends to see all the art that takes place in this place,” said Lois Hill, who’s been a student with Dayton for four years, in a statement. 

Arts community

While Dayton doesn’t currently do paint-and-sip activities, she does plan to collaborate with Wheat Head, which is set to open April 18, and nearby wineries. She wants to get involved in Historic Downtown Kennewick Partnership’s South Columbia Creative District, which has a creative arts festival on Sept. 26. Dayton plans to host a small art show to display her students’ work. 

She’s also thinking about hosting one-time weekend workshops so that people can come from out of town and spend time in the studio without committing to a three-week project.

While Dayton will walk beginner students through a specific first project, like painting a whole sunflower in purple, to learn about values, the students who have been with her longer are often working on more independent projects, sometimes over several months. 

Dayton said she’s trying to build her students’ style versus pushing “people into becoming mini me’s.”

It’s something that Tyree has appreciated: The classes are more about finding a voice than simply painting. 

“(It’s) more than people just sitting there and painting. It really (is) this community that she’s created,” she said. 

“It’s the best 2½ hours you can spend in your day,” Tyree said. 

Brandi Dayton Art, 313 E. Columbia Gardens Way, Suite 110, Kennewick, brandidayton.art, 541-571-3799.