FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 15, 2018 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 67
buzz
Long Island City father opens children’s
art space in his neighborhood
BY VESNA JAKSIC LOWE
As he outlined a Sonic character on
a piece of paper, Sophocles Plokamakis
instructed children to view its body parts
in terms of diff erent shapes before sketching
it out.
“Th e head is tricky, right?” Plokamakis,
a cartoonist and animator, said during the
Friday aft ernoon class. “But all you’ve got
to do is break it down into shapes. Th is is
an arm, but I see a circle and an oval. And
just think — every time you make a mistake,
you get better. Th e more mistakes
you make, the better you get.”
Th e hour-long cartooning class took
place at Playday, Long Island City’s newest
art space for children. Located on 51st
Avenue, Playday off ers drop-in classes
such as origami, textile arts, sticker craze,
rock ‘n’ roll posters and fi nger knitting.
Sessions are off ered seven days a week
and include “Grown Up & Me” options
for toddlers as well as drop-off classes for
older children.
Playday was founded by Gregory
Okshteyn, a father of two who has lived
in Long Island City for 16 years. His children
attend the local public school, where
he said they are thriving but receive very
little art education.
“Th ey are teaching creativity through
math and writing, which is great, but the
kids are not working with their hands.
Th ey are not problem-solving and socializing
the way we did when we grew up,”
said Okshteyn, a Ukraine-born architect
who grew up in a family of artists. “So
that’s what Playday is about — connecting
our little ones with art. My daughter
recently hand-knitted a 3-foot scarf
in class and said, ‘Th is is the fi rst thing I
made I can actually use,’ and I said, ‘Oh
my God, this is exactly what the instinct
behind this business was.’”
Okshteyn lives across the street from
Playday; he can see it from his apartment
and home offi ce. When he saw the space
empty aft er the previous tenant moved
out, he starting thinking about starting a
children’s play space. On Jan. 2, Playday
opened its doors, and Okshteyn said it
has been well received by the community.
Some classes got quickly booked;
Playday’s Instagram feed drew more than
1,800 followers in the fi rst 10 days; and
by the middle of January, parents had
already reserved 18 birthday parties for
their little ones.
“I’m having so much fun,” he said.
“Th is is a win-win-win situation. Th e
instructors are happy. Th e children are
happy. Th e parents are happy. We’re just
getting really positive feedback.”
Long Island City resident Julz Donald
said her 5-year-old daughter enjoyed several
art classes and open play sessions
during Playday’s opening weeks.
“My daughter loves Playday — super
creative classes and great for her age given
she has ‘aged out’ of a lot of the other
classes in LIC now,” Donald said. “I also
love that this is owned and run by a local
artist who is super talented.”
Okshteyn said he is already exploring
the possibility of opening other locations
in New York, and would love to team up
with local schools and daycares to ensure
more children have access to art.
Okshteyn, whose firm’s clients
include Jay-Z, the Kardashians and
Rihanna, designed Playday himself.
Th e 1,200-square-foot space includes
a painted mural that reads, “Have fun,
Be Awesome,” and a whiteboard wall
where instructors and children can draw.
Th e handicapped-accessible bathroom
includes a wallpaper with birds and fl owers
and, with a press of a button, music.
Playday also has a gallery wall, where
artists’ works are displayed and can be
purchased. Okshteyn said it does not
matter to him if he sells the $1,200 piece
of art recently on display there; instead,
he wants children to know there are many
careers in the arts.
“Th ere is nobody telling them there is
value in creativity,” he said, and he wants
to change that.
A number of his “Playday friends” —
friends and colleagues from the art community
— will use FaceTime for 5-minute
“bragging sessions,” giving them an
opportunity to speak remotely with children
about their work. Playday also has
1,000 square feet of outdoor space, where
Okshteyn hopes to have classes involving
everything from bubbles and sand to
archery and ping-pong. Th ere is a multicultural
component as well; for example,
students taking textile classes watch a
brief video about techniques used around
the world.
Zoe Yates, who teaches fi nger knitting
and embroidery, said she tries to get her
students to consider which materials regularly
come in contact with their bodies.
“I try to get them to think about what
fabrics they are wearing,” she said. “It’s
fun because it’s not like we’re in school;
we’re just making art.”
Instructors helped create the class off erings,
and a six-member advisory board
that includes a child psychiatrist approved
the curriculum. Okshteyn said there is no
limit to the topics Playday can off er: the
art space already has a “clouds” class,
where children make clouds using cotton
balls and paint; an “epic Star Wars scene”
stencils class; a “monster masks” class; a
“little architect” class; jewelry design; and
manga Japanese drawing, to name a few.
When it comes to children and the arts,
the opportunities are endless.
Playday
playdaynyc.com
5-37 51st Ave., LIC
844-PLAYDAY
helloplayday@gmail.com
Photos courtesy of Playday
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