When Caroline Blain looks back on her early art education, she remembers the frustration.
She had taken classes, attended workshops, and studied with different teachers, but the pieces never quite came together. Some paintings worked. Others fell flat. Advice often came in bits and pieces, but there was no clear path.
“I felt like I was chasing fixes instead of building real understanding,” Caroline says.
That changed when she discovered Kevin Murphy and the Art Academy’s traditional, step-by-step approach to drawing and painting. Instead of treating art as a mysterious gift reserved for the naturally talented, the program teaches students the fundamentals in a clear order: value, edge, form, color, drawing and painting.
The idea is simple but powerful: great artists are not born. They are trained.
Caroline experienced the difference firsthand. As she studied the program, she began to understand why certain paintings worked and why others did not. More importantly, she learned how to fix problems by returning to the fundamentals.
In January 2023, she was offered the opportunity to open a branch of the Art Academy in New Bern. The Art Academy of New Bern opened on September 5, 2023, bringing a level of traditional art education more commonly found in large cities, elite colleges, or ateliers to the local community.
“I know how much this program gave me,” Caroline says. “I love sharing it.”
The academy serves youth, teens, and adults, including beginners who may have never considered themselves artistic. Students learn through a structured process designed to build confidence, patience, critical thinking, and technical skill.
For younger students, the Youth Class, ages 7 to 12, introduces drawing fundamentals while helping students develop focus, patience, mental stamina, and quality control.
Teen and adult students study core fundamentals including value, edge, form, color, drawing and painting. For serious students, including those preparing college portfolios, the program provides a strong foundation for advanced work.
The academy also offers free trial classes, summer intensives, and quarterly workshop intensives. The free trial class gives prospective students a chance to tour the studio, see student results, and experience the first lesson for themselves.
Caroline’s passion for teaching is rooted in her own background as an educator. Before opening the academy, she studied English and went into teaching. She still loves watching a student’s “lightbulb moment,” but says there is something especially rewarding about seeing someone realize they can create more than they thought possible.
“At the academy, any student who can write their name and wants to learn can have success,” she says. “Talent is a desire to learn plus the willingness to practice.”
For Caroline, opening the academy in New Bern was personal. She and her husband, David, moved here in 2003 after his military service and raised their five children here. This is home, and she wanted local students to have access to the kind of training she wishes she had found much earlier.
The Art Academy of New Bern is located at 2131 South Glenburnie Road in New Bern.
For more information or to schedule a free trial class, call 252.259.2209, email caroline@artacademyofnewbern.com, or visit www.artacademyofnewbern.com. The academy can also be found on Instagram at artacademyofnewbern and Facebook at Art Academy of New Bern.