By: Mai Diaz
Slowfire is an art business founded by Professor Noelle Allen Wright. Professor Wright coined Slowfire to stand for how the artistic process is— how it is often a slow, meditative journey. She started Slowfire, a private art studio, in her home in 2020 to offer lessons.
“I wanted a safe alternative for people to do arts,” Wright said.
She believed it would remain a class held in her house. She did not expect to branch out into multiple studios; it was a surprising yet welcomed change as she could help more people.
Unlike other studios, Slowfire is committed to small class sizes and a low student-to-teacher ratio. Wright wants to ensure each student receives personalized attention from their teachers.
She built her studio around a team of artists and teachers who can teach students a wide range of subjects, including painting, drawing, ceramics, jewelry, fibers, digital arts, and sculpture. She made it Slowfire’s mission to foster a creative, functional, and inclusive education model that teaches art foundations.
While she was diagnosed with cancer, she was able to take a step back with the support of people she trusted at Dominican University, in the form of an art teacher who took over for her, as well as her staff, which consists of former Dominican students. With the help of her staff, she could juggle being a mother, a small business owner, and a professor.
Her goal with Slowfire is to lower barriers to artmaking and give people accessible arts education. She believes that everyone should have access to affordable art classes; that is why Slowfire Arts Foundation (her nonprofit) has awarded 27 scholarships to students to either reduce or eliminate the cost of an art education at her studio and her camp.
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