Nestled in the woods on a 28-acre property near White Lake stands Cobalt Studios, a painting studio founded in 1988 by Rachel Keebler and Howard Jones.

“We needed to be near New York City because that's where theatre was,” said Keebler, “as well as a lot of contacts that we knew.”

Although Jones moved on after five years, Keebler kept the painting studio dream going, and is now celebrating 30 years of training students in the Scenic Arts.

“It's artwork, for things. We did a huge butterfly on netting for the Bronx Zoo once. It's like art to order,” Keebler smiled. “Somebody wants something, we figure out how to do it.”

Cobalt Studios offers a multitude of programs including 3-5 day seminars, advanced independent studies, a 3-week intensive study of scene painting, Scenic painting teacher training, as well as the 2-year Scenic Artist training program, and they receive commissioned work for sets, plays, museums and more from all over the country.

“They're working on class projects,” Keebler explained, looking toward the 2-year program students in the studio. “There are projects large enough that they have to use the same tools that they would need for painting something large scale. I want them to learn that, because the larger scale something is, the tools change and your muscles change, and your position changes. There is also a huge difference in posture and arm work when working on the floor versus working on the wall.”

Many of the students that apply to Cobalt Studios are often referred by a teacher or a friend, or simply word of mouth.

“When people are applying for the program they need to come for an overnight interview, and the application is pretty big,” stated Keebler. “Basically, I need to know that they know enough about this, that they're hooked and they really want to do it, and that they have the interest and drive to be here to see it through.”

Students at Cobalt Studios not only learn through lectures, demos, and projects taught by Keebler as well as other guest teachers, but also learn the trade through working as apprentices on real jobs, under the watchful eye of professionals in the Scenic Arts.

“So we've kind of been celebrating 30 years since the fall of last year,” Keebler said smiling, “but the real celebration will be when these guys graduate in May.”