Aspiring Artists® was first introduced at the Jersey Shore by its Founder Debra Stasiak, who is an entrepreneur, professional artist, Rutgers University graduate, certified teacher and mother of two sons.  Debra began teaching masterpiece painting in 2000 while she developed her own pre-k curriculum at a school in Spring Lake Heights, NJ.

Since 2001, Aspiring Artists® classes have been offered throughout Central New Jersey. Ms. Stasiak, more commonly known as “Miss Debra” to all of her students, has taught thousands of students who have produced over 30,000 interpretive renditions of famous masterpieces from Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cassatt, Cezanne, Pissarro, and van Gogh using her unique Interpretive Impressionism® system. She has expanded the Aspiring Artists® curricula to include her original compositions in Fauvism, Modernism, and Decoupage Designs.

In 2013, Debra was asked to collaborate with world renown international calligrapher Guodong Li. Their collaborative compositions were exhibited at the United Nations. One of their collaborative paintings was chosen to be the 2015 United Nations Women’s Guild calendar.  Seven hundred calendars were sold at the United Nations building to benefit the United Nations’s Women’s Guild children’s relief efforts.  Photos from their collaboration are shown below.  Aspiring Artists® students from Monmouth County NJ participated in fundraiser painting classes to help pay for the production costs of the calendar.  Aspiring Artists® aims to involve youth in opportunities to help children in need, and offers various fundraiser events to support its children helping children movement™.