About Us

7809 Brodie Lane • Austin, Texas 78745

512-551-3244

Whether you’re looking to develop your toddler’s fine motor skills, expand your grade-schooler’s creativity or build your young artist’s self confidence, we’ve got you covered.

Figment Creative Labs features a kid-friendly art studio, STEAM-centric maker space and creative preschool. Just off Brodie Lane in Austin, Texas, we also offer one-of-a-kind art birthday parties, toddler art play groups and day camps.

Figment Creative Lab’s Core Values:

Design thinking is the center of art making.
The future belongs to critical thinkers.
Create community through making.
Learning through play is essential.

About the Staff

Amber Scardino is the founder and owner of Figment Creative Labs. She opened the process art studio Wee Warhols in 2013. Along with a name change has come huge growth, from a studio that doubled as a garage to our new location at 7809 Brodie Lane, which includes an art studio, makerspace, discovery lab, creative preschool and toddler art play group space as well as an outdoor play area.

A mother of two and coauthor of the book series STEAM Kids, Amber believes that art should be a stress-free process that promotes self esteem and confidence. She hopes that Figment will inspire creativity in people of all ages, bring families together through art and encourage learning through play.

Amy Hawkins is originally from Corpus Christi and has a B.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of Texas. While interning at the Texas School for the Deaf’s Pre-K program, she fell in love with early childhood education and in 2014, she received her Masters in Elementary Education.

Having worked with children in a variety of settings — including play-based preschool, special-ed inclusion, and Reggio Emilia and Montessori programs — Amy draws from a range of education ideas to create an environment that supports creativity, exploration, and child-guided learning. She believes the classroom should encourage focus, independence, and creativity. It should also be a community, where children learn from one another.

Outside the classroom, Amy enjoys sewing and quilting, cooking, gardening, thrifting, play guitar, and hanging out with friends and family.

Maggie Bencivenga comes to us after spending four years teaching children ages 3-6 in Istanbul, Turkey. She is passionate about SEL (Social & Emotional Learning) facilitation and is skilled in finding opportunities for mindful movement. Maggie grew up not far from Austin, and earned a BA right down the road in San Marcos. She’s happy to be home, and we’re happy to have her.

Courtney Kirkpatrick grew up in Oklahoma, where she spent most of her freetime indoors, making art and complaining about the heat index. After graduating from Texas Christian University with a bachelor’s degree in Radio-Television-Film, she moved to Los Angeles, where she worked in the entertainment industry and as a calligrapher. When she’s not at Figment, Courtney works as a freelance writer and artist. She enjoys mentoring kids through the Young Storytellers Program and is always on the hunt for a new DIY obsession.

Some Of Our Figment Family- Maggie, Courtney, and Amy

Wialexka Nery is the artist behind Dream Drop Clay and creates intricate miniatures and jewelry with polymer clay. She frequently shares her expertise with our young artists at Figment and is passionate about helping children explore their creativity. Wi holds a B.S. in Communications with an emphasis in advertising. She is bilingual and loves fashion and event photography.

Dayna Arnett came to us from central Florida. She studied Sociology and also acquired a minor and TESOL certificate in Linguistics from Florida State University. She began her teaching journey on an month long internship in Iquitos, Peru teaching English to various age groups. She then found herself in Austin and was drawn to the Montessori pedagogy and spent 2 years exploring different roles including After School guide, support guide and a floating substitute. Dayna also spent time interning with a local costume designer which really resparked her interest in upcycling clothing, costume design, and a touch of interior decorating. She has a passion for education as well as process art as she is a self taught sewer. She loves the ability to reverse engineer a project and welcomes a challenge. She enjoys reducing reusing and recycling so much so that in her free time she likes to upcycle clothing, and spends a lot of time thrifting and vending vintage clothing with her small business DailyDayna.

Process Art

We believe the process of making art is more important than the outcome. Adults are there to guide children by providing the right materials, teaching technique and assisting along the way. Children take charge of their own creative process, practicing critical thinking, making their own decisions and building their confidence along the way. As our artists get older and more interested in new mediums and techniques, we work on skill-building.

Figment owner and founder Amber Scardino began teaching process art classes six years ago. These classes, held in her garage studio under the name Wee Warhols, were a natural extension of the art explorations she’d been leading for her young sons. Amber is also a co-author of the book series STEAM Kids.

S.T.E.A.M.

Heard of STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math)? We believe that adding Art to the equation increases interest and fosters creativity. This hands-on approach to learning gets kids excited about learning and working together as a team.

Maker Mentality

Our dedicated Maker Space expands on the foundation of STEAM. Students learn through hands-on and often collaborative projects. This project-based approach builds your maker’s confidence and encourages analytic problem-solving.

Play-Based Learning

Part of our child-directed philosophy is play-based learning. Play is the basis of experimental learning. The Discovery Lab offers something to engage everyone. It’s a place where your child can be anything, a fashion designer, an engineer, a scientist. They can also just grab a book or play a game with friends.

Toddler Mommy and Me Art Play Group is based on the same idea. We offer a multitude of sensory and art-based activities to help develop your little one’s fine motor skills and confidence.C

Offerings:

Creative Preschool: Monday/ Wednesday, Tuesday/Thursday, or Monday through Thursday — 9AM to 1PM

Open Studio & After School Classes: Monday — 3:30 to 5:30PM You must register 24 hours in advance for Open Studio. After School Classes are offered on specific subjects throughout the year in six week sessions

Homeschool Group: Every Friday during the school year — 9AM to 2PM

Mommy and Me Toddler Art Play Group: Mondays and Tuesdays — 10AM to 11PM $20 for one child $25 for two

Art Birthday Parties: $525 for 2 hours Call 512-551-3244 for details.

Ladies BYOB Art Nights: $35/ person — Call to schedule your groups

We also offer Field Trips, Scout Badge Workshops, Holiday Workshops, Year Round Day Camps when AISD is off, and Artist Led Workshops