At My Style Camp, creativity and fun are sewn together

Brandon Duffy
My Style Camp has been featured in filming for a TV pilot that owner Stacey Saltzman describes as a "sustainable Project Runway." (Photo courtesy of My Style Camp)

Creativity, exploration and passion are on the palette at My Style Camp, a Port Washington business that started out in a garage in town.

For either a week or session at a time, children and teens can tackle fashion or art projects. 

My Style Camp recently finished its inaugural summer program in a new studio at 2-8 Haven Ave.  Sessions went for a week at a time, with eight to 10 new students rotating every seven days. The curriculum featured sewing, design and education about different art forms, run by Stacey Saltzman, the founder and owner, and Rayna Hovanec, head teacher of technical design and pattern making, along with other staff. 

The fall session will include 13 sessions from September to December and include ages from toddler to teens. 

“The same opportunities weren’t available to me,” Saltzman said. “I had great art classes growing up, but never something of this magnitude.”

Saltzman, who grew up in Great Neck, realized early she was meant for the arts. As a student in the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, she parlayed her education into working for the dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Working as a wardrobe assistant or costume designer took her to countries like Korea, China and Brazil, where she even worked on a production of “Grease.” 

“It’s something that I loved, but it was taking me away from my kids,” Saltzman said. “I wouldn’t say it’s a sacrifice, but the power to spend more time with them is something I cherish.” She also said the balance of travel life and family life was her inner bohemian clashing with the home style in her.

In 2016, Saltzman began a traveling art camp that went to local stores and venues. She said she went to the Sands Point Preserve to teach costume design and Michael’s gave her a space to work with children, which would sometimes be just her friend’s children. Either way, with two or 20 in attendance, she said she couldn’t love it more. 

“My friend always tells me, ‘You have a studio now but it would just be the four of us supporting you,’” she reflected with a laugh. 

Despite the humble beginnings, she knew there was potential for something more. In her eyes, the next step was to develop her garage into a studio. Before looking for houses and eventually residing in Port Washington, she said to her husband, who owns a business himself, “I’m focused on the house but more so on the garage.”

For Saltzman, entrepreneurial ambition wasn’t new. As a bride, shopping for dresses made her realize how hard it was to find fingerless wedding gloves. After helping herself for her own wedding, she soon helped others and creating gloves turned into a business, one she eventually sold.  

“I’ve worked side gigs before when I was younger, but that was the experience that told me this is something I can do,” she said.

Almost five years into her business, Saltzman made it through the traveling classes, garage setup and online classes during COVID-19, but knew something was missing, until her studio opened earlier this year. 

“I told myself if this wasn’t trending upwards in five years, then I was moving on to something new,” she said, after opening the space in Port Washington this summer. “Doing this showed me the reason for why I do this, helping kids who can’t express themselves find an identity.”

When class isn’t in session, the cameras are on. 

On the side, Saltzman has been featured in a TV pilot for Project Warehouse, which she describes as “a sustainable version of Project Runway.” The show has paired her to mentor a 17-year-old designer who makes pieces in the Port Washington studio while also filming in Long Island City. The experience gives Saltzman a chance to work with someone who reminds her of a younger version of herself. 

“Working one on one with anybody in general that may not have the sewing skills or have the technical skills but has the vision and passion to go through with it is very exciting for me to be a part of,” she added. 

The different hats her studio wears, in essence, is a reflection of Saltzman and the staff. Whether it’s design, fashion or teaching, everyone involved is getting every possible chance to explore their creative side, while having fun in the process. 

It’s an experience Saltzman describes as a dream.

“There is so much hidden talent in these artists where I can’t believe what comes out of them,” she said. “Seeing how confident the kids get when they look at their work lets me know I’m helping people, which is the most rewarding part of all this and why I’m doing it.”

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