YOUR BUSINESS

newsroom@njherald.com

New Jersey Herald | njherald.com

Monday, September 28, 2015 | B5

Vernon art academy is marriage

of imagination and creativity
By ERIC OBERNAUER
eobernauer@njherald.com
VERNON If you can
imagine it, you can create it.
Its a simple enough idea
and one that Michael
Accardi and Anabel
Damstrom, founders of the
Art Academy of New Jersey,
not only preach to every budding artist but a credo they
both live by.
So when the two of them
had an idea to open an art
school, create one they did.
We opened at the end of
February and dont think
theres anything quite like us
in the area, and we feel we
have something truly unique
to offer to Sussex County and
the surrounding vicinities,
said Accardi, 41.
By their own account, he
and Damstrom who are
married have always had
a mutual passion for art.
A former high school
English teacher, Damstrom,
36, still recalls being dissuaded as a college student from
pursuing a career in the arts
by people who told her she
could never make a living
doing so. But now shes proving to herself and others that,
in fact, you can do what you
love and make a go of it.
To hear Accardi tell it, Ive
pretty much made a career
out of art and a life out of it.
When I first came out of
college, I was doing graphic
design, Accardi said.
Then I went into web
development. Then I went
into designing custom action
figures for the toy industry
and also built my own unique,
one-of-a-kind collectible
action figures I did that for
about twelve years and I
taught privately for a couple
of years as well.
Inspiring in others the confidence that has allowed him
to dabble in so many facets of
art proved especially rewarding for Accardi, and with his
wifes teaching background,
opening a school that would
allow them both to inspire
and train other artists began
seeming more and more like
a viable calling.
Since opening earlier this
year, the Art Academy of
New Jersey has steadily
expanded its offerings to both
children and adults. It also
has expanded its staff to
include six additional
employees, all with a profes-

Photo by Jake West/New Jersey Herald

Michael Accardi instructs students Friday at his recently opened art school, Art Academy of New Jersey, in Vernon

sional background or training

in some facet of art.
With instruction in painting, drawing, ceramics, custom action figures, anim,
cartooning, and watercolors,
the school offers options tailored to the needs of young
children, tweens, teens and
adults.
Classes are offered daily
and in the evening as well as
on weekends. A typical eightweek class for kids, which
meets up to two hours once a
week, runs about $240.
Adult classes, which also
are offered over an eightweek period, generally run
about $320, with a 10 percent
discount offered for seniors.
We also host painting parties, Accardi said. Its basically for the inexperienced
artist, someone whos never
picked up a paint brush or
maybe doesnt have the time.
A lot of adults are intimidated by painting and art, but

once they leave they have a

real sense of accomplishment.
Additionally, we do childrens parties, business parties, and BYOB adult parties
and we have the ability to
do the party here or we can
be mobile and bring the party
to you.
We especially do a lot of
birthday parties, he added.
Right now were booked
almost through December,
and weve also begun doing
ceramic parties we have
pre-bisque pieces that people
paint with glazes, and then
we fire them in the kiln.
While conceding that raw
artistic ability is to some
degree innate, Accardi
believes artistic talent as
with musical or athletic talent must be cultivated and
refined to achieve its true
potential.
I strongly believe that
many people have artistic tal-

ent, but its just a matter of

getting it out, he said. Its a
matter of connecting what
your mind wants with what
your hand does, and learning
to see things the way an artist typically does as
shapes and as distances
between those shapes.
Seen from that perspective, art is a very complex
field, and theres so many different areas where we need
artists, Damstrom added.
If you want to design a new
computer, you need an artist
behind that. When an engineer creates something,
theyre also creating something that an artist imagined.
But most importantly, she
said, we try to teach our students to have that confidence
to imagine different ideas
and build on them to create
something new.
That passion for art is
something they hope not only

to impart to their students

but also to pass on to their
two children, one of whom is
a 3-month-old baby boy
named Charley.
Its something theyve
already started noticing in
their 9-year-old daughter,
Brieanna, who is proving to
be a quick study in more
ways than one.
Brieanna is very technical
with her artistry and is also
tapping into her creative side
lately, which is nice, Accardi
said.
And, he noted, with her two
parents leading the way,
shes also seeing different
facets of what it takes to
build a business.

The Art Academy of New

Jersey is located at 187
Breakneck Road, Vernon.
For more information, call
973-764-0060 or visit the website at www.artacademy.
education.

Things to consider about 529 plans

By ALEX VEIGA
AP Business Writer
Saving to cover the everrising costs of a university
education can be daunting,
but one way parents can
potentially bridge that gap is
by investing through a 529
college savings plan.
The plans, named after the
federal tax code that created
them in 1997, permit savers
to invest in mutual funds and
withdraw the gains free of
federal taxes as long as the
money is spent on college
expenses. The tax benefits
and potential returns from
investments can offer a better alternative over time than
simply socking away money
in a bank account or certificates of deposit.
Assets in 529 plans grew 9
percent last year to $218 billion, fueled by net inflows and
market gains, according to
Morningstar. Still, some twothirds of Americans are not
familiar with the plans,
according to a survey earlier
this year by financial services
firm Edward Jones.
If you have kids or grandkids, and you believe that college education is important,
a 529 college savings plan
can be a really good option
for you, said Danae Domian,
a principal at Edward Jones.
Here are a few tips to consider when investing in a 529
college savings plan:

FIND BEST PLAN FOR YOU

Each state offers a 529 college savings plan, and
although they differ in some
respects, each enables investors to use investment proceeds to pay for college costs
without having to pay federal
taxes on those gains.
Youre not limited to investing in your own states plan,
but keep in mind that most
states also offer their own
residents a state tax deduction or credit. Some also
throw in matching grant programs or scholarships.
Youll also want to consider
which plan offers the most
attractive investment
options. Some state plans
include a mix of funds from
several investment firms,
such as Fidelity, Vanguard or
T. Rowe Price. Others will
only offer plans managed by
a single investment firm.
Additional information and
state-by-state plan comparisons can be found on
Morningstars website:
http://529.morningstar.com/
state-map.action.
GET STARTED EARLY
Although no investment
plan is without risk, the earlier you begin investing, the
greater the likelihood that
youll be able to weather
market swings and reap a
larger return.

And youll need as much

time as possible, given the
growth in college costs.
Consider that the average
tuition, fees and room and
board for private, nonprofit
four-year schools for the
2014-2015 school year was
$42,419, a 3.6 percent
increase from the previous
year, according to the College
Board. At public four-year
schools those costs added up
to $18,943, or an increase of 1
percent.
Thats faster than the U.S.
rate of inflation, which has
been at a trickle of 0.2 percent through the 12 months
ended Aug. 31.
To get an idea of how much
your kids college education
might cost, try the calculator
at Savingforcollege.com. The
Department of Education
also has tools to help gauge
college affordability: http://
collegecost.ed.gov/catc.
KNOW THE RISKS
Historically, stock and bond
investments have produced
greater long-term returns
than bank accounts. But taking the investment approach
to saving for college can
expose investors to losses.
Nearly ninety percent of
529 plan portfolios suffered
losses in 2008 when the financial crisis pummeled Wall
Street, according to
Savingforcollege.com.

With college savings plans

you dont have a guarantee of
keeping up with inflation,
said Leo Acheson, an analyst
at Morningstar, which puts
out an annual ranking of 529
plans.
Parents can be more conservative in their investment
approach with 529 plans,
though the trade off may be
that they dont reach their
savings goal.
For the set-it-and-forget-it
investors, all 529 plans offer
investment portfolios that
take into account the number
of years before the child goes
to college. When the child is
young, the portfolios invest
heavily in stocks and over
time transition into less risky
holdings.
Hands-on investors can
select plans that enable them
to pick their own funds and
rebalance as they see fit. The
IRS limits the number of
changes you can make to two
a year, Acheson notes.
CONSIDER PLAN FEES
Some plans are directsold, meaning that parents
can open accounts directly
through an investment firm
or the state plan administrator. Adviser-sold plans are
available through financial
advisers. They generally
charge higher fees than
direct-sold plans but come
with professional advice.

Direct-sold plans account

for 52 percent of 529 plans,
according to Morningstar.
College 529 plans also typically charge higher fees than
mutual funds. But that gap
has narrowed in recent
years. About half the plans
also charge an annual
account maintenance fee
which averages less than $20
a year, Acheson said.
Investors who withdraw
funds from their 529 accounts
for anything other than college costs will have to pay
federal income tax on the
earnings portion of the plan
funds as well as a 10 percent
penalty, in addition to possible state fees.
GET FAMILY INVOLVED
Anyone can contribute to a
529 plan for a single beneficiary. So parents can set up
an account and invite relatives to pitch in.
Contributions to a 529 plan
are considered gifts by the
IRS, which currently limits
gifts to $14,000 annually per
donor, per beneficiary. For
example, two parents can
each gift the same child
$14,000, or a combined
$28,000 per year, without triggering a gift tax.
There is a maximum contribution limit per child over
the lifetime of a 529 plan. It
varies by state, but its usually more than $250,000.

Briefs
New businesses
in Hackettstown
HACKETTSTOWN The
Hackettstown Business
Improvement District (BID)
welcomes three new businesses: WholeListic Hair
Design, Destiny Exterior
Design and Faith A. Ullmann
& Associates, LLC.
This new growth represents
an exciting time for
Hackettstown, which continues to grow its base of international dining options and
unique shops.
What started with the
influx of restaurants, is now
continuing across the board in
other areas of business in
Hackettstown, said Jim
Sheldon, executive director of
the Hackettstown BID. Were
clearly seeing a shift in thinking from the big box/chain
store mentality to a renewed
appreciation for the commitment and quality of service
that you can only get from an
owner-operated business.
WholeListic Hair Design,
located at 212B Main St., is
Hackettstowns only organic
hair salon and features ecofriendly products, aromatherapy and mineral-based cosmetics and hair color. Destiny
Exterior Design at 125 Main
St. is a full-service home and
business exterior design firm.
Faith A. Ullmann &
Associates, based in Newton,
recently opened a second
location at 116 High St. in
Hackettstown. They offer
legal counsel and strategy,
and have the experience to
effectively handle a wide
range of family law disputes.

Girls Night Out

planned in Milford
MILFORD, Pa.
Celebrate the arrival of cooler
nights with an evening out
with friends in historic Milford
on Thursday, Oct. 1, when the
lights of the \downtown will
stay on while participating
merchants host Milfords first
Girls Night Out event. From 5
to 8 p.m., restaurants and eateries will feature special
menu items and drink specials while the towns specialty stores will host open house
events, many with artist meetand-greets, refreshments,
trunk shows and product tastings and samplings.
Girls Night Out is sponsored by the Milford Music
Festival. For more information and a listing of participating businesses, visit www.milfordpa.us. A location map will
be available the night of the
event at the following stores:
Willow (317 Broad St), Denim
or Lace (at the Upper Mill)
and The Craft Show (120 E.
Harford St).

Valley National sets

Breast Cancer Walk
WAYNE Valley National
Bank announced that it will be
hosting its seventh annual
breast cancer walk titled
Valley Goes Pink! on
Saturday, Oct. 3 (rain date:
Oct. 4) at 9 a.m., at 1460 Valley
Road in Wayne.
Valley Goes Pink! is an
inspirational and impactful
opportunity to raise money
and awareness for the Cure
Breast Cancer Foundation.
Money raised benefits breast
cancer research at Memorial
Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center and other national and
international research facilities under the direction of Dr.
Larry Norton, M.D.
Over the past six years,
Valley has raised over
$600,000 in support of Nortons
research. This years event
will feature games, prize
drawings, a 50/50 raffle and
free food and beverages.
Attendees can also donate
canned food which will benefit
local food pantries.
New Yorks popular television weather expert, Mr. G.,
will also be on hand to support the event. Dr. Elizabeth
Comen, assistant attending
breast cancer medicine service and one of the lead
researchers working with
Norton at Memorial SloanKettering, will speak about
the research and answer
questions.