Ava has been a part of the Painting with a Twist family since 2025, where she motivates guests to find their inner artist and create “fun art”, not “fine art”. To her, it’s all about the memories created, not the product you walk out with. With a passion for all arts, including sketching, painting, and playing several instruments, her encouraging demeanor makes every painting session a joyful and memorable experience.
B.J. Cleveland has been a teaching artist with PWAT for 6 years and was a customer 8 years previous. His love of painting comes from working in professional theatre for 56 years as an Actor/Director/choreographer/ Teacher and literally grew up on area stages. He was Artistic Director of Theatre Arlington, National Tour director for Dallas Children’s Theatre, Adjunct Theatre Professor at UTA and currently serves as a Resident Director w Casa Manana Musicals in Fort Worth and Uptown Players in Dallas. He is also known as children’s television host of “BJ & Lester” on TV39 and “BJ & The Disney Afternoon” on KTVT 11, host of ROUTE 66 on the Discovery Channel, and the NBC series THE FACTS OF LIFE. He has received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Live Theatre League of Tarrant County, Arlington Historic Society, and SPJST.
Mary Jeanne, also known as MJ, started her artistic journey when she was only a small child. She has memories of drawing from when she was as little as 2 years old, and that fascination never went away! As MJ grew, she began to learn more through experimentation and the occasional YouTube tutorial. Before she knew the term “Color Theory”, she was already observing the ways in which colors interact with each other. She intuitively knew what color “felt right” when placed next to another color. She continued down a Self Taught path, and she knew that art would always play an important part in her life. MJ believes that creativity is at the core of being human, which is why she loves instructing at Painting With a Twist! Her favorite thing to do is connect with others through creativity, and she finds so much joy in encouraging people to have fun, whether they have experience in art, or none at all!
Riley has been working here since May of 2026. She’s had a passion for the arts since she was young, but her desire to paint was accelerated after visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, where she saw works from her favorite painter, Monet. Her love for art led her to get a job at Painting with a Twist Arlington. Her favorite part about working with us is being a part of the community and meeting new people. In her free time, she enjoys hanging out with her friends and family and playing the cello.
