art retreat nyc

. . . because art should feel like a retreat, a reprieve, a self-imposed and well-deserved timeout.

Many adults tell me they loved making art as children, but somewhere along the way, they stopped doing it. Whether it was the general busy-ness of life or the discouraging words of perhaps an otherwise well-intentioned adult, they simply stopped creating.

But we were born to create. The benefits of making art are essentially indisputable. The process of putting pen or brush or oil pastel to paper is personal and, as such, deeply therapeutic. To access that childlike love of creating and all the benefits it offers, we must learn to love the process itself. In exchange, we’re much more likely to appreciate the product that we create because it will be imbued with the same joy we felt while
making it.

I hope you'll join me for a class or during open studio time so you can enjoy all the amazing benefits that getting messy, letting go of control, and creating your own art has to offer.

All you need is a little curiosity,
courage, & compassion.

just so you know who you'll be seeing in class, this is us.

melisse (or lala, if you prefer) | owner & instructor

I love making art alongside others and watching them learn to love the process of creating.
I believe strongly in the therapeutic benefits
of art and play. Art allows us to slow down and be together in the moment as well as the medium.

I honestly can't believe this is my real life –
I'm beyond grateful.

faces you'll see

luke copley | instructor

I make art because when I was a kid I found it
very irritating to learn to add consistent line work
to my coloring books. I realized if I wanted my giraffe
to look like a dragon, I’d have to learn to
draw a dragon myself.

We’re decades in now. I’m still working
on the dragons,but—in the meantime—
found a lifelong passion.