Little Art House, not just for kids!
We are known for our classes and camps for kids but what has been really eye opening and exciting over the years at Little Art House is how impactful art making and creating is for adults. We’ve always wanted to offer art classes that are somewhere between the approachability of sips & strokes type of paint and the more intense series where it’s a 6-8wk commitment or more. With that, we landed on shorter or single date offerings where the participants learn but can relax and have fun as well.
After we figured out some of our favorite ways to do this, we started looking for artists who were also interested in teaching. This felt like a natural step since creatives often have more flexible schedules, the artists would be able to teach their craft in more depth, and it would automatically create more variety in medium and processes. We knew we could help them develop the class if they had the desire. We have had some really amazing teaching artists over the years.
One teaching artist who has been our rock and is a large part why our adult offerings are still happening and thriving, is Miranda Fuller. A maverick in general, Miranda started teaching with us back in 201 then she became our adult program coordinator in 2021 and started bringing in new teaching artists and getting their classes/workshops created. In the last 5yrs, she has also been our most consistent teacher for Little Art House Foundation teaching adult classes for free at Hadley Park Branch NPL and Shelby Park Community Center.
While we’ve had teaching artists in our studios for adult classes mostly, I’ve personally enjoyed teaching some of our LAHF adult classes at Hadley Park Branch NPL, Shelby Park Community Center and more recently, Friends of Shelby has brought us on to offer classes at other community centers. This is where I’ve had the joy experiencing first hand the power and importance of art making for adults. Especially a space that is open to all levels of ability, low pressure, with a variety of materials and processes.
There are many studies that show how art making can lower stress, increase focus, help process trauma/experiences, and more. A 2016 study published in the Journal of the American Art Therapy Association showed “a brief experience of art making produced physiological changes in most participants, indicating that art making can lower cortisol levels regardless of prior experience with art, media type, or demographics.” This is one of the biggest parts of why we wanted our classes to be approachable for all levels and the amazing part of our LAHF classes. No matter who you are, how much experience you have with artmaking, or your knowledge of art, anyone can enjoy the benefits of art making!
This article in Medium by Kalpana Khattri highlights some of the major benefits as well but one of the others that really stand out in our classes is the community, connection and collaboration. While creating in any setting is helpful and we love to see it, there is something about creating in a community that can be magical.
We’re offering classes for free through the new year at Shelby Park Community Center (HUGE thanks to Friends of Shelby for sponsoring those classes!!) and at Hadley Park Library! You can sign up for those or find our adult classes in studio at the links below :)