I've always been drawn to nature and revisited landscape painting with oil paints about 7 years ago…read moreafter having not painted since grade school. I've been quite fortunate to have painted with several very talented painters who happened to be instructors, as well. The Art Academy has given me the impetus to paint not only more often, but with confidence, especially, at the painting's sometimes difficult initial stages. I dove into the class after having had it recommended by an artist friend of mine. After several years in Stuart's studio class I've learned an entirely new approach to both studio painting and my original goals for plein air techniques. I'd recommend this course for painters at every skill level. Jim M.

Highly recommend Art Academy of San Diego! Stuart is a skilled artist and personable guide to…read morecreating your art. -CynC

Art on 30th has changed my life. It is my home away from home. My skills have greatly improved with…read morethe help of several fabulous classes and workshops. I even won an award at the Del Mar fair fine arts competition this year! Everyone is wonderful, and the creative energy I feel when I walk in the door is incredible. It's a healing environment. It is loving, important and beautiful. I'm so happy when I am there!

With a motto of "Create Joy, Grow For Life", this remarkable 2-story art center is the epitome of…read morewhat an artist is looking for. This welcoming creative hub has private art studios, a variety of art classes/workshops, artist opportunities and much much more. It's easy to find on 30th being in the heart of North Park with a community of its own cultivating up and coming artists as well as intriguing art lovers like me by their profound art shows/exhibits in which I had a pleasure of attending one of them in October. Brilliant collab AJ & Priyanka!! There's definitely lots of positive art-making vibes here to the point it got my creative juices flowing to take a class. Thank you Maureen! I highly recommend this art spot to the Yelp Community :-)

I enjoy the process of creating. Don't necessarily see myself as artistic though so I figured with…read morea mosaic, it would be easier to create something I enjoyed. It was the 2 afternoon glass on glass mosaic class I took. Lauren was the instructor. She's warm, approachable, works well with beginners. Got lots of good tips from her. I have never created something that I love as much as I love this piece. I'll be coming back for more classes and continuing to make more mosaics. I feel a bit like an artist now. It's awesome!!!!!

I finally got a chance to do the indigo dyeing workshop with Lauren and brought my two friends with…read moreme! We had the best time. What an incredible way to spend an afternoon or two learning a really fun approachable new form of art, working with your hands. Lauren was a great teacher, very supportive of our crazy ideas and was a great balance of structure vs. going with the flow and allowing the students interests guide the class. Opening each piece and revealing the pattern was almost better than Christmas morning! Cannot wait to return for more alumni days.

I've been driving by this place for months and even with drive by glances it always sounded really…read morecool without knowing what it was. I finally pulled over to grab a flyer, and ending up quickly after signing up for the Wednesday paint to music class with zero idea basically of what to expect. I do paint etc, but truly beginners and every person of every ability are perfect for this class, which really is about expressing your unique style and feelings and self ! I was most pleasantly surprised by how the class just felt like such a sweet community meetup. It was so fun to hear everyone's stories and see it represented in their art; each painting was so so amazing in its unique style and all were so different. Additionally, the studio with the paint walls is so cool and having the freedom to dance and throw paint and get messy was truly just so refreshing and relaxing.

I have attended this studio several times as an art student and enjoyed the "Paint to Music"…read moreexperience. Of course, when it came to booking a special day for a team of colleagues, I was excited to have them experience this joyful creative workshop as well. I made a studio reservation with the owner Tish and paid a premium rate to have a guided experience for the group before she was open to the public. Before the event, I signed a contract with Tish, where she had listed the goals of the rental as "Creative experience for team building and reducing stress" Unfortunately, Tish forgot that she had double booked the studio-- so our time at her venue was not exclusive. During our reservation, the space was shared with another group, it was loud, and Tish was disorganized. It was not the "stress-relieving" experience that was outlined in our goals. Tish is a kind person with a unique artistic perspective, however, I would not make a reservation with her again- as I feel she is not as organized as she could be.

Loved my experience here! We made reservations ahead of time for the $30 / 1hr wheeltime. This is…read moreperfect for beginners. They walk you through everything. You get two blobs of clay that you can make two items with. Maggie was super friendly and patient with explaining the process and helping us fix anything we messed up on. The price includes firing and glazing one of the two. You can pay an additional $15 to fire the second one. For the glaze they had a bunch of different colors which was nice. Shop is pretty small. There's 6 stations total for people to work at. Also only street parking so plan ahead.

This was my first time doing anything ceramics-related and I had such a positive experience! I…read morestumbled upon Teralta via their sister organization, Ceramic Arts, because we were interested in taking some sort of pottery class. We found that Ceramic Arts had "Wheel Time" where we can get an hour on the wheel just practicing and making anything we want, but they booked up pretty far out and we wanted to do this sooner. So, they directed us to Teralta Art. I was skeptical to book with Teralta at first since I like to see reviews of places before paying for it, but I am so glad I gave them a chance (if you're reading this and thinking the same thing -- DO IT!). We booked the 1-hour "Wheel Time" session where we got to play on the wheel. It was a Friday afternoon and we had such a pleasant experience with Maggie. She helped us center the clay on the wheel a couple of times and gave us tips on what to do, what types of things to make, some techniques, etc. We also chatted about Teralta's mission and I was so inspired by their vision. If you haven't seen on their website yet, they are a non-profit creating and increasing access to art for kids in the City Heights community. She told us more about this and I think it is a great addition to the larger San Diego community. The one hour flew by quickly! The next steps are that they will fire and glaze our work for us, then we can pick it up in 3 weeks. We got to choose the colors for them. Our experience here was so fun and positive, and I would absolutely recommend this activity to anyone! Thank you Maggie and Teralta Art for bringing this to the community -- we need more people like you!

Wonderful artist and teacher! Great studio and great person!!! If you want to learn to learn to…read morepaint Andrea is the best!!

I just finished my third class with Andrea and i have 3 more to go. I have been painting all of my…read morelife and I have never received as profound lessons as Andrea has been giving me. I have always had vision and ability however, Andrea as a teacher brings out what I already know and harps on basic principles I need to have with every approach that i have been missing. From rules of thumb to color concepts and using principles when I get stuck. Class is amazing, I couldn't ask for a better atmosphere to be in and I almost can get emotional about how freeing it is to be surrounded by all levels of painters. There is always music playing, discussions with students individually with Andrea and individual lessons can turn into all of us around Andrea discussing a technique with a student. Being in Normal Heights is a great central location and the openness of the class means bystanders can walk in and be amazed at all the work we are doing. It makes you feel privileged to be there working alongside him. One of my favorite things about the class is Andrea is usually sketching during the day, painting, or reworking something of his before we get there and if we are all independently working he will revisit it. It's great to see an instructor applying his love while enhancing our own abilities. I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my money and time towards this passion.

Kouta Shimazaki is an amazing potter and an awesome instructor. San Diego Ceramic Connection is…read moretherapy

Came to get my SONO Chili fest Ticket and Bowl. I was so mad I missed last years event (first one…read moreafter lockdown was lifted) that I knew I had to get here for the pre-sale! Did not disappoint! The line went down the entire BLOCK and around the corner-seriously!! At least 50+ chili heads were shivering in line when I got there around 6:40pm and they opened at 6:00! Who knows how long the line was before that! Picked my adorable bowl with the help of volunteer students from the studio and checked out super easy! The line turned out to be mainly because everyone was trying to find the 'best bowl that sung their heart song' lol. I even grabbed a yummy pizza and antipasto next door after, too!

I love the bright open feeling of the new studio. (Today was my first day in the new space.) Annie…read moreis a patient teacher. She helped me with all the basics and then the challenges when I tried something new. She also has helped people with a lot of experience refine their technique and also top take on new challenges. The studio has the warm feeling of a community and now that we are in a new, larger space, there is finally room for a few more potters.

Popped in to check this adorable little shop out. Possibly greeted by the owner. No greetings…read morewhatsoever, just a big "No openings, try other pottery shops in San Diego" with a smile. How disappointing. I guess we will check out other shops for our creativity.

I took the 5-week Form and Function class with Misha, where I learned to throw, trim, and glaze for…read morethe first time. While I walked away with new skills and 4 pieces that I am proud of, I found Misha's style of instruction difficult to follow and unpleasant at times. Misha began the first class by telling us that she will intervene if she notices our projects going south. However, on multiple occasions she purposefully stayed quiet when a student was having trouble and then when it was too late to save the piece, she said, "I was waiting for you to ask a question." This resulted in students having to scrap their projects without time to retry. I understand that Misha aims to strike a balance between hands-on assistance and letting students figure things out on their own, but her lack of intervention felt like punishment for not following her instructions well enough. I also found it challenging that Misha structured her classes by verbally explaining all of the tasks of the day at the beginning of class. After this intro, she did not speak much for the rest of the class. During several classes, she began to work on personal projects and did not seem approachable for questions. I would have appreciated a few more demonstrations and for instructions to be repeated throughout the class. Because this was a class intended for beginners, I expected a bit more patience and active involvement from Misha. The 5-week course was structured well and allowed students to learn the entire process making ceramics, but the style of instruction made the course harder than it had to be.

I took the five week Form + Function course with Misha and it unfortunately wasn't the fun…read moreintroduction to pottery I was hoping for. I liked that the classes were structured around specific projects as it gave us direction in our learning, however I felt Misha did not always have the patience that is required when working with a class of beginners. I think she sometimes got overwhelmed working with the students (completely understandable as 5/7 students in the class had zero experience with pottery) but she allowed this to negatively affect her instruction and often became short when asked basic questions about projects/next steps. There was very little time allocated for experimentation and students were taught to only do things one particular way (Eg. Centering, opening up). While this was likely due to time constraints, alternatives do exist and when myself/other students would inquire about modifications when steps weren't clicking or something went wrong with our piece, Misha would tell us to "figure it out" or to trash our piece entirely. She also began every class ignoring students as we entered and only broke her silence once 3+ students had greeted her. I was able to create some pieces I am really proud of in the course, and I did learn a lot, but it didn't feel like an environment where I could truly enjoy myself and explore the craft. There is no doubt that Misha is talented, however I don't think she enjoys teaching, at least not beginners. I was hoping for a welcoming environment, and am discouraged to say Ho/Co often felt a bit hostile. Perhaps my timing was bad as I know Misha released a new collection on her Etsy shop during this time and maybe felt overwhelmed due to order volume? She often worked on pieces for sale during classes, so maybe she had too much on her plate and our class was simply a casualty of this. Regardless of the cause, I unfortunately would not recommend Misha's courses and will be trying out a new studio.

As a parent I can confirm that this school has been nicer than any other one my son has been to…read moreover the years. My son has been going to this school for a year now and he has made so many friends. At other schools he has had trouble making friends and was constantly bullied. Now he comes into the car everyday with a smile on his face talking about his day. Will be coming again next year!

As a student at iftin currently I can say this school is currently a mess. Most of the staff are…read morebiased towards boys and always let the boys get away with everything. Also to mention this school is dangerous, last month these 7th graders were lighting up tissues in the bathroom, this could've started a fire?! Next this school does NOT have enough food to provide for the kids, just this morning I had no breakfast and 3 days ago there was no lunch for the 7th and 8th graders. Since we're talking about food some students are throwing food at each other for no apparent reason. And when the higher ups say they are going to do something, they always forget about it? Also lets talk about racism, if your child is a person of color I don't recommend bringing them here since the Afghan children here are very racist towards black students and always says the n-word at them! The students are always bullying each other and cursing at each other. And when we talk back to them we are always the ones getting in trouble. WE HATE IFTIN -7th grader