We celebrated our daughter's 5th birthday at The Art Lab! What a fun place! Natalie and Addie were…read moreamazing with all of the kids. All the kids loved painting their projects and were able to rage them home too. The space is super clean, organized. I would highly recommend if you have a child who loves arts and crafts!

Experience was fun and creative. The host was amazing. He communicated very well and was sooooo…read morehelpful. 10/10 plz recommend him to all this was great

My friend and I finally got a chance to book a rug making class with Safe n Sound Rugs located in…read moreRaleigh for her birthday! It was such a fun class where they walk you step-by-step on how to make your own rug. Before the class, you'll send in your design and color requests. They'll let you know if your design is too hard for a beginner level class. It was a fun class and quite challenging. You do have to stand while you tuft which makes you more tired especially after a few hours, so dress for comfort and breath lability as you might get hot! You can bring snacks and something to drink but keep in mind it's a small space. Once you're all done, they'll take your rug to be finished. Takes about two weeks before it's done for either pick-up or they can also mail it to you. Definitely a good idea for a date night, birthday activity, or just a fun activity with your friends or solo. Almost forgot - they also offer classes in the CLT area as well!

Great art classes for children. Owner and teachers very professional a d accommodating!read more

This is an interesting artists space that has moved around within Durham a few times. Great place…read moreto see glass blowing, pottery making, weaving, printing, metal sculpting, and more. They offer classes and also have occasional open houses like their annual holiday market. We usually make it out at least once a year and have purchased cards and pottery from the artists. They are all very friendly and love to talk about their work. Check their website for their hours and/or events.

Liberty Arts i.e. a co-working space for artists. If you're an artist, looking for a place to work…read morewith like-minded people to teach, learn and inspire, this is your place. Located in the Golden Belt warehouse district, Liberty Arts has a small gallery inside their warehouse, in addition to the large co-working area. This gallery is open to the public on the last Thursday of every month as well as more recently for Durham's Third Friday. During this time, visitors have the chance to view a vastly varied set of media [incredible woodwork, bronze casting, blown glass and even handcrafted pipes!] but also chat with artists and explore the studio. The co-working space also offers community classes, and although pricey, they have the ability to offer some very unique opportunities. Everything from jack-o-lantern casting and carving, welding education, plasma cutting and metalworking, clay-metal fusion and bronze casting. I highly recommend checking out their website for current events! You can tell that the artists truly look forward to chatting with interested visitors. So, stop by, ask questions or just soak up the creative atmosphere!

Nice place, nice people. They do custom hats and shirts, too. Everything from goat soap to nice art…read moreplus craft supplies. Good prices and they even plan and host craft parties!

My family - including a 12 & 14 yr old - LOVED our experience with Christal. The review from the…read morewoman that took a class in Colorado was judgmental of Christal's home. You will park in a cul-de-sac. So? She has projects ongoing in her yard. So? The other reviewer maybe expected Martha Stewart. Anyway, the four of us have taken Christal's class twice. She lets you use Groupon for her classes (not limited to one Groupon). She gives instructions for about 15 minutes. You cannot use the colored glass that the other reviewer was crying about because it is specially purchased by Christal for her stained-glass business. Makes sense. There are buckets upon buckets of glass pieces in various colors. Any color you could want! She supplies other interesting shapes and sizes of adornments for your project. You have the choice of many items to make - a set of 4 small squares, a large rectangular piece, 2 small rectangles, and some others. These can be shaped into bowls, soap dishes, and other curved/waved designs after the glass cures in the kiln. You need to bring your creativity and your big girl panties though. Christal allows you to use the time as YOU want. And she's brutally honest about "don't park on the grass" and "don't touch the glass for my business." If you are easily offended then her dry humor and quick wit might offend you. We thought she was hilarious, helpful, and creative. The fact that she opens her home so strangers can take time away from television, computers, etc and let their creativity flow is wonderful. Getting our two kiddos out of the house and truly focused on something they could create with their hands....it was invaluable. Both could have spent many more hours there. The time went too quickly. So, if you are open-minded about trying something new and fun, my biggest tip is to take a design with you that you want to create. Using class time to think of your creation eats through time you need for designing your glass. And if you run out of time then book another session! We loved it. I hope you will too.

My husband got us a class as a date activity. We had done a day in a glass studio in Durango,…read moreColorado last year and it was really fun. This one was a bit odd. It was really far away (granted we live in Knightdale) and in a residential neighborhood. You park in the cul-de-sac (I am sure the neighbors love that) and there is a barrel blocking the driveway. The outside of the house has all sorts of junk and tarps and stuff all over (again- lucky neighbors). I get being eccentric and I appreciate the artsy type, but it just seemed like there was junk all in the yard, in the studio and even in the bathroom. It did not feel clean or organized. It is clear this is her work space but I think she needs to have an organized, less clutter space for the classes. We got about 10 minutes of basic instruction and then were off on our own. We did not learn anything cool and were not allowed to play with color and different glass types or do anything other than just cut and grind glass. Our experience in Colorado was SO much better and more creative. It was a 2 hour class so some bottled water or something would have been nice to have been offered. My hubby got a Amazon deal and I have to tell you even at that price it was overpriced for what you get and the teaching you got. To avoid going all of the way back out there we opted to pay $12 to have it shipped to the house and she said over and over how she is really bad at remembering to ship things and to text her in a couple of weeks if we have not gotten it to bug her about it. I got this is not like a professional business because of the nature of it, but it really did not seen to run or feel like something worth paying for.

A great spot to support local artists, with a wide range of mediums on display: painting, pottery,…read morejewelry, photography, and more. Prices vary by medium and artist, but there are plenty of affordable pieces. I loved browsing all the beautiful and unique work! I also appreciated that one of the artists was there running the store.

Jane, one of the featured artists at this gallery, was very welcoming and friendly when I stopped…read morein briefly. The art is very high quality, and I'll be back to check out their holiday popups and such. It's amazing to see a place with so many local artists. The selection was varied--jewelry, paintings, sketches, 2D/3D art, and more. Truly impressive, pricey but for good reason.

OQZO studio is hands-down the best equipped metals studio I have ever seen. The owners have…read morecreated a terrific resource for beginning Metalsmiths to learn, both from their own experience as well as from some of the best known instructors in the business. Whether you're a beginner who doesn't know wire from sheet, or an experienced 'smith looking to pick up new skills, THIS IS THE PLACE for you. Set on wooded acreage in the lovely, historic town of Hillsborough, you will love the camaraderie with like-minded learners, and the openness and sharing of the instructors during the monthly weekend workshops covering a variety of Metalsmithing topics that range from etching to fabrication to enameling and more. Got skills, but no place to work? OQZO has you covered with affordable open studio times. If your toolbox is empty, you can fill it up at Oqzo - many of the tools are available for sale. (I am not aware of any other place in the state of NC that sells Metalsmithing tools, so this is an excellent resource!) Check out the website and sign up for a workshop. Class sizes are deliberately kept small, so everyone has room to work, and gets plenty of individual attention from the instructor. If you're looking for a great place to work, check it out!

Three days in Lynn's OQZO Metalsmith studio this past weekend was a jewelry maker's dream! The…read morestudio is absolutely pristine with a massive variety of tools and equipment at the ready. All of the work stations have their own bench with tools and equipment within arm's reach as well as ample lighting throughout the spacious and airy studio. It was very easy to stay working since you had everything you needed at your station(s) instead of waiting in line to get to the next step of the jewelry making project's process. Both Lynn (and Terry) and the guest instructor were very helpful during the workshop. Demonstrations of the technique we were learning could be seen at the teacher's jewelry bench or overhead on a screen which I found very convenient. If you want a day or more of whimsy in a lovely setting to create - this is the place! Lynn teaches a variety of jewelry classes and also has workshops with guest instructors that are also very accomplished. The studio is perfect for beginners and master metalsmiths alike..there is always something new to learn in the field of jewelry making and she is prepared with exactly what you need to make it. I am definitely coming back.