The Artist Lab is a nice little art space on Wilshire, in Hancock Park, conveniently located close…read moreto my house. It offers art classes for all ages, though I suspect most of its students are kids. My six-year-old Leo B. has become something of a regular, and he absolutely loves the place.
For my part, I appreciate that there's always a camp available when I need it, sometimes even at the last minute. Popular classes sell out (if you want an anime/Pokémon/Hello Kitty kind of week, get on it), but most don't seem to reach capacity. There are camps for pretty much every school break, including one-day camps for various holidays. Parking is easy, as are drop-off and pick-up.
Leo did one day camp last year, then two weeks of summer camp last month. He's a fairly shy kid, and was only willing to sign up because he had friends from school who would be with him. I was pleasantly surprised when he requested to come back for a second week this summer, knowing he wouldn't have any friends in that class.
Artist Lab has different themes for each week, and he went for under the sea and pop art. There were different teachers rotating in and out, and to be honest, I never really talked to any of them, though they all seemed quite nice. I dealt with all the administrative stuff through text and email and enjoyed getting photo updates in the text thread.
Leo had fun every day, and came home with all kinds of artwork that we're now stuck with until all parties are willing to get rid of them. He made sculptures and paintings and even sewed a little fish. I also liked that he got to learn a little about pop art after a somewhat difficult visit to the Tate Modern earlier in the month.
I'm sure we'll be back to Artist Lab next summer, and possibly earlier. Leo will ask for it, and before long, his brother will want in on the action.
