Liz Vigoda Five of…read moremy friends and I attended a private workshop to do indigo dying with Karen at the Albany art room. Karen made it easy to schedule a time for The workshop. She had gathered and set up a lot of tools and materials for it and gave us a I'm

Wow! What a gem of a place to have arts and crafts! I love the program here, and I wish I had found…read moreout about it much sooner. They offer a lot of classes, from small children to adults! The staff are all incredibly friendly, and they are very flexible in accommodating to your needs. I took a pottery class for three weeks, and I had a blast! It was incredibly fun, and the instructor was super awesome! I really loved it. I wish I had more time to work with the instructors, but my schedule did not allow. Love the friendly atmosphere, and I got to meet so many creative people while practicing during the open studio hours. I do wish they had longer hours so it was more convenient for me schedule, but I understand this was mainly fitted around school-going children. They have a lot of cool workshops for kids, and the instructors are all very amazing from the art that I see the kids produce. There are so many different things they offer! They also allow adults a lot of resources and space to exercise their own creative projects, which I think is excellent. Everything is pretty reasonable, too! I definitely I wish I had found this place sooner! Their mascot cat is also incredibly friendly, and I adore her!

So happy to have such a fantastic art center in the area. I have taken a bunch of classes: stained…read moreglass, fused glass, embroidery, encaustic painting and have enjoyed every one. They have such a wide variety of classes.

The goal of the Arts Center is to "engage people in a creative experience" and it delivers. It's…read morefun to stop in at times to browse their exhibits which includes a faculty student gallery, the Wallace and Foyer galleries, as well as a main gallery. The best part is they are free and open to the public. They offer a range of classes for different age groups such as creative writing, performing arts, culinary arts, digital arts, studio art, crafts, dance, and more. I found out that the last Friday of every month being Troy Night Out, makes a great night out exploring arts and culture. The exhibits are open during the day and seem to draw me in after brunch in Troy. I find them pretty unique and definitely one of a kind. I'm hoping to take some classes in the near future such as sculpting with clay or a few of the culinary classes. Overall a simple and neat arts center with plenty of activities for art and culture seekers.

The most incredible homeschool art class I could ever hope for!…read more It is with a heavy heart that my family is moving out of state, not because we dread the move but because we dread leaving Art In Mind. I kid you not, our family looks forward to coming to art class every week and drag our feet to leave when it's over. You won't find a more family-friendly, educationally well-rounded venue for kids to learn about art history, artists, techniques, vocabulary and more. Mrs. Hall does an incredible job putting together a curriculum for children of all ages and abilities and is like no other when it comes to delivering an education that leaves kids hungry for more. You will not be disappointed!

From the owner: Paint & Sip Sessions,Birthday and Private Parties,Team Building Events,Art Lessons for All Ages,Art…read moreCamps,Special Needs Opportunities,Home School Art Education,Family Paint Nights Metal Stamped Jewelry Classes,Culinary Arts for Kids

It's my only source for taking classes. It def has a preference for pottery over paintingread more

My history with IS-183 goes back 23 years with our introduction at the time of my impending…read moredivorce. I was thrilled, to say the least, when I found the Open Sketch group. So many fantastic, working artists and then me; untrained with only a desire to create. I couldn't have been more welcomed receiving suggestions, directions and good old fashioned comradery. All n a serene New England setting. What a wonderful place to send children and young adults for a creative summer! I love IS-183 with is sensational energy. Highly recommended.

I took my boyfriend here as a surprise for his 21st birthday. It was the both of ours first time…read morewheel turning and we went in completely clueless but Bianca was very patient and helped us make beautiful pottery together! Not to mention I booked an appointment last minute and she was still able to get us in for an amazing afternoon. I highly, highly recommend The Broken Mold if you're a first timer or even if you want to take classes as this is a great, friendly, local business. Also the prices were great for the services/products you receive and you should definitely check out the shop as it's filled with gorgeous plates, bowls, cups and even earrings. I loved my experience here!!

Fantastic 1st experience at The Broken Mold. Bianca provided excellent initial instruction and…read moreguidance as we each created our first clay 'masterpiece!' This needs to be at least a yearly event!

This is not a craft supply store, it is a art studio. They teach crafts, like jewelry making,…read morefused glass, paint pottery, and so on. It is a small space, but they have room in the back for birthday parties and classes. If you are looking for something to do with your kids, taking them here are let them loose on a ceramic mug or tile trivet. It is affordable, you buy the piece, then they let you paint it, and you pay a flat fee to have to fired and pick it up later. There supplies are limited, they carry mostly beading and jewelery supplies, but some paint and some scrap booking stuff. The owner, Jackie, is very sweet and helpful, and so is the rest of the staff.

This is a cool place to go.You can paint your own bowls and create other stuff. You can make your…read moreown jewelry too. They sponsored a EMPTY BOWLS fundraiser for feeding the Hungary. People made bowls to donate. It was a cool event to attend. I was very impressed. I got lunch for $5.oo and got to take the bowl home with me. So cool!!!

I had SUCH a great time today at Board & Brush in Latham!! I will absolutely be coming back…read more This is a do-it-yourself wood board making class. Everything you need to sign up and pay prior to your class is on their website. They have TONS of different designs to choose from. It's really hard picking just one. On the day of the class I arrived and the boards were already cut and designs placed on them. We started by "shaping" the wood by making different marks using tools such hammers. We then sanded and picked out a stain for the wood then applied. After that you place the design where you want it, then paint and wax. Ok it's a bit more complicated than that but you get the jist. There was a lot of hands on help from one of the owners, Chris, who was a bunch of fun. A good selection of music was playing and everyone had a good time. There were pretzels and chips and salsa to snack on as well as drinks (wine, beer, soda) for purchase. All in all this was super fun and you got to take home your project same day!

I have been meaning to write a comment but time got away!! I made a reservations for board and…read morebrush for part of a bachelorette party! The whole process was so smooth, Chris helped every step of the way. We made some great signs and had a fantastic time!!!! I would highly recommended board & brush! Great for any event .

Catskills secret getaway art center with world-class workshops, and public classes. I was surprised…read moreto see the lineup of some of the best artists in the field of ceramics on their roster. Not only does it feel lucky to have access to these artists, but the workshops are also surprisingly affordable. The on-campus housing is clean, private, and affordable, as well. Because workshops take place in Summertime, in an area that is typically a wintertime destination, there are plenty of good restaurants, accommodations, and extra activities to do while in the area. Grateful to have found this place. This will be my third workshop here.

I took another wonderful oil painting weekend with Eileen Murphy! learned much from Eileen and…read morewatched her paint perfect landscapes! thanks Eileen for sharing your gift with us! Your guidance and instruction were inspiring and motivating! Maria Elena Papson

Oh dear, decisions decisions about the wonderful potential of The Shirt Factory. An old warehouse…read more type facility, multiple floors transformed into close to 50(?) smaller spaces that could be a retail gem! Many unique art spaces, photo studios and (maybe overly specific) shops all with highly varied hours leave this huge spot feeling eerily empty. You can walk around the entire space and literally there may be 5 or 6 places open out of 50. Uggh!!! They do have a wonderful gallery that showcases the best art from local school children and young adults which is surprisingly awesome. ALso Food Truck Thursday is pretty neat outside on the grounds (although we could seriously do without the county fair fried dough and cotton candy trucks). Social distancing enforced with divided picnic tables that are effectively wiped down between seated parties. Oh and craft beer- beer is good! Ultimately, what could really help would be hours 2 days a week where all shops were guaranteed to be open, say Thursday's and Saturday's 2-6pm and A SMALL MARKETING BUDGET for the building as a whole, standard signage on the OUTSIDE of the building letting potential customers what's INSIDE... Come on people, I know I'm not the only person who has drove past this place and thought, "What's up with that big building- is it open? what's inside? Common sense stuff could fix that issue. The potential is HUGE here because right now it's just a big boring building filled with interesting retail thats never open...

Almost 9 months later, I came back for another food truck rally this summer. Boy has this place…read moregrown! They now have 3 different outside areas packed with vendors selling food, creations, & services & it's incredible to see how much it's grown. There's still not a lot of signage though, especially inside, so it's extremely easy to get lost and confused inside the building, or even outside if you're looking for a certain vendor at the pop ups. I do wish that more consistent hours would be implemented here. When I went to this most recent food truck rally, I of course poked my head inside too to check out the shops and almost every single shop on the second floor was shut up, and a good majority in the basement as well. Nearly the entire first floor was open, and about 1/2 of the third floor. These businesses are missing out on a great opportunity! Why isn't it required for them to be open during these events? As a buyer it's disappointing, and as a local it's frustrating when you're trying to buy local yet the locals aren't taking advantage of such a great opportunity. Parking has become a bit of a nightmare during these events, which just goes to show how popular they've become, but on a regular day it's pretty easy to find parking here or right on the streets nearby.