Host an Art Exploration Evening
While we count down the days til spring, we’re keeping busy with projects and plans. And while we’re gaining daylight bit by bit in the evenings, the nights start early and we’ve been enjoying hosting friends for various occasions. Today we’re sharing a fun idea for your next gathering, an art exploration evening. Whether or not you think of yourself as a creative or artistic person, exploring art and experimenting with different mediums is for everyone! No matter your interests or background, these evenings can spark all kinds of ideas and creativity in different aspects of your life. Read on for our tips on hosting your own creative evening!
Set up Your Space
Think about how many people you can comfortably hold in your space. You’ll want to make sure everyone has room to spread out their supplies and work. We’ve found a fun way to set up the evening is by arranging a centerpiece or area of focus people can use for their subject matter and inspiration. Collect a variety of objects and textures from your home and arrange in a central place, like the middle of the table. Think vases, flowers, fresh fruits, vegetables, books, candles, a piece of fabric or scarf, small objects, statues, sculptures, bowls. Play around with the arrangement of items. Once you have your subject area finalized you can set up the workspace around it.
Gather Supplies
Are you an artist? Teacher? Painter? Maybe you have cabinets and drawers overflowing with art supplies. If not, think about asking an artistic friend or teacher who might have spare supplies to share. You can stick to one medium for supplies like pencil or watercolor, or go with a variety of supplies. Think pastels, art markers, drawing pens, colored pencils, paint, crayons, even clay! Set up supplies and the correct working surfaces for each medium. Supplies can be spread evenly around the table or at a separate table and you can allow guests to pick and choose what they want to use. Don’t forget to set up space away from the working area for artwork to dry.
Send Invites, Plan Snacks
Think about the guests you’d like to invite to your gathering and send out invites. You can encourage guests to bring art supplies along if they like. Utilize your Events pages in your planner to collect all of the details for your evening. Keep food and drinks simple. Chances are once people begin working, they will be too focused to eat much!
Host Your Party
If you have a background in art, feel free to give an introduction before the evening kicks off or demonstrate using the different mediums if any guests aren’t comfortable. Or simply invite people to dive right in. The point is to explore and feel the freedom to create without worry or criticism. This is all about the process of creation over the final product! As people wind down with work, allow items to dry and offer additional drinks and snacks. If the evening is a success, consider hosting a reoccurring creative night where people can come join and explore together. Brainstorm future evenings where you feature one medium such as collage or watercolor or make one craft or final product like making card or creating gift tags.
We want to hear from you! Have you hosted a creative evening like this? Which mediums were most popular? Have you made it a reoccuring event? Tell us in the comments!