Emma's Art Club Workshops
Clay Bird Ornaments WorkshopSat, Dec 13Davey Farm
Mixed-Media Sculpture ClassSat, Mar 14Davey Farm
Paper Flower Art WorkshopSat, Apr 18Davey Farm
NURTURING CREATIVITY
Emma's Art Club
Our Approach: Nature First, Imagination Always
Emma's Art Club isn't a typical classroom. We start outside—walking through gardens and woods, gathering natural elements that will become art. Kids fill their pockets with leaves, moss, twigs, and stones, already imagining what they'll create.
Why outside? Because being in nature inspires all ages and lets imagination run wild. Children don't spend enough time outside, and I believe they should be outdoors every day of the year. It's not healthy to be inside all the time, and besides, kids need to run around and get their wiggles out before creating.
Then we head into the barn, where kids create right next to the horse stalls. There's always a curious horse head hanging out, wanting to be pet and watch what we're making. The only thing a child needs is their imagination—and permission to use it.
I'm not a big believer in painting inside the lines. Kids choose their own colors, add their own spin to projects, and explore every type of art material: pastels, charcoal, paint, clay, wood, and whatever treasures they found outside. The messier, the better.
I provide a safe place for kids to get messy without worrying about spills or mistakes. Too many children are told to be careful and follow instructions exactly. Not here. Here, they're told to try that wild idea, use that unexpected color, and see what happens.
When children leave Emma's Art Club, they don't just leave with art—they leave with confidence. With dirt under their nails and pride in their chest. With the knowledge that their ideas matter, their colors are valid, and their imagination is exactly right.
That's what art is supposed to do!
The studios aren't pristine, with gallery white walls and rigid rules, but a working farm where animals greet you at the fence, nature is abundant, and makers of all ages are free to explore, discover and create.
Outside the barn kids are welcome to play in the grassy field. Bordering us on the North is a heavily wooded area where I take the kids to forage for mark making tools and collage supplies.
The animals make this place magical. Kids always start at the hen house meeting our chickens and the very vocal rooster. Our mini horse, Crystal, acts just like a big dog, following kids along the fence hoping for pets and treats.
Every season brings new color, new texture, new inspiration. Parents wander these gardens while their children create, finding their own moment of peace among the blooms. After 26 years of building and tending, Davey Farm is exactly what we hoped: a place where creativity and nature meet, where families remember what it feels like to slow down and make something beautiful.
Depending on the season, workshops happen in the barn's studio space or spill outside into the fresh air, always surrounded by the peaceful rhythm of farm life. Children don't just come here to make art—they come to breathe. To pet a horse before picking up a paintbrush. To watch chickens scratch in the dirt while waiting for paint to dry. To feel grass under their feet and see what their hands can create when there's no hurry, no comparison, no screen demanding their attention.
This is art education the way it used to be, and the way it should be: unhurried, joyful, and rooted in the simple truth that children thrive when given space, time, and permission to discover who they are through what they make.
We love Lynne's art classes for kids!
My kiddos are 2, 4, 6 and the activities are always a hit, offering something for each of them. She makes art, something that can be messy and stressful for parents, feel easy, fun and stress free! Highly recommend her classes.
Daniele A.
Before children speak they sing.
Before they write, they paint.
As soon as they stand, they dance.
Art is the basis of human expression.
Phylicia Rashad