When one steps into the Discover Creative Arts (DCA) space in Townsite Public Market, sun streams through large plate glass windows, there are two pianos, and a room with buckets spills over with recycled materials, art supplies, fabric and natural items.
While the space hosts birthdays and workshops for children, it will also host two upcoming workshops and one online event for qathet region adults.
Beginning February 2, Creative Writing for Seniors is a weekly online creative writing group for people aged 60 years and over, hosted on Zoom. Participants will explore fiction and poetry in a fun, safe space.
Starting February 5, the Gift from the Sea Creative Book Club begins at the DCA space. This weekly in-person, 18-years-plus workshop explores creativity through the book Gift from the Sea by author Anne Morrow Lindbergh.
“My primary focus, within every session, is to create a joyful and inspiring environment in which every person feels safe, relaxed, supported, and has the freedom to access their creativity and authentic self,” said DCA owner and facilitator Lesley Sutherland.
The event that might be most intriguing for adults with little ones is Date Night and the Pajama Club, launching Friday, February 17.
DCA is partnering with Townsite Brewing for a series of Friday evening events where children can be dropped off for a pajama, movie and craft night. Parents can then walk across the street to the brewery and “enjoy happy hour and complimentary kombucha for designated drivers,” said Sutherland.
DCA was opened by Sutherland in a temporary space in September 2019, but last February she moved to the current main floor location. Her inspiration to open the space stems from more than 30 years of teaching art and music.
“I have found that my primary interest lies in what happens to people when they access their creativity, and inspiration takes hold,” she said. “My aim has always been to create situations, and environments in which participants can experience the feeling of liberation that occurs at this starting point.
“I believe if everyone experienced this feeling, everyone would understand the vastness of their potential. We would no longer feel small, unworthy, powerless, disabled. We would be free to be the brave, thoughtful imaginative humans we were born to be.”
Discovery Create Arts is located at 110-5831 Ash Avenue. For more information, go to discovercreativearts.com.
