Planting Mesmerisms: Drawing Course on Mindfulness - Senior Series

Garfield Park Conservatory has teamed up with Katia Pérez Fuentes to offer an 8 week in-person drawing & color exploration art class for individuals age 55+.

This class incorporates meditation techniques to promote deep states of relaxation across our mind, body, and spirit; a mindfulness approach to drawing as a tool for expanded awareness.

Participants will incorporate drawing and painting practices to create a visual language inspired by the surrounding environment. During our class, we will play with water-soluble colors as our main medium. We’ll learn some techniques based on figurative realism and work with our favorites to connect with the unconscious imagination through abstraction. Katia KPF will guide us along various exercises that explore color, texture, and movement. This class is all about releasing and intention building with the rhythms of nature. We'll be observing the cycle of the moon as a marker of our time together.

This workshop is intended for our neighbors age 55+. All skill levels and abilities are welcome. We are bilingual friendly; meaning these sessions can potentially be facilitated in English, Spanish, or both languages based on the need. By the end of this course, we will showcase our favorite pieces in a private pop-up for the artists and their loved ones at the gardens.

This course will take place Tuesday mornings, for 8-weeks through June and July on the following dates:

June 7, 14, 21, 28

July 5, 12, 19, 26

Culminating Event: TBD by Students

Class Price:

General Registration $240

Volunteer/Member Registration $192

Materials: Thanks to the support of E.A. Michelson Philanthropies, all supplies are covered for students in this class!

Scholarships are available! Please fill out the or contact Sara Cortes at [email protected] for more details

Please read our updated Covid-19 protocols (link opens in a new tab).

Accommodations: When you register for this workshop you will be asked to provide any accommodations requests. If you have any questions or would like to request an additional accommodation, please contact Mattie Wilson at [email protected], at least 72 hours prior to the event start.

Teaching Artist Bio:

KATIA PÉREZ FUENTES is a creative problem solver working in the fields of visual arts and culture. They're passionate about opportunities for self-actualization through leisure and see it as one of the most valuable uses of our time. Pérez creates experiences for active engagement in 'rest, play, ritual, celebration, and learning' as ways to consciously enhance our quality of life outside of capitalist constraints. KPF identifies as a queer, brown, non-binary Mexican American migrant of mixed-indigenous descent. They are a community builder with a radical intersectional lens and antiracist framework. Pérez has over six years of experience leading equity strategies as an organizer, program facilitator, public arts manager, and museum professional with ties to Albuquerque, Chicago, and beyond.

KPF has been professionally trained in the metaphysical arts of cosmobiology, hypnosis, and energy work. In recent years, they have studied with the Oraculos School of Astrology, lead by Uranian & Renaissance Master Mychal A Bryan; The Divine Feminine School of Hypnosis with author & Clinical Practitioner, Shauna Cummins; and Introductions to Mesoamerican Curanderismo by Shaman & Spiritual Alchemist, Erika Buenaflor. Perez is a first-generation college graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Registration Closes June 3rd 2022

This program is made possible in part by E.A. Michelson Philanthropy, The MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince, Illinois Arts Council, DCASE and Arts Midwest.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Garfield Park Conservatory, 300 N. Central Park Ave., Chicago, United States