ArtsXchange classes encourage adults to return to play

By Angela Oliver | ArtsXchange Media

EAST POINT, Ga., April 28, 2026 — At ArtsXchange, play isn’t just for children—it’s a practice, a release, and a way back to oneself. This spring and summer, ArtsXchange is launching a slate of adult art classes designed to help people reconnect with creativity, build community, and make space for curiosity again.

The season opens May 14-16 with Paper Quilt Collage, taught by multidisciplinary artist Lisa Tuttle. In this three-session workshop, participants transform photographs, family history, and cultural memory into layered 18”x24” collage quilts, using mixed media techniques. The series concludes with a community hallway exhibition.

In June, Zerric Clinton’s Sneakerheadz: Creative Design allows participants to reimagine their kicks through color, pattern, and personal style for a group showcase, soundtracked by the music that moves them.

Additional classes throughout the year expand the ways adults can engage creativity:

• Heirloom Totems: Intuitive Doll-Making with Jasimine “Agape” Pennywell invites participants to create deeply personal, symbolic figures using upcycled materials and meaningful objects, turning memory into something you can hold.

• The Language of Fabric: Volume II — Inner & Shown, also with Pennywell, uses textile collage to explore the tension and harmony between inner life and outward identity through paired fabric works.

• Reflections in Focus with Chanda Scott guides participants through photography as a tool for storytelling, using light to explore identity, emotion, and growth in a final portfolio series.
  

Across all offerings, ArtsXchange centers accessibility and process over perfection. 

“No prior experience is required, just a willingness to show up and try,” said Tuttle.

Research continues to affirm that creative practice supports mental health, reduces isolation, and activates parts of the brain tied to problem-solving, memory, and emotional regulation. In a time when many adults are stretched thin, spaces for play and making are not indulgent, they are necessary. Class Details (Adults 18+)

• Paper Quilt Collage with Lisa Tuttle — May 14-16 (Thu–Fri, 6–9 pm; Sat, 3–6 pm), $75 (supplies included)

• Sneakerheadz: Creative Design with Zerric Clinton — Saturdays in June, 1-5 pm, $75 (bring your own sneakers)

• Heirloom Totems with Jasimine “Agape” Pennywell — Dates TBA

• The Language of Fabric: Volume II — Inner & Shown — October 20, 22, 27, 29 & 31, 3-6 p.m.

• Reflections in Focus with Chanda Scott — Sept. 8-19 (evenings and Saturday session), times TBA

Registration for Paper Quilts is open now. For more information or to sign up, visit ArtsXchange.org or stop by in person.