Creative Arts

We’re making sun catcher wind chimes! $10 per person & includes a beverage. Come by or sign up on website.

Join us for Monday morning coffee, crafting and conversation! Bring what ever portable project you are working on. If you are new to the craft there are usually folks to help you learn. There are a variety of coffee and tea items and a tiny selection of pastry items. Pineview Coffee Company is a small yet spacious coffee shop on the 1st floor inside the Aspen Lake Amenity building. There is only a small sign by the door that has the name of the coffee shop so it can be a little challenging to find. Hope to see you there! PS unofficially part of this group meets here every Monday so come what ever week you can.

We are posting y’all’s websites since these may be difficult times: Andrea: wwwxoxoammo.com Andrea: www.redstorkart.com Britnee: https://wwwetsy.com/shopCity/andFlowerCollage Bryana: www.bryanaflemimg.com Cheryl: https://cherylannrussel.com Chrissy: https:www.OceanPhoenixArt.com Claire: www.CLAIREKENNEDY.com Chrystal: righteouszombie.etsy.com Cynthia: www.creativeimagesbycynthia.com David: davidcarllang.com Dawn: Dawn winter art.com Erwin: atxartists.com Geoff: www.goeffminger.com Hannah: Gypsyrevolutions.com Hunter: https://hunterwilkins.herokuapp.com Ida: idamasidemaria.ca Jason: https://www.Galaxyartentgal.com Jay: www.junesphotos.com Leslie: LeslieKell.com Makara: www.playwithpigments.com Marissa: @chroma_note Mark: aecdraftinghub.com Mark: http://artpal.com/eyeopeningmedia Mirium: www.wyldesoulphotography.com Monika: https://www.monikaastara.com/ Paul: paulmcguireart.com Ralph: www.lostoak.com Ray: www.facebook.com/abstractcolor Savannah: https://savannahcordova.com/ Shalinee: @colorsmishmash SusannaLee: www.SusaLeena.com Tony: https://antonioarmandocarmonaiii.godaddySites.com Please contact Marlene if you would like your website posted.

Back by popular demand: **The Secret Meetup**, a (hopefully) semi-monthly board game night at The Secret Lantern Books & Games in Cedar Park! It’s called The Secret Meetup, so you probably shouldn’t tell anyone 🤫 *(…but you should absolutely tell people though)*. We’re a safe, friendly, inclusive, and diverse group. New players are always welcome — we’re happy to teach games and help you find a table. 🕕 Games start at 6:00 pm and go until 10:00 pm. 📅 Monday, April 6. We're working with the hosts to set up a firm recurring schedule--stay tuned for more info. 📍The Secret Lantern Books and Games in Cedar Park. Housed in a former bank, this shop is now the very definition of “cozy.” Think comfy upholstered furniture, warm lighting, and tucked-away corners, perfect for settling into a long game. And yes — there’s a Vault Room, complete with massive steel door and spinning wheel handle, now reborn as one of the coolest places around to plot your next heist— err, *move*. ⏰ Good to know: • You’re welcome to arrive earlier to hang out or play, but games will *definitely* start at 6:00 pm. • The store opens at 10:00 am — if you want to make a whole game day of it, leave a comment! • Coffee drinks and light food are available for purchase at the store — please support our host venue. 🎲 What to bring: • Your favorite board games (optional) • Or just bring yourself — there’s always room to join in Whether you’re brand new to board games or a seasoned player, come roll some dice, learn something new, and enjoy a great Monday night with awesome people.

Join us for The Secret Meetup, a semi-monthly board game night at The Secret Lantern Books & Games in Cedar Park! It’s called The Secret Meetup, so you probably shouldn’t tell anyone 🤫 (…but you should absolutely tell people though).
​
We’re a safe, friendly, inclusive, and diverse group. New players are always welcome — we’re happy to teach games and help you find a table.
​
🕕 Games start at 6:00 pm and go until 10:00 pm.
​
📅 First meetup: Monday, March 9. This is a pilot, so potentially every other Monday after that!
​
📍The Secret Lantern Books and Games in Cedar Park. Housed in a former bank, this shop is now the very definition of “cozy.” Think comfy upholstered furniture, warm lighting, and tucked-away corners, perfect for settling into a long game. And yes — there’s a Vault Room, complete with massive steel door and spinning wheel handle, now reborn as one of the coolest places around to plot your next heist— err, move.
​
⏰ Good to know:
• You’re welcome to arrive earlier to hang out or play, but games will definitely start at 6:00 pm.
• The store opens at 10:00 am — if you want to make a whole game day of it, leave a comment!
• Coffee drinks and light food are available for purchase at the store — please support our host venue.
​
🎲 What to bring:
• Your favorite board games (optional)
• Or just bring yourself — there’s always room to join in
​
Whether you’re brand new to board games or a seasoned player, come roll some dice, learn something new, and enjoy a great Monday night with awesome people.

Come play pickleball and make new friends at Pickleland! 🏓 \*\*\* **Important: Please sign up on the Pickleland App ([iOS](https://pickleland.com/ios) \| [Android](https://pickleland.com/android)) or [website](https://play.pickleland.com) directly.** \*\*\* We divide our open play by levels! 😄 (All levels welcome!) If you've never played, come and learn the rules! We have other beginners join us every day. You don't need a paddle, we have some you can rent ($10)! If you are an avid player, come and find some nice and friendly competition. If this time doesn't work for you, we are open M-F 8am to 10pm, and Sat-Sun 8am-8pm. Find other times on the Pickleland App ([iOS](https://pickleland.com/ios) \| [Android](https://pickleland.com/android)) or [website](https://play.pickleland.com). The website and app will show the most accurate roster and sign up count! Follow [@picklelandatx](https://www.instagram.com/picklelandatx/) for more! **⭐️ Come see why we were recently named the "Best Pickleball Club" in Austin by Austin Pickleball Update and 750+ other players!**

Come draw with us at our monthly meeting at Gong Cha (RR 620 location). This is a casual drawing meetup for anyone who likes to create art/draw, no matter their experience level.

Make sure to come prepared with something to draw/illustrate with, which can include: tablets, paper and pencil, sketchbooks, notepads, paint (ex. watercolor), markers, colored pencils, etc. There is no theme; just come out and have fun! While at the event, it is *not* mandatory but encouraged to purchase an item to support Gong Cha’s hospitality. Thank you! ☺️

(Rescheduled from April 4 due to weather) Handmade products from local vendors, live music& entertainment, delicious food items, family activities. Connect with neighbors & like minded individuals.

Connect with other artists, creatives, technologists, and entrepreneurs working at the intersection of art, tech, and AI. **April’s Topic: Protecting Your Creative Voice in an AI World** In a world of fast and easy generation, your unique voice as an artist matters more than ever. In this session, we'll dive into the topics of building a brand and staying true to your values and ethics: how to talk about AI with your audience, where to draw the line, and how to protect the integrity and originality of your creative work. We'll reserve plenty of time for an open group discussion addressing important questions such as: * How do you address AI in your creative business without undermining perceived value or originality? * What are your non-negotiables (where will you not use AI at all in your workflow)? * What ethical and/or legal concerns are most pressing for independent artists and creative businesses? **What to Expect:** 
We'll bring beverages, ice breakers, and discussion prompts to get the conversation flowing. You bring your thoughts, experiences, and viewpoints. ACE meetups are a warm, collegial, and inviting space. All backgrounds, disciplines, and levels of experience will be respected and given space to express their perspectives, opinions, and concerns about the current state and future of the arts, AI, and technology. **Flow of Events:**
 6:15p: Doors Open
 6:30-6:45p: Network & Mingle 6:45p-8:00p: Presentation & Group Discussion
 8:00p-8:15p: Network, Mingle, & Connections 
8:15p: Clean Up **Where:**
 We’ll be in Padawan on the 5th floor of Station Austin, which is located inside the Omni Hotel in downtown Austin. Once inside the Omni, head to the elevators near the security desk in the lobby area outside of Station Austin. Take the elevators to the 5th floor and look for the room "Padawan." **Parking:**
 You can park streetside (metered) or inside the garage under the Omni Hotel. Station Austin will validate parking in the Omni Garage to the reduced rate of $8 if you arrive after 5p and leave before 10p. **Membership Not Required:**
 Meetups are free and open to the public. All are welcome. You do not need a Station Austin membership to attend. **Supported By:**
 Thank you to Station Austin for sponsoring ACE meetups. Station Austin is the center of gravity for entrepreneurs in Texas. They meet the best entrepreneurs in the state and introduce them to their first investors, employees, mentors, and customers. To sign up for a Station Austin membership, [click here](https://capital-factory.officernd.com/signup?office=5d1bcda0dbd6e40010479eec).

Tired of small talk and today's atomized culture? Longing to expand creatively in a community that encourages big dreams, growth, and change? Want to find your voice and support others as they find themselves too? Welcome! The Creative Friendship Lab encourages people from all walks of life to explore the rich emotional and social world around them, while pursuing individual and shared creative projects. Our Lab invites both serious artists and just-budding amateurs to come enjoy our events and experiments! This group is a project by *Difficult Friends*: [Website](https://www.difficultfriends.com/) ⟡ [Substack](https://difficultfriends.substack.com/) ⟡ [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/difficultfriends/) **This Week's Writing Workshop** This week, we'll be meeting at Central Market at 2 PM on April 12th to explore the themes of *emotion, memory, and color*. From Taylor Swift's *Red* to Frank Ocean's *Channel Orange*, the long-sought white whale of Moby-Dick to *The Bluest Eye* of Toni Morrison, color speaks to all of us through the subtle language of sense and reminiscence. Come join us in channeling what you see into words for what you feel. [This event is a prelude to next week's Sunday book club on color, in which we'll be reading ](https://www.meetup.com/creative-friendship-lab/events/313987831/?eventOrigin=group_upcoming_events)*[Bluets](https://www.meetup.com/creative-friendship-lab/events/313987831/?eventOrigin=group_upcoming_events)* [by Maggie Nelson. It's a beautiful, short work that links 240 poignant memories of lost love through the color blue. ](https://www.meetup.com/creative-friendship-lab/events/313987831/?eventOrigin=group_upcoming_events) The rough structure of our workshop will be as follows: * Saying hello to each other * Introducing the writing prompt * Independent free-writing * Sharing a couple lines from your writing in small groups * Doing a special closing-out exercise as a big group Thank you in advance for contributing your unique perspective to our workshop! Whether you’re just starting to explore your own creativity or you’ve been committed to it for decades, we hope you’ll join us in welcoming all members of this community in a spirit of vigorous encouragement, thoughtful engagement, and empathetic open-heartedness. \*\*\* ***[Difficult Friends](https://www.difficultfriends.com/)*[: Uniting Creative Friendship Lab x Dissent School](https://www.difficultfriends.com/)** There are things that can only happen between people who are genuinely present to each other. Not performing, not managing, not carefully calibrating what they show. Wholehearted creative collaboration is one of them. Real intellectual encounter is another. The kind of friendship that actually sustains people through difficulty is a third. Difficult Friends organizes two volunteer-run grassroots projects in Austin: [Creative Friendship Lab](https://www.meetup.com/creative-friendship-lab/) and [Dissent School](https://www.meetup.com/dissent-school). Our mission is to develop in members: (1) creative confidence, (2) intellectual independence, and (3) the subtle skills needed to form close friendships. We think it’s good to be a [Difficult Friend](https://difficultfriends.com/). Friendship itself is difficult to the degree that it is both genuine and built across difference. You will find our events creatively and intellectually challenging. They will put you in touch with people in ways that are energizing but unfamiliar. *But Difficult Friends are friends worth having.* Follow us on [Substack](https://difficultfriends.substack.com/) or [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/difficultfriends/) to get access to all our events. And please consider donating to us through our Meetup page. It really makes a difference. **Creative Friendship Lab's Session-Based Structure** This is a group designed to incubate close creative friendships. We run themed sessions that last 2-4 weeks of small, interconnected workshops and events. If you come to our sessions, you will get to know your creative cohort very well over a short time period. You will do cool work and make new friends who like to write, draw, take photos, etc. Your session cohort will also have the opportunity to join a Signal thread just for people in that session. The link will only be shared at in-person events for that session. And the thread will be closed and archived after the session ends. The session thread is designed to let people from the session keep in touch during their workshop period. The thread closes to encourage people to carry out individual connections away from the pressures of a continuing group dynamic. However, each event will also be able to stand on its own! So you should feel free to come by whenever, regardless of your attendance at prior events. We welcome first-timers always :-) Members are free to drop in and out of the Lab. We encourage everyone to feel a sense of freedom and lightness while doing as much or as little with the community as they please. **Creative Friendship Lab's Guiding Principles** “I am made and remade continually. Different people draw different words from me.” ― Virginia Woolf, *The Waves* “In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets.” – C.S. Lewis, *The Four Loves* "Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. I use the word ‘love’ here not merely in the personal sense but as a state of being, or a state of grace—not in the infantile American sense of being made happy but in the tough and universal sense of quest and daring and growth.” — James Baldwin, *The Fire Next Time* "Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." — Anaïs Nin, *The Diary of Anaïs Nin* **Statement of Welcome and Inclusivity** The Creative Friendship Lab is for everybody! We are an inclusive community space, and we particularly seek to protect and welcome our LGBTQIA+, queer, transgender, and nonbinary members. Event attendees may be asked to share their preferred pronouns and will be asked to respect the preferred pronouns shared by other participants. Women, immigrants, people of color, religious minorities, people with disabilities, and neurodivergent folks seeking a diverse community are also especially encouraged to attend! That said, no particular identity performance is needed, desired, or expected from participants in our Lab. Come as you are and know you have a seat at our table, no matter how life has brought you into our community. **Empowering All Members to Lead** Creative Friendship Lab is a volunteer-run organization focused on encouraging members' creative confidence. Towards that end, we value all our members not only as attendees and followers, but also as continually developing community leaders. [Please click on this link for an overview of this organization's skill-based path to leadership development](https://docs.google.com/document/d/14AezcXqTm2i4abJiUx68r8goXMuKEMqWuzZs5nO_3vQ/edit?usp=sharing). The Leadership Skill Tree covers everything from the powers of one-time event attendees to instructions for becoming a Co-Organizer in our community. We also offer an all-member feedback form. Please take advantage of it, knowing your feedback is important, helps us improve, and will be collected anonymously: https://forms.gle/rxP7J2XLqcZrLpwVA **Supporting Our Community** Most of our events are offered on a donation basis to minimize financial barriers. Please consider making a donation if you would like to contribute to our mission, allow us to offer more meaningful events, and help defray the costs of our [meetup.com](http://meetup.com) hosting fees. Or not! We appreciate the many ways in which everyone contributes to our community, whether via financial or other means—simply by showing up and being kind, you are doing a good thing :-) **About Me (Personally)** I'm a writer living in Austin with my dog, Cookie. If you're interested in following my thoughts, you can find me at https://substack.com/@rachelsummercheong I love long essays, fiction, and philosophy. I also like to draw and go out dancing.

Features booths with arts& crafts, jewelry, unique clothing, woodcrafts, ironworks, festive foods, collectibles, stained glass, & music all day. Also check out quaint shops & restaurants in the area.

Saturday In-Person Writing Session – Join Us! Join us every Saturday at 9 AM for a live writing session at Lamppost Coffee on E Main in Round Rock. Whether you're diving into your novel, working on a short story, or just looking to get some words on the page, this is a welcoming space for writers of all kinds. * Drop in anytime during the session * Get feedback, give feedback, or just write * Say hello and meet fellow local writers Interested in organizing a future write-in, attending a writing conference, or submitting to a flash fiction contest? Let us know! We’re always looking for new ways to support our writing community and sharpen our craft. **Lamppost Coffee** 201 E Main St #101, Round Rock, TX 78664 If you don't see us at the big table in the front, check in the back room! See you on Saturday!

Come join us for a fun night out with drinks, dinner and new friends! We’ll hangout, watch sports, play games, converse and have a great time. Feel free to bring your friends with you and we’ll see you there! Disclaimer: The host of this event and meetup are not liable for any injuries, loss of funds, or any type of unfortunate event that happens to any attendees of the meetup.

FREE event [https://www.ccad.edu/chroma](https://www.ccad.edu/chroma) Friday, May 16, 3–7 p.m. CCAD campus, 60 Cleveland Ave, Columbus, OH Join Columbus College of Art & Design for *2025* *Chroma: Best of CCAD*, our annual campuswide exhibition showcasing outstanding student work from across the college’s academic programs. This faculty-juried show features select work from CCAD students of all class years, and is a can’t-miss end-of-year campus celebration recognizing their tremendous achievements. It’ll be a night of fun and entertainment, with interactive games, animation and film screenings, art symposiums, poetry and prose readings, and more (along with some of the best local food trucks). *Chroma* is free and open to all. Many exhibitions including... **Game Art & Design:** **DSB, first floor, Welcome Center lobby and Room 115**

**This month’s Creativity Circle is very timely. We will be making our own craft snowflakes out of paper, coffee filters, popsicle sticks, sparkles and more! Bring the snowy season inside without the wet and cold. All ages welcome, show up as you can, bring a friend or a few if you would like to! Excited to see you there! Seats Limited. Held at the Westerville Public Library Meeting Room B.**

Welcome to the Art School - 20's & 30's artists Meetup group! This is a community for young artists who are passionate about exploring different mediums and techniques in the world of art. Whether you're a painter, sculptor, photographer, or mixed media artist, this group is the perfect place to connect with like-minded individuals, have a space to work on your craft, and showcase your work. Let's inspire and support each other on our artistic journeys! Whether you're a novice or a seasoned artist, all skill levels are welcome. Join us and unleash your creativity! This month we will be discussing **Frank Santoro**, an American cartoonist, painter, and comics critic known for his expressive lines, experimental page layouts, and vibrant use of color. His graphic novels—including *Storeyville*, *Pompeii*, and *Pittsburgh*—blend personal storytelling with innovative visual structure, often exploring memory, place, and relationships. In addition to his comics, Santoro has been an influential voice in comics education and criticism, co-founding the magazine *ComicsComics* and creating the **Santoro Correspondence Course for Comic Book Makers**, which has helped train and inspire a new generation of cartoonists. Afterwards, we will have time to work on our individual art projects, hang out, and if anyone is interested in feedback on their work, there will be time for that as well.

AI is changing how art is made. But when does it stop being your work and start being the machine’s? This month we're going to be doing a panel with with digital image, music, and written word artists, talking about at what point, while using AI in the creation process, does the work become not the artist creation? We encourage audience participation during this event that will be moderated by Chris Slee. Whether you’re deep in the field or just getting curious, come connect with others building and exploring AI in Columbus. Sponsored by [Transform Labs](https://www.transformlabs.com/services)

NFT's are here to stay folks! This is a group for like minded people interested in understanding, leveraging, using, creating for, profiting from, trading too i suppose, NFT's.. everything around them, complexity, fear and exploits, best practices and more. **PLUS** This group will talk AI ART tools, techniques, artists, video, audio, prototypes and more in the AI assisted production space- ART specifically, but we can get into any aspect of some of the cooler things happening in AI in general.