The Drawing Studio Inc

The Drawing Studio is a nonprofit, creative arts organization in Tucson, Ariz. We inspires people of all ages and backgrounds to embrace art practice as a pathway to personal growth and healthy community. We offer affordable, fee-based and free classes and workshops, events and exhibits. We bring widespread awareness to the positive effects of creativity on individuals and the entire community.

Broadly speaking, our services include the:

• Adult Programs, which offers a wide variety of classes in drawing, painting, printmaking, and other media;
• Art of Summer and Art of Spring immersion and school-year arts programs specifically designed for youth and teens ages 7-18;
• Outreach Art Experiences held in libraries throughout the region;
• Free Programming, which integrates instruction in visual art, and other art forms to reconnect people of all ages to artistic expression as a source of healing and strength;
• *NEW* Wellness Wednesdays, a different wellness offering each Wednesday of the month, including Grief Journaling, Meditation, and AcuDetox. 
• Gallery exhibits which reach over a thousand viewers through events at our own studio and at community venues.

Testimonials

"These classes allowed me to feel comfortable trying something new. I loved it, and learned to look at the world differently." -Drawing Fundamentals student

"At The Drawing Studio, no matter what your age or skill level, you are treated as an artist." -Youth Art of Summer student

"At my age, I never thought I'd say something changed my life, but this program has." -Senior Program student

"If someone told me to rate [this] watercolor class from 1-10, I'd give it a 27. It's out of this world fabulous! [Besides the watercolor] people could take this class to learn how to teach art!" - New Watercolor Student

"The Drawing Studio has been an integral part of my development as a person and the expansion of my own consciousness." David Baker

History: Started in 1992 as a small project to offer instruction and fellowship for artists and students outside traditional institutions, the number and diversity of people served by TDS quickly grew. In the early 2000s our philosophy and model became increasingly rooted around community and social change, which included launching an immersion program for underserved teens (later expanded to include younger children) and establishing our first outreach program for isolated seniors unable to access or afford our regular programs.

In years since, we've continued to grow our programs and impact, spurring our main studio move to a larger, more accessible location in midtown Tucson, and to develop satellite sites throughout Southern Arizona. Today, TDS has a transformational opportunity to build on these past successes and thoughtfully take the next steps of our journey.