Art Essential
Empowering Workshops for the Modern Seekers
Signature ART & WELLNESS Experiences
FOR SENIORS & RETIREMENT COMMUNITIES
Cultivating Joy, Connection & Creativity in Retirement Communities.
Experience Meaningful Moments with Art, Wellness & Caring Companionship.
At Art Essential, we believe aging can be a time of vibrant self-expression, healing connection, and joyful creativity.
Our thoughtfully designed Art & Wellness Programs bring light, color, and companionship to seniors living in private residences and luxury retirement communities across Miami.
Whether you're a community manager looking to elevate your residents' lifestyle offerings, or a family member seeking engaging companionship for a loved one, our programs create meaningful moments through art therapy, mindfulness, music, and movement.
Each session is more than an activity; it’s an invitation to reconnect with self, with others, and with the quiet joy of being fully present.
Why Seniors Love our Programs...
Designed with empathy, care, friendly, loving companionship, and meaningful purpose
Facilitated by certified and insured wellness, and creative arts professionals
Tailored for all ability levels and interests
Proven to enhance mental clarity, joy, and personal connections
Available for private residences, one-on-one sessions or group community events
Our team can work hand-in-hand with the community manager to develop customized calendars, holiday events, wellness series, and rotating monthly offerings that keep your residents engaged, inspired, and well cared for.
Let us help you elevate your resident experience program!
Art for the Soul + Guided Creative Sessions
A journey of self-expression, healing, and joyful discovery. No experience needed.
In our Art for the Soul sessions, participants explore painting, collage, drawing, and mixed-media projects in a warm, supportive environment guided by compassionate facilitators trained in art therapy and senior wellness.
These experiences are not only about creating an artwork, they’re about connecting to inner feelings, stimulating the senses, and rediscovering the joy of creation.
Each session is thoughtfully designed to:
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Boost mood and reduce feelings of anxiety, loneliness, or depression
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Enhance hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills through engaging, tactile activities
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Strengthen self-esteem and confidence, especially for those navigating life transitions or memory loss
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Spark personal storytelling through color, form, and intuitive expression
All materials are included, and each session ends with a moment of group or one-on-one reflection, inviting participants to share what their art means to them (only if they wish).
Wellness Components Covered: Art Therapy, Mindfulness, Meditation.
Duration: 1 hr
*Group Rates Available
Self-Guided Meditation With Headphones
Experience a unique twist on the Mindful Art encounter. Simply sit or lay down with your headphones, and immerse yourself in the benefits of meditation. Take a moment to relax and recharge your batteries!
Our advanced binaural audios will seamlessly guide you through a beautiful journey, aiding in centering, focus, and appreciation of our picturesque grounds in a healthy and balancing manner.
Upon completion of this enhanced audio session, you'll emerge feeling rejuvenated, re-energized, balanced, relaxed, and ready like never before!
Our audios cater to individuals of all ages, religions, beliefs, and walks of life.
Wellness Components Covered: Mindfulness, Guided Meditation.
Duration: 1 hr
*Group Rates Available
Storytelling & Memory Sharing Circles
Everyone has a story that deserves to be heard. In these intimate sessions, participants are invited to explore personal memories, reflect on life’s meaningful moments, and craft their legacy through guided storytelling, creative writing, or oral sharing circles.
Ideal for small groups or one-on-one, these sessions foster cognitive stimulation, emotional expression, and intergenerational connection—helping seniors feel seen, heard, and valued.
Includes optional activities like memory collage-making, photo journals, and recorded voice archives.
Wellness Components Covered: Art Therapy, Mindfulness, Meditation.
Duration: 2 hrs - up to 3 guests per class
*Group Rates Available
Art Companions + Creative Companionship Visits
A comforting presence. A creative spark. A new reason to smile.
Our Art Companions offer weekly or bi-weekly visits to seniors in their private homes or residences, combining emotional support, light conversation, and gentle creative engagement such as drawing, crafting, journaling, or simply enjoying music and tea together.
These sessions are a lifeline for independent seniors who may feel isolated, offering connection, joy, and a trusted, caring presence they can look forward to.
Wellness Components Covered: Mindfulness, Guided Meditation.
Duration: 1 hr
*Group Rates Available
Community Enrichment Events & Gallery Walks
Transform your community space into a sanctuary of inspiration and cultural exploration.
From curated art exhibitions and artist meet-and-greets to hands-on workshops, gallery-style events, and themed seasonal experiences, our Community Enrichment programs create vibrant shared moments that stimulate the senses and build deeper bonds among residents.
Each event is fully customized to fit your audience, space, and programming calendar, offering professional facilitation, décor, materials, and promotional support.
Wellness Components Covered: Movement, Mindfulness, Meditation.
Duration: 1 hr
*Group Rates Available
Botanical Art & Nature Meditation
Connect with nature’s healing beauty without leaving your home.
In this multisensory workshop, seniors engage in floral arranging, pressed flower art, and guided nature-inspired meditations that awaken awe and inner calm.
We explore the textures, colors, and stories of plants while practicing presence and creativity.
Participants leave with a handmade botanical artwork and a renewed sense of connection to the natural world.
Perfect for springtime events, memory care programs, and sensory stimulation.
Wellness Components Covered: Mindfulness, Guided Meditation.
Duration: 1 hr
*Group Rates Available
ART EXPRESS
EXPERIENCE
Dip your toes into the captivating Universe of Creativity and embark on a hands-on journey exploring two distinct art disciplines. Together with a companion, you'll craft two unique artworks, immersing yourselves in the rich and diverse world of artistic expression, creativity, while creating something beautiful and meaningful to take back home.
In these 'express' workshops, you'll delve into the design and creation of exquisite art objects through two carefully curated experiences.
Additional to the two stunning pieces you've created, you'll also gain ample knowledge and resources, enabling you to continue producing at home.
This workshop is not just an event; it's an invitation to embrace and possibly continue practicing a newfound art discipline, ensuring your creative journey extends beyond the workshop itself.
Let your creativity flow and discover the joy of artistic exploration!
Art Express Workshops
Choose 2
Each Experience is about 55min long
Every participant brings back home an artwork or created items.
Photography - Create Professional Studio Portraits, Lightning Tips & Product Shots
Candles & Aromatherapy - Create Soy Wax + Aromatherapy Candles Tailored to Your Personal Needs
Mandala & Mindfulness - Coloring a Mandala Artwork for your Home
Ancient Crystals & Artisan Jewelry Making - Learn all about the ancient uses of crystals in diverse cultures, then create your own healing bracelet or necklace
Duration: 2 hrs
*Group Rates Available
Photo Hike
This is a fun and constructive photo class that can be facilitated at any location, some of our favorite places are Deco District, Downtown Miami, Brickell, Coconut Grove, and around the famous Wynwood Walls & Murals!
This workshop offers a unique, fun and informative approach to photography that guarantees you'll improve your photographic skills from this day on.
Learn how to capture and produce better photographs, you'll understand in-depth about image language, composition, how to take proper portraits, frame landscapes, and many other tools that you can remember and apply in the future.
You'll achieve a better understanding of your creative process allowing it to use the tools to communicate better through photographs.
Regardless of your current camera, skill level or previous experience you will learn powerful image-making techniques that will help you improve the use your equipment, handling of light, and visual communication.
For groups, we can also facilitate a photo competition at the end of the day with personal remarks and other engaging dynamics. Ask us how!
Alfonso has over 20 years of experience as Art Teacher and Facilitator. He's also a Fine-Art Photographer, you may learn more about him at atomreflections.com
Wellness Components Covered: Self Empowerment, Mindfulness, Art Therapy, Team Building.
Duration: 2 hours
*Group Rates Available
Block Printing
Make your own Seal
Design, carve and take home your own block of wood like the one in the image, or a stamp, seal or symbol to take back home.
Block printing is one of the most ancient forms of decoration and communication, it has numerous applications. Our focus in this workshop is to help you design and hand-carve your own unique seal or stamp on a special block of wood and rubber.
To participate in this workshop no previous experience is required. You will learn the full process and create up to two stamps per session. Take your blocks home and keep printing!
Wellness Components Covered: Meditation, Mindfulness, Art Therapy, Team Building.
Duration: 1.5 hours
*Group Rates Available
Flotation
Therapy
Deep Relaxation
Enjoy the powerful and relaxing effects of weightlessness while you float effortlessly in our resort or at home pool.
During this session, you'll be floating suspended by two floating noodles while your therapist takes you through a deeply relaxing and smooth ride around the pool, some mild stretches and work on trigger points around the body are also part of this experience. This technique greatly helps to relieve stress, insomnia, and minor pain.
This session must be performed in a quiet water setting, just bring your swimsuit, close your eyes, and enjoy this deeply relaxing and soothing form of bodywork therapy. We also have full body robes that you can use on top of your bathing suit.
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Wellness Components Covered: Flotation Therapy, Mindfulness, Meditation, Shiatsu, and Trigger Point Therapy.
Duration: 1 hour
Painting competition
We divide the group into separate teams, we give each team an easel, a 20x20in canvas, brushes, paint, and we place a sample artwork in the front of the room. Teams compete and do their best to replicate it.
Each team member takes care of completing a specific part of their group painting, for example, one traces the shapes, another one fills in the background, another the skies, and one is the art director.
Everyone enjoys drinks (separate pricing) and energizing music while they draw, paint and complete their artworks. The results from the artworks are very interesting and sometimes very good! No judgments only healthy ‘artistic’ competition all around.
The winner artwork/painting will earn a permanent special placement in your office!
Wellness Components Covered: Art Therapy, Team Building.
Duration: 90-120min
Team up & Paint!
Collage
your
VisionBoard
Collage is one of the core Art Disciplines, it greatly empowers problem-solving skills, develops creative skills and helps to nurture personal expansion. Keep your ideas and goals on a daily check by creating a vision board that is great looking too!
In this workshop, you will take back home a beautiful collage of your own making on a 12x12in canvas. We start with a fun and engaging mind mapping dynamic that will help you define priorities and goals in your daily life, then you'll be provided with thousands of magazine and newspaper cutouts, as well as other collage making materials such as buttons, ribbons, and others to play and design around your board.
You will create an artwork that will empower, elevate and encourage you to follow your dream goals every day, and everywhere your new collage is placed... it will also give you some bragging rights as a Collage Artist.
Wellness Components Covered: Art Therapy, Mindfulness, Self-Empowerment.
Duration: 90-120 min
*Group Rates Available
Personal
Compass
This workshop is designed to help determine your primary directional course and blend with other directions to create a fulfilling artistic journey. Each participant will create a multidirectional journey and an art-piece collaboratively with the group. We will embrace the strength of group dynamic and collaborate with those whose direction differs from our own. Enjoy the path of self-discovery and the artistic aspects of that sojourn.
Many minds create great results. We all see things from our own point of view. Some of us move fast, some move in a methodical manner. Some people focus on a task, some are called by relationship. As we celebrate the value of each viewpoint, we can identify our own direction and bridge to those who prioritize differently.
This is a great team building workshop facilitated by Melissa Adams with positive and constructive palpable results for groups.
Wellness Components Covered: Self Empowerment, Mindfulness, Meditation, Team Building.
Duration: 2.5 hours
Cost: $88 per person
*Group Rates Available
Open Fire
Cookout
Nothing brings people together like food! Even more so when people cook together!
For this workshop we divide the group into separate teams, each team gets an open firewood grill on the beach and get ready to cook their best BBQ dishes to share and enjoy with the rest of the group.
Team members divide their responsibilities between the positions of Executive Chef, Sous Chef, Grill Master, Plate Designer, Food Critic, etc. Depending on the size of the group some team members may focus on creating their best salads, appetizers, entrees, and/or desserts. A mixologist drink station can be also set up in order to feature the talents of any aspiring bartenders in the group.
We'll have all the cooking ingredients and hardware needed on-site and ready to rock!
Wellness Components Covered: Cooking Fun, Team Building.
Duration: 120-180min
A Team-Building Culinary Experience
Fun flex 4 alL®
for Couples & Groups
Grab a partner, have fun and learn new ways to connect through this ancient, easy to learn, and very healthy evolutions of progressions.
Inspired by traditional Thai Yoga Massage movements, this workshop teaches you and your partner how to implement some of the basic stretches and compressions from
both, ancient, and modern Bodywork techniques.
Guests are fully dressed on top of a blanket, on the lawn or a massage table, the
facilitator takes each couple through diverse stretch movements, protocols, and flows so they may continue to practice back home. Anyone can enjoy this workshop regardless of any previous bodywork or yoga experience, all flows are easily adapted for each guest.
By the end of this session, everyone will feel relaxed, rejuvenated, and ready for the next Fun & Flex for All® trade between themselves!
Wellness Components Covered: Art Therapy, Mindfulness, Meditation, Team Building.
Duration: 60min
*Group Rates Available