Imagine Art Studio Teaches Creativity through Play

Rachel Weaver Rivera believes children learn best through play. 

And play is the foundation for Imagine Art Studio, Rivera’s La Grange Park business that offers creative workshops for children and teachers.

“It’s not about cookie cutter art,” she said. “It’s about children finding out who they are through art.”

Imagine Art Studio began in 2003 as a way for Rivera to fulfill her professional passion while spending more time with her kids after leaving her job coordinating the Artabounds Studio at the Chicago Children’s Museum.

Rivera travels throughout the area leading workshops—everywhere from Chicago Public Schools to the Evanston Center for the Arts—and also opened a home studio last year that serves as a space for children’s classes. Her sessions for teachers help them understand how kids learn through the creative process.

Classes are taught in a variety of media, including paint, tie-dye and paper mache. Rivera bases her philosophy on the Reggio Emilia approach to education, which allows children the freedom to learn through exploration.

There’s no greater joy, she said, than seeing the sense of accomplishment children feel when they leave one of her workshops with a large portfolio of work.

“I love the moment when they explain what they did to their parents,” she said. “I love seeing them proud of what they made.” 

In addition to teaching, Rivera, who has her MFA in painting from the University of Michigan, exhibits her work locally at places such as the West Chicago City Museum and the Hinsdale Public Library. 

Rivera’s parents, a painter and an Episcopalian preacher, helped instill in her early on the joy that can be found through creating. She grew up in a home filled with art materials, which she used in abundance during the long Minnesota winters of her childhood.

“Both of my parents, in their own way, gave me an appreciation for the spiritual and meaningful side of life by engaging with what’s around you,” she said. 

The moments of discovery children experience in Rivera’s studio are just as special for her, she said.

“You can have 10 children doing a drawing of the same thing,” she said. “Each is drawing it in their own magical way. Having that happen in my studio is really wonderful." 

Visit www.imagineartstudio.com for a schedule of upcoming workshops and summer classes, as well as for information about birthday parties.

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