Enroll · Visit
Come stand in the room.
Tours Tuesdays at 4:00 and Saturdays at 11:00, at any site. No appointment needed, no sales pitch, and you can talk to whichever teacher you want.
- Tours
- Tue 4pm, Sat 11am
- Sites
- All 6
- Cost
- Free
- Booking
- Not required
A website can tell you the ratio is 1:8. It cannot tell you whether your kid will be safe in a room with a table saw. You have to stand in the room. So we made visiting easy and frequent, and we do not require you to pretend you are ready to enroll.
Three ways to visit
No booking needed
A tour
Tuesdays 4:00, Saturdays 11:00, at any site. 30–40 minutes, led by a site coordinator. You will see every room and meet whoever is free.
Read moreDrop in
Open studio
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 5:00–6:00. Sit at a bench, watch, or make something. The least formal option and the one most families choose.
Read moreBook one week ahead
A full shadow day
Your kid spends an afternoon with a group, with your permission and a temporary form. We do this for kids who are nervous, which is very common.
Read moreWhat a tour looks like
You meet at the front desk. We walk the building: labs, workshop, salon, library, courtyard, the Void. We stop wherever something is happening and you can ask the teacher a question directly, which is the part that matters. We do not have a presentation, a brochure, or a donation ask. If you want to see the budget, we will pull it up.
Kids are welcome on tours and usually enjoy them. If your kid is shy, that is fine; they can hang back and watch. Nobody will put them on the spot.
Finding us
The Hawthorne site is at 4210 SE Hawthorne Blvd, on bus lines 14 and 75, two blocks from the Hawthorne Transit Center. Bike parking for 30 bikes and a public repair stand. Street parking is free on the side streets. The entrance is on 42nd, not Hawthorne, and there is a sign that a kid painted.
Book a shadow day
One afternoon, with a temporary form, no commitment. It is the best way to answer “will my kid like it?”