Art Workshops for Tenderhearted + Creative Kids & Teens

Helping young artists connect with God, express their hearts, and see the world with love
September–November 2025 | Weekly 90-minute sessions | $50/class

In a world of overwhelming distraction and digital pressure, children and teenagers need places where they can slow down, create, reflect, and feel safe being themselves.

This fall, Listening House is thrilled to be offering two weekly art workshop series for young people who are deeply creative, tender-hearted, and spiritually attentive. Each intimate group will meet in Kaysie’s backyard art studio and garden designed to inspire wonder, safety, and connection.

Kaysie Strickland is an artist, spiritual director, trauma-informed guide, and gentle facilitator. These workshops blend art-making, prayer, and playful attention to help young people process their emotions, encounter God’s nearness, and grow in creative confidence and wonder.

For Grades 3–7:

The Looking Closer Art Club

A gentle, joyful space to make art, practice noticing, and wonder about God

Children are natural artists and noticers. In The Looking Closer Art Club, we’ll practice how to slow down and see the world with wonder—through color, texture, nature, and the stories unfolding in their hearts.

Each week includes:

  • Hands-on art projects using clay, paint, collage, and found objects

  • Reflective moments rooted in simple spiritual practices

  • An invitation to express what they’re feeling and seeing

  • A safe, nurturing space for creative play and friendship

This class is ideal for children who feel deeply, ask thoughtful questions, and thrive when their imagination is honored and guided.

For 8th–12th Grade Students

Meaning Making: Art Workshop for Teenagers

A spacious place for teens to explore creativity, emotion, and faith through abstract art

Teenagers carry a lot—often quietly, often alone. Meaning Making is a 12-week art workshop where high schoolers can show up as they are, engage with visual journaling and abstraction, and learn how creativity can become a tool for self-expression, healing, and connection with God.

Each week includes:

  • Studio-style abstract projects and creative prompts

  • Gentle reflection practices that help teens process emotions and spiritual questions

  • Trauma-informed facilitation that honors each student's story

  • A grounded environment where they are seen and safe

This is a space for teens who are longing to be honest, to explore, and to make meaning through the act of creating.

More Details

Location: Backyard art studio & garden in Belvoir/Brainerd Area In Chattanooga, TN

Schedule: Weekly 90-minute sessions (September–November)

Tuition: $50 per class, $600 total for all three months (includes all materials + personal sketchbook) Payment plans available.

Group Size: Small and intimate — space is limited

Facilitator: Kaysie Strickland, artist, spiritual director, trauma-informed, and facilitator

Why These Workshops?

I believe every child deserves:

  • A space to feel safe, seen, and spiritually nurtured

  • Creative tools to process life in ways words sometimes can’t

  • Gentle guidance from a compassionate, grounded adult

  • A sacred invitation to meet God through beauty and imagination

Ready to join?

Spots are limited and filling soon!
Click the interest form link under the age group of your student to share your interest and receive more information on scheduling and registration.

I can’t wait to welcome your child into a space of wonder, expression, and grace.

Meet Kaysie

Hi, I’m Kaysie—an artist, spiritual director, and former art teacher who believes in the healing power of creativity and the sacredness of paying attention. I live in Chattanooga, TN, with my two little boys and a very large garden, where we spend our days collecting tiny treasures, making things with our hands, and practicing wonder.

Over the years, I’ve worked as a classroom art teacher, nonprofit founder, retreat curator, and companion for those walking through grief, transition, or spiritual longing. I’m trauma-informed and trained in spiritual direction, and I carry a deep care for tenderhearted kids and teens—especially those who feel deeply, think imaginatively, and long for a space to express all that’s stirring inside.

I began painting as a way to pray when words didn’t come easily. Now, I create art and teach others to create as a way to notice God’s presence, feel our feelings, and uncover the beauty tucked into ordinary life. My workshops are spacious, playful, and safe—an invitation for young people to show up as they are, make meaning through art, and know they are deeply loved.

Whether we’re painting, collaging, journaling, or making something messy in the garden studio, I hold each class with intention, compassion, and joy.

I’d be honored to welcome your child into one of my creative spaces.