Visual Art · Every Age · New York City
Learn to see, and to think, like an artist

Art classes, workshops, and one-on-one mentorship, held across the parks, gardens, and museums of New York. Taught by Ileana Lado, a first-generation Cuban-Mexican visual artist and educator from The Bronx who has spent nearly a decade teaching across the city.

This is Artful Learning: building real technical skill, and the creative voice to make it your own. Open to anyone, from first graders to grandparents.

Affiliations & Appointments

A teaching practice rooted in New York's cultural and educational institutions.

Nearly a decade of teaching across the city's museums, public schools, nonprofits, and universities — past and present roles below.

Teaching Artist
Brooklyn MuseumStudio Art Program
Artist-in-Residence · 2026 Cohort
The Basquiat Projectin partnership with NYC Public Schools
Freelance Artist & Educator
Create Humanitya nonprofit organization
Selected Participant · 2026
Columbia UniversityThe Future of Schools Youth Summit
Former · English Language Arts Teacher & Clinical Instructor
East Harlem Scholars Academyin partnership with Hunter College
Former · Lead Middle School Teacher
Academic LeadershipThe Bronx

Upcoming Classes

Adult · Free
Sun June 28 · Brooklyn Museum

Learning to See Like an Artist

Learning with Lado's inaugural group class! A free drawing class for adults and a real introduction to seeing like an artist. We'll cover the five essential skills of drawing and a measuring technique artists have used for centuries. Every step is demonstrated before you try it, so you're never guessing. Then you'll practice by sketching from an object in the galleries. No experience needed. You'll leave with a new way of seeing. Just bring a sketchbook and a pencil. Museum admission not included. RSVP required.

Free · limited to 10
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Family · $35 / person
Sat July 5 · Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Saturday in the Garden: A Family Art Afternoon

A relaxed afternoon making art together among the flowers. Grown-ups and children work side by side using watercolor, looking closely at what's in bloom. We'll cover the 7 elements of art and 5 watercolor techniques. Each step is demonstrated, so no art experience is needed, just a willingness to play. Every material provided. $35 per person — each person attending needs their own ticket.

$35 / person · limited to 16
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Adult · $70
Sat July 11 · Prospect Park

Intro to Watercolor: Seeing Green in Prospect Park

A plein air introduction to watercolor, painting outdoors in the park. This class is about learning to really see what's in front of you — and translate it onto paper. You'll learn the basics of watercolor through five essential techniques, start with a thumbnail sketch, then complete a landscape study based on what you see in Prospect Park. Each step is demonstrated before you try it, so no experience is needed to begin. All materials provided.

$70 · limited to 15
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Kind Words

What People Are Saying

The last day of class.
Featured Work

Recent and ongoing work.

A selection of museum classes, workshops, and mentorship from across the practice.

Brooklyn Museum · Adults
On view now

Objects of Reflection

An adult drawing class at the Brooklyn Museum, where students built the fundamentals through the five essential skills of drawing — edges, spaces, relationships, light and shadow, and the whole — along with composition.

They developed these through gallery sketching, discussion, and studio drawing, then drew a culminating shrine of personal objects meaningful to them. Now on view in the Education Gallery.

Brooklyn Museum · Youth
On view now

Make a Splash

A painting class for elementary students at the Brooklyn Museum, where young artists built confidence while learning the seven elements of art, color theory, and brushwork in both watercolor and tempera.

They learned to draw and paint sea creatures while exploring ocean ecosystems — and how everyone has a role in keeping our oceans clean and addressing climate change. Our takeaway: when nature thrives, we thrive. Now on view in the Education Gallery.

Private Mentorship
Ongoing

Portfolio Mentorship

One-on-one mentorship in two forms: portfolio development for students applying to specialized arts schools like LaGuardia, and open study for anyone wanting to grow in a medium they love.

With focused individual attention, my students have built portfolios of genuinely remarkable work, strong enough to earn them places at the schools they dreamed of.

Corporate Workshop
2025

Offsite Launch Workshop

A painting workshop where 200 creatives gathered to launch Offsite, each contributing to a single large communal artwork.

Using the principles of design as a shared language, participants added to one canvas together — a creative exercise that turned a launch into a moment of community.

Meet Your Instructor

Ileana Lado

A working artist and educator — first-generation Cuban-Mexican, from The Bronx.

Ileana is a practicing multidisciplinary artist whose own work in drawing, painting, printmaking, and photography is rooted in documentation, lineage, and cultural memory. She teaches from inside the practice — not from a textbook — which is what lets her show students how artists actually see, decide, and make.

That artist's eye is paired with nearly a decade in the classroom. She teaches at the Brooklyn Museum and serves as an artist-in-residence with the Basquiat Project in NYC Public Schools, and through Learning with Lado she brings both sides, the artist and the teacher, to small-group classes, one-on-one mentorship, and workshops across the parks, gardens, and museums of New York.

More about Ms. Lado →