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.
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.
Upcoming Classes
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.
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.
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.
What People Are Saying
Recent and ongoing work.
A selection of museum classes, workshops, and mentorship from across the practice.
Objects of Reflection
Make a Splash
Portfolio Mentorship
Offsite Launch Workshop
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 →