January in NYC: Time to Start Your Year With Creativity

Welcome to The Creativity Digest, a monthly newsletter series from Akin! We’re bringing you some of the most interesting creative classes, workshops, events, and pop-ups around New York City every month so that you can find your own creative community.

Photo by Gia Oris on Unsplash

What's New?

Happy New Year from Akin!

We’re so excited for 2025 and we can’t wait to show you what we’ve got in store. A couple things that you can look forward to from us:

More creative guides! Think like “Neighborhood guides (best creative places in tribeca, etc)”. Make sure to follow us on Instagram to read it when they drop!

A revamped website: check out our new homepage! The map of third places, creative studios, art cafes, and more are now front and center. Scroll to the bottom to find the weekly events that we highlight every week!

More in-person and virtual events: our community is growing and we’re thinking about new ways to bring out the creativity in everyone! Stay tuned to our Instagram and Newsletter for the announcements.

---

Creative Happenings

Spark your creativity with a workshop:

January 7th: Join this casual figure drawing session where you can meet and mingle with other creatives, unleash your creativity, and hone your skills in a relaxed atmosphere while sketching a model in various timed poses.($20-25). Living Muses at Lowdown Tattoo in Greenpoint

January 9th: ​Throughout this guided session, you will have the chance to draw three different funky still life setups. You’ll experiment with different drawing mediums and ways of approaching them, focusing on the process rather than the product! ($30). RecCreate Collective in Clinton Hill

January 12th: During this workshop, you will put pen to paper and set intentions specific to your greatest dreams, needs and desires, guided through intentional prompts! ($40) Journaling Classes & artgurl in Williamsburg

January 15th: ​During this silkscreening workshop, you will learn about how silkscreen printing works and print your own design! ($90-100). Studio45 in Bushwick

January 17th or 18th: Spend the day learning the art of monotype - a painterly way to make original images on the printing press!($100). Sidetime Studio in Bushwick

January 22nd: ​Ever wanted to try woodworking? Join this approachable, hands-on event for an intro to hand-tool woodworking! ($49). Recess Grove in Williamsburg

January 26th: ​Spend a cold January evening knitting with some new friends in this Knit Club event! Join at 5PM for an optional knitting lesson if you’re a beginner. ($45 for lesson, $20 without lesson). RecCreate Collective in Clinton Hill

January 28th: ​Grab a friend and come to this figure drawing class where all levels are welcome! You’ll get 1 free drink and all materials included to draw a live model. ($35). Happy Medium in Chinatown

Up-level your creativity with a class series:

January 13th-February 3rd: Join this 4-week course focusing on dream interpretation where you will develop foundational techniques for tracking, understanding, and analyzing dreams, and hone the skills of deep dreaming and lucid dreaming. ($125) Index Space in Chinatown

Every Sunday in January: Feeling stuck and want to tap into your creativity this year? Looking to connect with other creative minds? Join this virtual creative retreat to put some structure behind your creative rituals and shift your mindset from perfection to experimentation! ($380-580) Virtual

January 6th - February 24th: Learn the basic techniques or continue to advance your skills in wheel throwing, trimming, and glazing in this 8 week long course. ($440) La Mano Pottery in Flatiron

Attend a fun creative event:

January 6th: Join this monthly book club meet-up to discuss “The Repeat Room” by modern visionary Jesse Ball. Drinks included with your ticket! ($35+) Bibliotheque in Soho

January 7th or 21st: Want to be creative but never have the time? Join this MakeTime event, a creative meetup for people who are looking to paint, illustrate, draw, or sketch more.(FREE) MakeTime in Lower East Side

January 12th: Unite mind, body, and soul through food and creativity in this dinner event (that is a first in a series!) led by Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Nutrition and Performance Coach Ellin Gurvitch ($95) After Hours Club in Park Slope

January 14th: Enjoy an evening of connection through conversation and personal storytelling. In this StoryTell event, you’ll explore perspectives, curiosities, and personal stories on the theme of "Changing Your Mind". ($23) StoryTell in DUMBO

January 30th: Help FabScrap end commercial textile "waste” by joining their monthly Sip & Scrap event to sort fabric scraps with a drink in your hand! (Donation) FABSCRAP in Sunset Park

---

Support Us!

Do you know of a community-driven creative studio, art cafe, third place, or maker space that isn’t on our directory? Are you a business owner of a community-driven space?

Fill out our form to get the business added to Akin!

Submit a Business here!

Follow us on instagram @discoverakin for the most up to date news & exclusive content. Tag us whenever you do something creative to be featured on our page!

---

Happy creating and thank you for joining us on this creative journey!

Visit Akin to access the directory and learn more about us.

Until next time,

Your Creativity Guides 👨‍🎨