Maureen Rose started Community Art Workshop in McKinleyville because she said she saw a need for an art retail store and artists space in that town. Since opening at the start of the year, the Community Art Workshop has offered classes in everything from stained glass to guitar.

Rose put an ad on Craigslist.com asking for artists willing to teach classes and received responses from across the country. She ended up with 40 artists willing to teach.

Rose hit a speed bump though, when not enough people signed up for classes, and she is now having to re-evaluate the way the business is run.

If people want to learn a specific art, she is able to refer them to a person who teaches it, but she will not be advertising so many different classes. She is morphing the space into a cooperative art area where five artists will work and teach. “I have 1,800 square feet, so I have room to support at least five artists working together,” said Rose.

Rose sells art supplies for the classes offered, and some of the business’s revenue comes from that. The art teachers keep the class fee that students pay.

Rose said she wanted to create a place in McKinleyville that provided art education for the disabled, retired, young adults and families, and that “sharing an avenue to create art is a form of expression beyond teaching.”

The classes are geared toward 12-14-year-olds with adult supervision and young teens and adults, but not children. Rose said she has heavy-duty equipment that is not safe for younger children.

Gail Barbash’s whole family takes classes at the Community Art Workshop. Her daughter took a stained glass course, and her husband took a woodworking class.

Barbash said, “It’s been a fun and enriching experience for the whole family. There are so many great classes I don’t know what to take next.

“It’s taken my brain places it’s never been before.”

Barbash said she’s glad the workshop is in McKinleyville. “It’s fun to do things as family.”