art-centered team building
Leveraging creative play to cultivate genuine connections
Hands-on, highly collaborative, fun, and memorable team building events in NW Portland.
Whether you’re painting, layering, or trading miniature masterpieces, our art workshops are designed to break down silos and get people talking, laughing, and creating together.
Guided by Erika Halperin, an expert facilitator with both an MFA and an MBA, your team will enjoy a unique, memorable experience designed to spark curiosity and build lasting connections.
Choose from one of our curated workshops or work with us to customize a session tailored to your team’s unique goals.
art workshops
Choose from one of the following pre-designed art workshops and
get ready for a truly unique and memorable experience!
Revelation of the Divine Pigments
Hands-on, guided exploration of a variety of art supplies including watercolor, gouache, pastels, charcoal, colored pencils, and more! Everyone leaves with either a concertina book or stack of notecards cut from the abstract art created from exploring the various pigments.
Collaborative Infinite Collage
Collaboratively-made giant collages are cut into pieces then randomly distributed to all participants. Using these pieces, along with other collage materials, participants then individually create mid-sized collages. These mid-sized collages are then cut into 2.5″ x 3.5″ cards and embellished one final time before being traded within the group as Artist Trading Cards. Everyone leaves with 20-25 miniature collages.
Sacrament of Surrender
High-energy, collaborative mark-making with participants moving around the room adding colorful mixed-media marks to large pieces of watercolor paper in response to verbal prompts. This results in collaboratively made abstracts which are then cut into strips and randomly distributed. Participants connect these strips to make concertina-books with custom-painted covers. The verbal prompts can be customized to align with team themes/subject matter (see customized corporate event pricing).
Contemplative Portrait
Participants are guided through an abstracted re-creation of either a self-portrait or the portrait of a pet or loved one using three different methods: blind contour, paper mosaic, and continuous line (with a fun twist!).
Imaginary Maps
Participants dump piles of beans & rice onto paper then trace the outline to create a map of a fictitious land. Participants then fill in map details such as rivers, streams, mountains, roads, buildings, etc., using a variety of art materials. Can be done as one large collaborative map, small group maps, or as individual maps.
“Exquisite Corpses”
The results of this collaborative activity always surprise and delight! Folded sheets of paper are passed around for people to add collage and/or colored pencil as they blindly continue the art from previous sections. Only once all folded sections are complete is the entire page then opened to reveal the whole.
The Beauty of a Still-Life
Guided drawing/painting session using a variety of still-life set-ups.
FAQ
What if my team isn’t “creative”?
That’s ok! Your team members do not need any artistic experience to have fun and get value from Church of Art’s Team Building activities.
We’ve seen even the most stoic and initially-resistant team members completely throw themselves into our engaging activities!
At Church of Art we focus on process over perfection, low-pressure guidance, and making art both fun and accessible for all team members.
“Can I customize one of these activities to be more aligned with my company or team?”
Yes!
Church of Art’s art workshops can be tailored to your unique group andcircumstances by incorporating team themes, industry subject matter or even inside jokes.
We can even create art that reflects your specific industry.
Pricing reflected in Customized Team Event pricing below; Erika will work with you on the details.
Pre-designed team-building art workshop
$900
Mon – Thurs
$1050
Fri – Sun
3-4 hour art workshop
Includes up to 12 attendees (see note below for additional attendee pricing)
- Events begin no earlier than 9am and end no later than 9pm
- Party duration: 3-4 hours (will depend on selected art activity and number of attendees)
- Includes guided art activity of your choice (from list above)
- All materials & supplies included
- Includes non-alcoholic beverages and snacks.
- No hidden fees: Pricing includes party duration and time for standard set-up and breakdown
For more than 12 attendees:
13-16 people: additional $75 per additional person above 12.
17-20 people additional $125 per additional person above 16.Max attendees at Church of Art is 20. For more than 20 attendees, an outside venue will be needed (see pricing below).
Customized team-building art workshop
$1500
available any weekday plus weekends
2-4 hour art workshop
Up to 12 attendees (additional attendees can be added at additional cost)
- Events begin no earlier than 9am and end no later than 9pm
- Party duration: 3-4 hours (will depend on selected art activity and number of attendees)
- Includes guided art activity of your choice (from list above)
- All materials & supplies included
- Includes non-alcoholic beverages and snacks.
- No hidden fees: Pricing includes party duration and time for standard set-up and breakdown
For more than 12 attendees:
13-16 people: additional $75 per additional person above 12.
17-20 people additional $125 per additional person above 16.Max attendees at Church of Art is 20. For more than 20 attendees, an outside venue will be needed (see pricing below).
Venue of your choice
ALL CORPORATE EVENTS AND TEAM BUILDING WORKSHOPS ARE HELD IN THE CHURCH OF ART STUDIO AT NW UPSHUR AND 18th in PORTLAND.
To CHANGE VENUE, add pricing below to base workshop cost shown above:
- Actual travel time to and from Church of Art studio and selected venue ($75/hr)
- Packing & unpacking of supplies/materials (at both COA and venue) ($75/hr)
- Set-up & break-down of workshop space ($75/hr)
- Venue rental fees (if applicable)
- Furniture rental fees (if applicable)
- Additional insurance costs (if applicable)
- Any other mutually-agreed upon rental or purchase fees.
*Workshops held in a venue other than the COA studio do not include food or beverages.
*Event organizer may hire a caterer but Church of Art does not coordinate details or payment (COA will join an initial planning call with organizer and caterer to confirm space, availability, access, and other logistics)
*Event-specific decor may be provided by event organizer or by COA at an additional cost to be agreed-upon in advance.
Please note that Church of Art designs and delivers creativity workshops but is not a general event-planning service provider. Depending upon your needs and the complexity of your event, you may find it helpful to hire an event planner to handle coordination of details and logistics across all areas of your event.
about your event facilitator
Erika Halperin is a visual artist and workshop facilitator who founded the Portland, Oregon workshop studio, Church of Art, in June 2025. After a lifetime of art making as well as 20 years of business consulting, Erika is equal parts creative-thinker, problem solver, community builder, and strategist.
Erika holds both an MFA and an MBA and has provided consulting services to organizations such as Metro Regional Government, PepsiCo, Genentech, Charles Schwab, FedEx, Zimmer Biomet, Western Union, GameStop, and many others.
Erika’s specialty is designing and delivering engaging, energetic, and effective workshops in both the visual arts and business domains. She’s an expert facilitator of problem-solving sessions and highly skilled at leading authentic team-building activities
Ready to Plan your team building event?
Fine Print for parties held at the Church of Art studio
- Standard COA workshop set-up and break-down does not include event-specific decor.
- Event duration is defined as the time attendees are invited to arrive at the studio until the time attendees are expected to depart the studio.
- Parking availability is not under the control of Church of Art and cannot be guaranteed.
- Loading docks: two are available for use, though access cannot be guaranteed (so far, availability hasn’t been an issue).
Options:
- Event organizer is welcome to connect to the studio’s bluetooth speaker to share a personal music playlist.
- Event organizer is welcome to hire a caterer but Church of Art does not coordinate details or payment (COA will join an initial planning call with organizer and caterer to confirm space, availability, access, and other logistics)
- Event organizer is welcome to bring in outside food (cake/cupcakes, wine and/or beer–no liquor, please) however please discuss with COA in advance to confirm logistics related to food and beverage storage, set-up, serving, and clean-up.
- Event-specific decor may be used with logistics discussed and agreed-upon in advance.
- Additional event time: It’s possible to schedule a longer event, depending on activity, number of attendees, and amount of additional time needed. If you’re interested in a longer event, let’s discuss!
Problem-solving Work Sessions
The team building activities described on this page are geared toward business or industry groups looking for fun activities to do together outside their day-to-day jobs.
Church of Art also provides fully customized art-centered working sessions leveraging Erika’s corporate consulting background. Art-centered work sessions include things like problem solving sessions, process improvement workshops, and creating or updating mission, values, vision. More details can be found on the “Work Sessions” page at the link below: