The Makery SRQ

The Makery SRQ was founded by Gina Fortino, who moved to Sarasota with a clear goal in mind: building a creative space where people would not feel intimidated by art. In her own words, the aim was to start a business that would allow people to not be afraid of art, to come in and experiment, learn, and feel happy and comfortable while doing it, and that philosophy runs through everything the studio offers, from how classes are structured to how instructors talk with nervous first-timers standing in front of a pottery wheel for the first time.

Rather than focusing on a single medium, The Makery SRQ runs a wide range of DIY art and pottery classes, including pottery wheel sessions, mandala painting, acrylic pour, needle felting, and macrame. That breadth gives visitors a low-pressure way to try several different creative techniques without committing to a long course of study in any one of them, which suits the studio’s stated mission of making art approachable rather than intimidating.

The studio serves families, adults, kids, and homeschool groups, and it also hosts birthdays and private events, giving it a role beyond just standard drop-in classes. That flexibility has made it a popular option for parents looking for a hands-on activity for a child’s birthday party as well as adults looking for a creative night out with friends, all within the same small storefront on Apricot Avenue.

Located near downtown Sarasota, the studio keeps a compact but consistent weekly schedule, open Wednesday from 11am to 2pm and Thursday through Saturday from 10am to 3pm, closed Sunday through Tuesday. That schedule reflects a studio built around scheduled classes and events rather than long open-studio hours, so checking the class calendar ahead of a visit is generally the best way to plan around a specific project or workshop.

For anyone in Sarasota looking for a welcoming, beginner-friendly art studio rather than a more formal fine arts academy, The Makery SRQ delivers on Fortino’s original vision of a space built for experimentation. Its rotating mix of mediums, from clay to fiber to paint, keeps the studio feeling fresh for both first-time visitors and regulars looking to try something new each visit, and its emphasis on families and homeschool groups gives it a slightly different niche than a studio built mainly around adult date nights, though it still welcomes plenty of adult visitors looking for a relaxed evening out.