San Francisco | April 2026
A small-group workshop inside the museum designed to help you step back and see your thinking more clearly.
Bring a question, problem, or curiosity you would like to think about differently.
Participants often leave with new insight into the problems, questions, or decisions they bring with them.
This is not an art class. It is a guided thinking workshop that uses art as a tool for observation.
No creative skill or art knowledge is required.
WHAT WE’LL DO
90 minutes in the galleries
You will move through the museum using simple prompts designed to slow observation and help you notice what holds your attention, what you move past, and how you interpret what you see.
90 minutes of facilitated conversation
We connect those observations to real life: how you make decisions, where you get stuck, and how shifts in vantage point influence how you approach problems or choices.
WHAT DOES LOOKING AT ART DO?
Careful observation of art activates the brain’s pattern-recognition and reflective networks. In quiet museum environments, attention shifts away from reactive thinking and toward curiosity and insight.
Read more:
Why Looking at Art Changes How the Brain Thinks →
WHO THIS IS FOR
This workshop is for people who:
want space to step back and see their thinking more clearly
think well through observation and conversation
are curious about how attention shapes decisions
value intentional time away from routine
DATES & LOCATION
Saturday, April 11
de Young Museum
9:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Sunday, April 12
SFMOMA
10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Please indicate your chosen date at checkout.
Group size: 3–8 participants
PRICING INCLUDES
Professional facilitation
The Art of Observation online workbook
40-minute Zoom follow-up session
Not A Museum Member
Click Here to Register At the Standard Rate
WORKBOOK
The Art of Observation
A short PDF workbook sent before the workshop that introduces the observation prompts.
40-minute Zoom follow-up
Two weeks later we meet online to discuss what insights emerged and how they are showing up in your work or daily life.
ABOUT YOUR HOST
Ryan McAbery brings 22 years of experience in the arts as both a professional artist and a mentor to creative professionals and entrepreneurs. Artists spend years training their attention to notice patterns, relationships, and subtle visual details that many people move past quickly. This workshop draws on that practice of observation as a tool for reflection and clearer thinking.
VIRTUAL OPTION
Prefer an online format?
A Study in Art and Presence – Online guided workshop
CANCELLATION & TRANSFER POLICY
Full refunds are available up to 7 days before the workshop.
Within 7 days, tickets are non-refundable but transferable and may be applied as credit toward a future workshop.
San Francisco | April 2026
A small-group workshop inside the museum designed to help you step back and see your thinking more clearly.
Bring a question, problem, or curiosity you would like to think about differently.
Participants often leave with new insight into the problems, questions, or decisions they bring with them.
This is not an art class. It is a guided thinking workshop that uses art as a tool for observation.
No creative skill or art knowledge is required.
WHAT WE’LL DO
90 minutes in the galleries
You will move through the museum using simple prompts designed to slow observation and help you notice what holds your attention, what you move past, and how you interpret what you see.
90 minutes of facilitated conversation
We connect those observations to real life: how you make decisions, where you get stuck, and how shifts in vantage point influence how you approach problems or choices.
WHAT DOES LOOKING AT ART DO?
Careful observation of art activates the brain’s pattern-recognition and reflective networks. In quiet museum environments, attention shifts away from reactive thinking and toward curiosity and insight.
Read more:
Why Looking at Art Changes How the Brain Thinks →
WHO THIS IS FOR
This workshop is for people who:
want space to step back and see their thinking more clearly
think well through observation and conversation
are curious about how attention shapes decisions
value intentional time away from routine
DATES & LOCATION
Saturday, April 11
de Young Museum
9:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Sunday, April 12
SFMOMA
10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Please indicate your chosen date at checkout.
Group size: 3–8 participants
PRICING INCLUDES
Professional facilitation
The Art of Observation online workbook
40-minute Zoom follow-up session
Not A Museum Member
Click Here to Register At the Standard Rate
WORKBOOK
The Art of Observation
A short PDF workbook sent before the workshop that introduces the observation prompts.
40-minute Zoom follow-up
Two weeks later we meet online to discuss what insights emerged and how they are showing up in your work or daily life.
ABOUT YOUR HOST
Ryan McAbery brings 22 years of experience in the arts as both a professional artist and a mentor to creative professionals and entrepreneurs. Artists spend years training their attention to notice patterns, relationships, and subtle visual details that many people move past quickly. This workshop draws on that practice of observation as a tool for reflection and clearer thinking.
VIRTUAL OPTION
Prefer an online format?
A Study in Art and Presence – Online guided workshop
CANCELLATION & TRANSFER POLICY
Full refunds are available up to 7 days before the workshop.
Within 7 days, tickets are non-refundable but transferable and may be applied as credit toward a future workshop.
