Become a Renaissance Person!
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Play the piano with your feet, learn sleight-of-hand, build a pop-up book, and practice ventriloquism! Illusion, music, art, and theater combine to help students discover the joy of art-making and creativity.​
Wednesdays, January 14th - February 4th
Kids: 2:30 - 4:30 pm
Teens: 4:45 - 6:45 pm
Adults: 7:00 - 9:00 pm
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@The Rec Center in Uptown, Port Townsend
Cost: $130 for 4 week session
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Make Magic Happen
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Each week, students will learn a magic trick they can perform themselves, delve deeper into the magic of the Italian renaissance, and discover the biggest magic trick of all, how to make your ideas a reality.
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Thursdays, January 15th - February 5th
Kids: 2:30 - 4:30 pm
Teens: 4:45 - 6:45 pm
Adults: 7:00 - 9:00 pm
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@The Quimper Grange Hall in Port Townsend
Cost: $130 for 4 week session
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What Will Students Gain from These Workshops?
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Students learn magic tricks they can perform themselves and delve into hands-on creative projects, but they also learn something more; “the workshops use Leonardo da Vinci’s boundless curiosity as a blueprint,” says Pipia, “Both workshops are intended to teach practical skills in illusion and art, but most importantly, to help students see the world as filled with limitless possibility.”
Leonardo da Vinci was the ultimate polymath, a creative individual who pursued what inspired him, leading him to work in science and art, music and magic, engineering and mathematics.
Inspired by his ingenuity, each workshop seeks to be a springboard for students’ sense of what they can achieve.
About the Instructor
Called “terrific,” by the New York Times, "imaginative, intelligent, and strangely mesmerizing,” by the San Diego Union Tribune, and “impossible to resist,” by the Montreal Gazette, Phina Pipia's performances combine illusion, music, puppetry, and dance to captivate audiences around the globe.
Under the mentorship of physical theater luminary, Avner Eisenberg, Phina began developing her critically-acclaimed solo show, Ha Ha Da Vinci in residence at the Centrum Foundation for the Arts in Washington State with funding from the Port Townsend Arts Commission in 2020. After three years in theaters, it was developed into a 90-minute piece and received a 2024 residency for further development at the east coast physical theatre hub, Celebration Barn.
Ha Ha Da Vinci has now earned numerous awards from festivals and critics, accolades from major publications. and has been produced in Europe, Canada, and the United States. Last fall the show was translated into Italian, and in October, 2025 it enjoyed its first 5-weeklong tour of Italian theaters, with shows in Zocca, Milan, and Catania.
Phina’s upbringing among artists and performers has meant that the extraordinary has always been a part of daily life. Her work is imbued with that sense of wonder and magic.