It would be just another day at Art To Grow On Children's Art Center in Torrance. Except these students are all adults.

Once a month, grown-ups take over the center, dabbling in paints, homemade playdough, glue and crayons during Adult Art Stress Buster sessions.

"If you're really involved in your work, it can be so hard to disconnect," said art center owner Lauren Perelmuter, who created the stress-buster concept. "This is fun and has nothing to do with your day."

That's just what Torrance resident John Belzer was after, a diversion from his demanding job as president and chief executive of a manufacturing company. When the longtime runner was sidelined last month by an injury, he needed a new outlet to ease his stress. Paint seems to be working.

"This really is fun," said Belzec, 49, his hands covered in pink paint.

"I like watching John, that's the best part," said Belzer's wife, Lesley Silverstone, with a grin. "I could definitely see having a party here."

Perelmuter has hosted dozens of children's birthday parties, and even a few adult soirees at the art center, from moms' club meetings to ladies' nights out and employee going-away parties. there's no booze allowed, just coffee and brownies and lots of art supplies.

"At first we were inhibited about how to do art without limits," said Manhattan Beach resident Debra Geist, who first came to the center for a ladies-only get-together. "But we got ideas from each other and the party ended up spilling out into the parking lot."

Perelmuter said sometimes the adults have even more fun than the 2- to 8-year-olds with whom she usually works.

"Many of us are used to having someone tell us what to do," she said. "Here you don't have to make something; you can just create."

Stress-buster sessions tend to start off slowly, Perelmuter said, but after about 20 minutes, the volume of chatter rises and things really get buzzing. And that's before the coffee is served.

First-time stress-buster Robin Franco was ready for a departure from her orderly, symmetrical work as an engineer, but wasn't quite sure how to begin. By the end of the evening, though, she had finished two paintings and a collage box.

"I feel very accomplished tonight," said Franco, 44, as she looked at her work. "I think I'm going to use these (paintings) as wrapping paper."

"I'm going to cut this up and make note cards," said Franco's friend, Chris Ellowitz Sliver, about her two glitter, glue and paper creations.

Perelmuter applies the same free-flowing, create-what-you-will format to youth classes. Children come in for 90-minute sessions and are encouraged to make whatever they like. They slip from the play dough station to the collage table, or they may spend the entire session on a single project.

A lifelong artist, Perelmuter, 34, spent nine years working in couture fashion before deciding she needed a change. She dreamt of running an art center for children, where both kids and their parents would feel free to experiment. She opened Art To Grow On Children's Art Center last fall.

"I knew the concept was not a formal drawing school," said the Torrance native. "I wanted a balance where (students) could make a lot of decisions on their own and we would guide them. This is a student-led, not teacher-led, environment."

But that doesn't stop Perelmuter from incorporating lessons into each art class. Students studied Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel and laid underneath a desk to create their own ceiling frescoes. They learned about the planets of the solar system, then created starry-sky projects with glitter and paint.

"We still have that starry sky on our refrigerator," said Kathy Patman of Redondo Beach, whose son, Benjamin, 4, has been coming to the center since it opened.

"I've made a lot of friends here," Benjamin said. "Like about a million."

In addition to developing their developing their artistic talents, youngsters learn social skills from working with other children. Those kids will have an advantage when they start preschool or kindergarten, Perelmuter said.

Though she loves working with little ones and throwing birthday parties at the Art To Grow On Children's Art Center, Perelmuter emphasized the value of the center for parents.

It offers "Saturday Nights Out," when parents can drop off their children for two hours of art while they enjoy a quiet dinner out and serves as a networking spot for moms and dads. Here they can meet other local parents, plan playdates and share tips about other children's activities.

"A friend living in Torrance emailed all of us about this place," said Geisel of Manhattan Beach. "This is a great place to do art with kids based on the philosophy that art should be really free. You don't have to show them how to do it."

And when parenting and working all becomes too much, there are the monthly stress-buster sessions to blow off steam.

"We live such structured lives, to be in a safe environment that's creative and colorful, it's just joyous," said Helen Dennis, a regular at the center. "Here, you have color and music and you can't do anything wrong. It is something we all really need."

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