Artist Meetups For Adults

Shifting Gears Group Ride

Join us for a 14 mile ride from Ballston and a chance to get to know each other over coffee afterwards! This is a no drop ride at a casual pace. Shifting Gears is a group of young adults navigating life after a cancer diagnosis through movement and community. Join us for bike rides, coffee chats, and other interactive activities as we heal and grow together.

Fountain Pen & Stationery Hangout 🖋️

Let’s meet again to share the joy of fountain pens with each other! Bring your spare inks to swap samples, if you enjoy that sort of thing. Journaling and art is welcome as well. See you there!

Free Self-Defense Class for Adults – Maryland Systema (Rockville)

Have you been thinking about trying self-defense training, but do not want a loud, aggressive, or overly competitive environment? This free intro class is a simple way to get started. Maryland Systema offers practical self-defense training for adults in Rockville with a focus on movement, awareness, breathing, posture, and calm under pressure. This class is designed for beginners and first-timers who want real-world self-defense training in a welcoming setting. You do not need experience. You do not need to be in top shape. You do not need a martial arts background. You just need to show up ready to learn. This is not a sport-based class built around winning points, memorizing routines, or trying to look impressive. It is a more practical approach to adult self-defense training that helps you stay balanced, aware, and functional when things feel uncertain. If you have been searching for self-defense classes in Rockville, beginner self-defense near you, or practical self-defense training for adults, this class is a good place to start. **What you will work on** * Breathing and staying calm under pressure * Movement that improves balance and mobility * Awareness and posture * Simple partner drills * Practical self-defense training for beginners **Who this class is for** * Adults new to self-defense training * Beginners looking for a low-pressure class * People who want practical self-defense instead of sport martial arts * Adults in Takoma Park, Silver Spring, Rockville, and nearby areas looking for realistic self-defense classes **What to wear** Please wear comfortable workout clothes. No uniform is required. **Why start with this class** This free intro class gives you a chance to experience the training, meet the group, and see whether Maryland Systema is the right fit for you before joining regular weekly classes. **RSVP** Reserve your spot and come try a beginner-friendly self-defense class in Rockville.

The Arts of Life with Nancy Burbridge - Design the Life You Imagine

Learn how to draw, paint, and explore the beauty within, cultivating the best version of yourself in a serene and supportive environment. **You're Invited to 'Arts of Life'.** Join us every month at the Meditation Museum Virginia for creativity, relaxation, and self-discovery. In this interactive session, you will learn how to draw, paint, and explore the beauty within, cultivating the best version of yourself in a serene and supportive environment. Come experience the magic of art and meditation as tools for self-expression and inner growth. All materials are provided, and no prior experience is necessary. Just bring your curiosity and a willingness to explore! We can't wait to see you there! **In Person at the Meditation Museum - Virginia** **FREE EVENT - Registration Required** *Support the Brahma Kumaris Meditation Museum with your tax deductible contribution.* **Held at Brahma Kumaris Meditation Museum - Virginia** **14020 Thunderbolt Place, Suite 200 , Second Floor Chantilly, VA**

Art Happening Featuring Valerie Acosta: Manassas City

Meet local artist Valerie Acosta, learn about her work, and then participate in a hands-on creative activity. "My interdisciplinary art practice is an experiment in understanding who I was, who I am, and who I wish to become as I fully integrate the pieces of my fragmented identity. Through a variety of mediums, I explore what it means to be an American citizen, Puerto Rican, a Veteran, a woman, a mother, a daughter, a sister, and a wife...In my practice, I strive to find connections between my past and my present. I use wood, clay, photography, and my pen as the strings that weave a healing blanket. I am a firm believer that art saves lives and I hope that my art can one day help someone heal." At Art Happening, local artists visit Manassas City Library to create, demonstrate and share. Drop in, get inspired and check out our Leisure at your Library section! Register to receive a reminder email! RSVPing on Meetup does not register you with Prince William Public Libraries. To register, [click here,](https://pwcgov.libnet.info/event/17129795)

Beginner Zentangle Class

To sign up, visit our calendar: https://www.wellnessloudoun.org/event-details-registration/back-to-school-mind-reset-beginners-zentangle-r-class-2 Back-to-School Reset. Take a well-deserved pause as school begins and make something beautiful. In this relaxing, beginner-friendly class, Certified Zentangle Teacher Kerstin Becker of ArtCafe Studios will guide you step by step as you create a charming Zentangle art piece using the Zentangle Method®. Simple patterns will quiet the mind and spark your creativity. No art skills needed. Kerstin Becker is a Transformational Arts Coach, fine-art photographer, and Certified Zentangle Teacher in Ashburn, VA. Through [ArtCafe Studios](https://artcafephotography.com/), she integrates mindful art (Zentangle®, Neurographic Art, and more), gentle breathwork, and soothing sound meditation into experiences that support gentle healing, restore calm, spark clarity, and build confidence. No art experience is needed, just a willingness to let go for a moment. Kerstin has master-level training in sound-based relaxation (Master Sound Healer) and brings an empathetic, heart-centered approach to everything she does.

Adult Jiu-Jitsu (gi class) at One Spirit Martial Arts in Herndon

This class will provide instruction into various concepts of **Jiu-Jitsu** as a form of **martial art**. Participants will have the opportunity to **study**, **practice**, and **experiment** with **submission holds** and **strategic fighting controls** that are the hallmark of the now famous methodology of Professional MMA athletes and professional combatives users. This **gi class** is held every **Tuesday** and **Thursday** and includes **one hour of instruction** and **30 minutes** (sometimes longer, TBD) of **open training**. Gis are available if you need one. Drop-in fee for non-members is **$20** which which can be paid on-site. Note that we are in **Suite #130**.

Profs & Pints Northern Virginia: Tom Paine’s Revolutions

[Profs and Pints Northern Virginia](https://www.profsandpints.com/washingtondc) presents: **“Tom Paine’s Revolutions,”** on a writer whose words inspired struggles for independence and ultimately left him alone, with Richard Bell, professor of history at the University of Maryland, College Park and author of the new book *The American Revolution and the Fate of the World.* [Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at [https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/northern-virginia-thomas-paine](https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/northern-virginia-thomas-paine) .] When Thomas Paine died in June 1809, scarcely a dozen people showed up to bury him. His funeral took place on the 250-acre farm in Westchester County that the people of New York had given him in gratitude for his role in inspiring the American Revolution. The grave was neither remote nor difficult to reach. Yet not one political leader came to pay respects to a man whose words had once helped set a continent on fire. How did one of the American Revolution’s greatest celebrities end up dying virtually friendless and despised? Join Richard Bell, professor of history at the University of Maryland, for a dramatic look at the astonishing rise and spectacular fall of Thomas Paine, the impoverished English immigrant and former corset-maker who became one of the most electrifying political writers of his age. You’ll learn how Paine arrived in America with little money or status and, through sheer force of argument, found a language capable of turning revolutionary ideas into calls to action. Bell will explore the extraordinary success of Common Sense, the incendiary 46-page pamphlet that appeared in 1776, sold on a staggering scale, and helped persuade ordinary colonists that independence from Britain was not only possible but necessary. Then he’ll trace what happened when Paine kept pushing. Paine’s *Rights of Man,* published beginning in 1791, embraced the radical promise of the French Revolution and attacked inherited privilege and monarchy. His *Age of Reason*, first published in 1794, challenged organized religion while championing deism, reason, and free thought. The convictions that had once made Paine a revolutionary hero increasingly made him seem dangerous, offensive, and intolerable to the cautious new republic that had emerged from the revolution he helped ignite. Come learn how America’s most relatable revolutionary became one of its most notorious outcasts—and how a founding father once celebrated for saying what others would not ended up paying a devastating price for refusing to stop. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image: A statue of Thomas Paine in Thetford, England (Photo by Richard Croft / Wikimedia Commons.)

Paint, Relax, Connect! ( Reston)

Roggenart - Reston

Come join us at this European bakery and cafe in Reston for good conversation and a relaxing start to your Saturday. Roggenart has a nice assortment of sweet and savory pastries and breakfast sandwiches. Free parking in the lot or garage.

Meaningful Conversation and Coffee. At Caffe Amouri in Vienna

Join us for conversations that go beyond small talk, diving into topics like the shifting nature of spirituality, the challenges and joys of midlife transitions, the impact of culture and capitalism, and the search for meaning in art, travel, and daily life. Our gatherings are about genuine, thought-provoking dialogue, with no set leader or strict agenda—just an open space to share ideas, perspectives, and experiences that matter to us. The direction of the discussion is shaped by everyone who shows up, making each event unique and enriching. Come ready to share, reflect, and connect with others who are also seeking deeper conversations. Let the conversation flow from topic to topic. Optional questions are listed below.

Optional Questions: Life Stages & Transitions

1. What did you think you'd have figured out by now that you're still completely winging?
2. When did you realize your parents' advice was for a world that no longer exists?
3. What are you finally old enough to stop pretending to care about?

Optional Questions: Identity After the Roles

4. Who are you when nobody needs anything from you?
5. What dream keeps resurfacing even though the "practical" time has passed?
6. How do you handle having the freedom you always said you wanted?

Optional Questions: AI & Being Human

7. What human experiences will AI never truly understand?
8. If machines handled all your have-to's, what would you actually do?
9. What becomes more precious as everything becomes automated?

Optional Questions: Belief & Meaning

10. What certainties have you given up, and what rushed in to fill that space?
11. How has knowing someone who died changed how you live?
12. What do you believe now that would shock your younger self?

Optional Questions: The Modern Psyche

13. What anxiety do you carry that previous generations didn't have?
14. Which of your survival strategies are you ready to retire?
15. What uncomfortable truth about happiness did it take you years to accept?

Optional Questions: Work & Purpose

16. When did you stop believing that your job would complete you?
17. What would you do for work if money and status weren't factors?
18. How has your definition of "making it" changed over the years?

Optional Questions: Relationships & Connection

19. What relationship dynamic do you keep recreating, and why?
20. When did you realize your parents were just people trying their best?
21. What kind of loneliness doesn't go away even when you're with others?

Optional Questions: Time & Mortality

22. What are you running out of time to say or do?
23. How differently do you spend your time knowing it's finite?
24. What will you regret not trying, even if you fail?

Optional Questions: Society & Culture

25. What social convention do you follow even though it makes no sense?
26. Which generation do you understand least, and what might you be missing?
27. What aspect of how we live now will seem insane in 20 years?

Optional Questions: Personal Philosophy

28. What rule for life did you create after learning something the hard way?
29. When did you stop believing that everyone else had it figured out
30. What paradox about life have you learned to live with?

🎬 ART IN MOTION | An Outdoor Exploration

***IMPORTANT: 🎟️ $9 In-person admission fee | 🚗 Free parking! See the Meadowlark website for a glimpse into what we’ll be exploring! —————————————————————————— 🎥 Every great movie begins with a location. Inspired by the hobbies and interests shared at our first event, join fellow movie lovers, photographers, and creatives for an outdoor adventure at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens! We’ll explore the gardens and trails through a cinematic lens, spark engaging conversations, and challenge ourselves to spot locations and moments that could be on the big screen. Keep an eye out for: 👻 A horror movie setting 💕 A romantic movie moment 🕵️ A mysterious thriller location 🌄 An epic shot 🎞️ A movie-poster-worthy scene 🤔 Something that inspires you! Feel free to stay with the group or break off into pairs to capture any moments you discover along the way. No photography experience or fancy equipment needed—just bring your phone, imagination, and love of movies! 🎬📸 We’ll wrap up by sharing some of our favorite discoveries and seeing how differently everyone viewed the same surroundings.