About Calla Terra Studios
Led by community-based art educator Lauren Leitner, Calla Terra Studios is a community-rooted, sustainability-driven eco arts initiative that helps children and families connect with the natural world through art, play, and curiosity.
Whether we're gathering sticks and leaves or transforming bottle caps into masterpieces, I believe creativity grows best when it's grounded in wonder and care for Mama Earth.
I offer learner-centered, process-based programs that invite little artists and big imaginations to explore nature and repurposed materials as tools for self-expression. My programs are designed to spark creativity and stewardship from the ground up.
At the heart of everything I do is a deep belief:
That art is essential to human development, nature is our first classroom, and creative play can inspire a more sustainable future.
Philosophy
At Calla Terra Studios, I draw inspiration from the Reggio Emilia education approach, which sees children as curious, capable learners. I design each class with intentional activities and themes, while also leaving room for makers’ ideas and interests to shape how we explore and create. I encourage children to experiment, problem-solve, and express themselves through many “languages”—drawing, building, storytelling, movement, and music.
I also believe the environment is a powerful teacher. I thoughtfully arrange materials and spaces to spark curiosity and invite investigation, using open-ended, natural, and recycled materials. Learning that lasts unfolds with wonder, collaboration, and hands-on experiences. Children collaborate, share ideas, and build confidence and a deeper connection to the natural world.
I truly believe that children are creative geniuses and they all deserve these opportunities to express their rich imaginations, freely and often.
Programs
Calla Terra’s programs prioritize uninhibited imagination, ambitious exploration, relentless curiosity, and bold self-expression. I nurture and celebrate any and all discoveries children make before, during, and after the art-making process.
Projects blend art with sustainability through intentionally selected materials—natural, found, repurposed, and/or nontoxic—that encourage children to notice, touch, and interact with the world around them.
Working hands-on with unique, nontraditional art supplies fosters innovation and big-picture thinking while promoting care for the planet. Children might build sculptures from recycled materials, paint with natural pigments, or create portraits using items they forage from nature.
Class age ranges overlap slightly for a good reason: children develop at their own pace. I intentionally design programs with artistic development stages in mind, recognizing that creative expression can bridge the gaps childhood can’t always fill. Art matters!
Class Offerings
Art and nature come together in playful, process-based programs that spark curiosity, creativity, and care for the world around us. Each session invites kids to explore natural and repurposed materials through eco-conscious artmaking — all while engaging their senses, their imaginations, and their hands.
Wonderwood
Ages: 2 – 4 years
Mini makers explore textures, colors, light, and movement in natural and everyday materials. Hands-on activities, like sensory bins, nature walks, and tinker trays, evolve into creative expression.
Each session sparks joy and wonder as children build, sort, and create their own discoveries. Play encouraged, curiosity required!
Maker’s Trail
Ages: 4 – 7 years
Every splatter tells a story, and every scribble sparks new ideas. Children work with natural and reclaimed materials, experiment at discovery tables, and follow their curiosity through collaborative and independent projects.
Each activity grows confidence, problem-solving, and big-picture thinking.
Saturday and after-school classes, as well as programming for ages 8-12 to follow in 2026.
About Lauren
Milwaukee-native Lauren Leitner has been working in the arts and culture sector, and creating contemporary geometric paintings under “Lauren Zens Art”, since 2008. Early in her career, after graduating from Columbia College Chicago with a BA in Arts Management, she balanced her creative passions with a growing career in the music business—using painting as both a creative outlet and a source of calm.
In 2017, creativity became a larger focus when she pursued a master’s degree in Community Arts from Eastern Illinois University. In her graduate program, her studies centered on inclusive community engagement, supporting under-resourced youth, and student-centered learning. Since then, Lauren has worked with schools and nonprofits, supporting multidisciplinary, accessible, community-based programs that empower youth and families through creativity.
In 2022, she transitioned to full-time freelance teaching artistry and launched Calla Terra Studios—a heartfelt project that brings together her four greatest loves: nature, art, youth, and community. Lauren and her husband moved to Wausau, WI in 2023 and had their daughter, Ivy in 2024. Ivy is Lauren’s inspiration for working towards a sustainable and healthy future for youth.
Since relocating, she has worked with the Wausau School District, Center for Visual Arts, Boys & Girls Club, Marathon County Health Department, and Good News Project, and joined the City of Wausau’s Sustainability, Energy, and Environment Committee in 2025. Now operating alongside the Northwoods, where Lauren grew up visiting and cherishes so deeply, Calla Terra has found its home.
