ARTIST RESIDENCY.
Meraki Spaces is home to a growing collective of resident artists — painters, photographers, designers, sculptors, musicians, and creative facilitators who hold studio space here or host ongoing gatherings within our community. Our resident artists are the heart of our ecosystem: they shape the culture, lead experiences, and inspire what is possible within these walls.
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We currently have several artists in residence, each cultivating their craft, developing their body of work, and offering their gifts to the community through workshops, exhibitions, collaborations, and shared creative presence.
Our private studio spaces are currently full. For artists seeking to immerse themselves in the community, we offer an Artist-in-Residency Membership through our Core & Pro membership tiers— which includes opportunities to:
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Teach workshops and lead creative experiences
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Showcase work in exhibitions and member events
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Collaborate across disciplines
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Take an active role in shaping the culture of Meraki Spaces
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Residency at Meraki is more than having a place to create — it is being part of a living creative ecosystem where your work, your voice, and your presence matter.
MEET OUR ARTISTS.
MELISSA MEDINA
Artist, Founder, Curator, Mentor.
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Melissa Medina is an organic sculpture artist and the founder of Meraki Spaces and Meraki Art Institute, two creative ecosystems dedicated to helping artists feel resourced, represented, and at home in their craft. Her work blends Venetian plaster, crystals, shells, and sculptural texture to explore themes of embodiment, grief, rebirth, and returning to oneself.
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Melissa built Meraki from the ground up — first as her personal studio practice, then as a community space, and now as a growing creative hub for artists to work, gather, learn, and lead. Within Meraki Spaces, she guides the vision, curates experiences, and cultivates an environment where authenticity, collaboration, and creative expansion can thrive.
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Through Meraki Art Institute, she mentors artists in developing both their artistic identity and their business foundation, empowering them to build sustainable careers rooted in meaning and integrity.
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Her role is equal parts artist, facilitator, and steward of community — holding the belief that when artists are supported, seen, and connected, their work has the power to transform not only themselves, but the world around them.
KAHLA LAUINGER
Co-Founder, Artist, Mentor, Creative Curator
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Kahla Lauinger is a multidisciplinary artist and co-founder of Meraki Spaces, where she helped shape the early vision and brought the community to life from the ground up. A ceramicist, painter, and interior designer, Kahla’s work is rooted in texture, earth, and presence — reflecting the relationship between environment, identity, and the spaces we create for ourselves to exist in.
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Kahla curates gatherings, installations, and community moments that allow art to be lived — not just viewed. Her ability to design environments that feel warm, intentional, and connected has been foundational in cultivating the atmosphere that Meraki is known for.
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Alongside her artistic practice, Kahla serves as a mentor inside Meraki Art Institute. Her approach blends grounded emotional support with practical structure, helping artists build sustainable careers while honoring the integrity of their craft.
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Kahla's work, presence, and leadership continue to shape Meraki as both a creative home and a living community.