Ranaa, a multidisciplinary artist from Toronto, isn’t interested in making art feel exclusive. If anything, she’s working to undo that stuffy perception entirely—pulling it out of its buttoned-up, commodified space and making it feel more accessible and human.

Two years ago, with a handful of art supplies from Dollarama and a hastily sketched flyer posted on Instagram, she invited her friends to make art together in a local park. It wasn’t a workshop or a guided session with instructions; it was a shared space to create without limitations or rigour. What started as a casual gathering became a quarterly Art Club open to everyone.

Attendees don’t need to be involved in the arts professionally or have any formal background. It’s for whoever is interested or curious enough to try. And that belief is pulled from her own history with art. Ever since elementary school, she loved to draw and get crafty with the tools she had around her. She was always experimenting with visuals and especially enjoyed making things for other people.

“As someone who struggles with words and describing things, art was the way that I would communicate my feelings, emotions, and vision of the world around me,” she says. A look at her work today reveals that internal language—hallmarked by a distinct style of girl caricatures. It’s equally nostalgic and playful, and she describes it as revealing traces of teenage angst.

Ranaa recently revisited an old childhood journal entry that vulnerably read, “I want to be an artist when I grow up.” While she’s working to achieve that dream, she wants others to also have a space to be creative. “Adults don’t really get opportunities just to do something for fun for no reason,” she says. That’s the crux of Art Club. It’s low-pressure, free-flowing, and whether through colouring, drawing, or painting, the direction is up to each person. “I don’t want people to feel intimidated by the end result. The end result doesn’t matter; there’s no purpose other than to have fun, since that experience has been lost.”

Art Club is a space where creativity can be in flux without expectations. “The art of play and what that means to adults and how it presents itself, isn’t accessible,” she says. “Everyone is creative. Everyone can make art, no matter if you’re in a creative field or not.” Erasing limitations and drawbacks isn’t easy, but in an unrestricted environment, it’s okay to draw outside the lines.

This year, she and her friends are guided by a shared mantra: “I’m looking for something.” She doesn’t know what it is, but she knows she will find it. And she knows that each step along the way is necessary for the destination.

Images courtesy of Ranaa.