The Lemon Collective will open February 15 at 810 Upshur Street, the blue building to the right of She Loves Me.

Another day, another opening! The Lemon Collective, a creative art and workshop space co-owned by She Loves Me owner Holley Simmons, will be moving to 810 Upshur Street on February 15th.

The Lemon Collective was started started three years ago in Park View by Simmons, Linny Giffin and Kathryn Zaremba as a space where people can take classes, make art, and let their creative juices flow. The space hosts events almost every night, offering everything from embroidery and flower arranging to making perfumes and building cheeseboards.

“Lemon Collective is a community resource where people can come and learn and meet like minded people,” Simmons says. “Instead of going to happy hour, you can come learn calligraphy.”

For the last three years, Lemon Collective operated out of 3015 Georgia Avenue. When Simmons opened She Loves Me at 808 Upshur Street, she temporarily moved Lemon Collective’s operations to the small space above her flower shop, knowing that she would need to find a larger, more permanent home for the venture.

The temporary Lemon Collective space is being run out of the upstairs of Simmons’ flower shop. The space is cute, but tiny.

Everything fell into place when 810 Upshur Street came on the market. The space had previously housed Bentley’s Antique store, which closed a year ago. It was since leased by Timber Pizza’s Andrew Dana, and has been functioning as a pop-up and overflow space.

Simmons says she envisions Lemon Collective as a space where “People can come and make mistakes and learn something.”

Lemon Collective offers classes in the evenings and on weekends, and also hosts art shows and exhibitions (on February 17 the space will exhibit art from furloughed Federal workers). The collective is currently looking for a daytime tenant to partner with, since the space is not used during the day.

While Simmons recognizes Petworth’s baby boom, for now the classes are adults only.

“I can’t be everything!” she says, laughing.

The price point of the classes — mostly in the $30 - $60 range — allows for dabbling. The collective is always looking for class and event suggestions, and for instructors.

Do you have a hidden talent or a well honed hobby? Hit up Lemon Collective to see if you can teach a class!