Austin's Down to Earth Coloring Club uses crayons to connect and de-stress

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Once a month, the sound of crayons sliding out of a box and paper hitting tables fills Radio East, a coffee shop in Southeast Austin.

The meetup is a brainstorming session turned community tradition, first sparked inside Tierra Face and Body, a massage therapy studio run by Sara Nieto.

“My client mentioned coloring,” Nieto said. “My business partner and I jokingly said, ‘Why don’t we just hang out and color? That can be our thing.’”

That joke became reality. In December 2024, the Down to Earth Coloring Club was born.

The club’s goal is simple: provide a free, low-pressure way for Austinites to connect.

“It helps you stay in the present moment,” said Chelsea Kasen-Kells, who co-hosts the group. “One of the things we love about it is that it takes away the social anxiety of meeting new people. You can make genuine connections in a really low-key, relaxing way.”

Kasen-Kells runs Color Mending Therapy, a business that uses coloring to help people build self-regulation skills by identifying emotions in their bodies and learning how to express them. She met Nieto last June after coming across one of her TikTok videos.

Adult coloring has been quietly growing in popularity, and researchers are paying attention. The Mayo Clinic describes it as a practice that “embraces imperfection” — a chance to let go of judgments and expectations, no matter how neat or messy the page looks. Studies have also found that art therapy can help women with cancer manage physical and emotional distress, and that coloring can ease depression, anxiety, and trauma.

For Nieto and Kasen-Kells, though, the heart of it is community.

“Making friends as an adult can be hard,” Nieto said. “We just wanted a space where people could come together, relax, and connect.”

Click here for more information on Down to Earth Coloring Club’s monthly meetup and sponsorship opportunities.