Memphis has long been a city defined by the art it makes - visual, musical and cultural. Yet even in a place with such a storied creative legacy, true incubators of experimentation can be surprisingly rare. This fall, a new art school and gallery in east Memphis set out to change that. ShapeShifter Art School and Gallery, founded by artist and educator Pam McDonnell and a group of like-minded collaborators, officially opened its doors on November 22, 2025, with a studio celebration that marked the birth of more than a business. It marked the emergence of a creative philosophy.
Shapeshifter was named during an early brainstorming session, when the founders pulled archetype cards from artist Kim Krans’s deck. One card resonated with nearly everyone at the table: The ShapeShifter. The archetype represents adaptability, transformation and fluid identity - a symbolic starting point for a place dedicated to experimentation and to the idea that creative identity is not fixed, but continually unfolding.
“When applied to making art, shapeshifting allows us to get into a flow without fear of failure,” McDonnell explains. “It’s about releasing control, letting the work guide you and being open to what changes in the process.” That philosophy sits at the heart of the school and gallery’s mission: to build a space where makers - whether seasoned artists or creatively curious beginners - are encouraged to explore, question, transform and above all, play.
The founders decided that ShapeShifter would not be just a school or just a gallery but a hybrid of the two - a single creative home where making and showing work are inseparable.
“A natural, though not necessary, ending to the act of creation is sharing what you’ve made,” says McDonnell. “Looking at and talking about work in a space different from the studio is integral.” In ShapeShifter’s gallery, pieces are removed from the comfort and chaos of the studio environment and placed into a clean, contemplative space. This shift, McDonnell says, allows artwork to “birth into its independence” - to expand, shrink or evolve in ways only possible when the maker steps back.
Though the physical space came together in 2025, ShapeShifter’s origin story stretches back years, through late-night conversations and ongoing collaborations among its founders. McDonnell remembers discussing the idea of a dream gallery with fellow artists Nikii Richey and Melissa Dunn as early as 2018.
At the same time, she began daydreaming with Lisa Williamson about starting a school. Elizabeth Alley joined the circle soon after, given her close working relationships with both Dunn and Richey at Flicker Street Studio, a beloved Memphis art hub that once nurtured many local artists. The final founder, Elaine, came onboard in mid-2025 to guide ShapeShifter’s launch and operational foundation.
The group formed slowly and organically - what McDonnell calls “methodically, through conversations that kept pointing us back to each other.” What connected them was not simply artistic skill but shared values around teaching, exploration and cultivating supportive creative communities.
Launching ShapeShifter, McDonnell admits, has been all-consuming. “It’s like having a newborn,” she says. “This new life is hungry and needy, and I have to always be here for it. The good news is I love being here. I’m sure this is where I’m meant to be.”
One motivating factor behind the school’s creation was the founders’ belief that Memphis lacked spaces dedicated to experimental work by teaching artists. They envisioned a place where instructors could ask themselves, “What would I create if I could do anything—without constraints?”
“We think of ShapeShifter as an art lab,” McDonnell says. “A place for play and possibility.”
This approach extends to the student experience as well. The founders are united by a philosophy of “playing without shame” - a concept that challenges the rigid expectations many people inherited from their earliest experiences with art.
“Almost everyone remembers being told they ‘drew something wrong’ as a child,” McDonnell notes. “For many, that moment made them quit making art altogether.” ShapeShifter was built to dismantle that shame, to create a culture where risk-taking is encouraged and mistakes are viewed as essential, not catastrophic.
The school invites adults to pick up where they left off when they were nine years old - to rediscover the part of themselves that once drew fearlessly, without internal critique or comparison.
ShapeShifter’s founders intend to maintain a highly selective teaching roster - not based solely on exceptional skill, but on alignment with their core values. They seek instructors who practice what McDonnell calls “radical shapeshifting” in their own work and who approach teaching with a blend of skill, vulnerability, playfulness and empathy.
“This is a space to heal the part of you that thinks you can’t draw,” she says. “That’s a huge responsibility, and we take it seriously.”
The curriculum is designed to encourage improvisation, curiosity and collective inquiry. Students and teachers explore questions together, engage in debate, test ideas and embrace the unknown. The environment is intentionally non-hierarchical and collaborative, allowing each person - regardless of training or background - to contribute meaningfully.
Mistakes, McDonnell insists, are not only welcome but vital. “If you can experiment without fear of making a mistake - maybe even hoping for one - you become part of an incredibly beautiful process.”
For those hesitant to take a class, McDonnell offers reassurance: “Know that you belong here.” Art, she acknowledges, brings complicated emotions with it, even for professionals. “I’m nervous every time I walk into a classroom - especially when I’m teaching. Bring your fullness with you. You are safe here with all the things that might make you hesitate.”
Ultimately, ShapeShifter Art School and Gallery aims to be a transformative space - not only for artists but for anyone who feels the quiet, persistent pull of creativity. For Memphis, it offers a new hub where experimentation is honored, courage is cultivated and the act of creating becomes an act of personal expansion.
“Art works with all the things,” McDonnell says. “Come on. We’ll walk you through it.”
ShapeShifter Winter Class Schedule:
Art & Architecture of High Renaissance Italy
Dr. Rebecca (Becca) M. Howard
Art with (re)Purpose: Found Object Assemblage Art
Jana Wilson
Beginning Acrylic Painting
Melissa Dunn
Book Builder: A Creative Writing & Self-Publishing Course
Zack Orsborn
Collaborative Drawing
Hamlett Dobbins
Contemporary Watercolor: An Intuitive Approach
Eva Langsdon
Experimental Weaving
Lacy Mitcham
Form & Foil Collage
Mary Jo Karimnia
Getting Comfortable with Your Sketchbook
Elizabeth Alley
Introduction to Soft Sculpting
Sophia Mason
Introduction to Watercolor
Kelly Cook
Paper Collage: My Favorite Things
Justin Bowles
Portrait: The Me to We
Lurlynn Franklin
Professional Practice
Dr. Lisa Williamson
Sketching Your Everyday World
Elizabeth Alley
Unsticking the Artistic Process
Dr. Lisa Williamson
ShapeShifter Art School and Gallery
680 Oakleaf Office Lane
Memphis TN 38117
901.206.3480
shapeshifterartschool.com
"If you can experiment without fear of making a mistake - maybe even hoping for one - you become part of an incredibly beautiful process.”