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The Mendocino Coast is ready to open up to a renaissance of community as we step out of the last few years of extreme isolation. Sea Star Studios offers a safe, comfortable, educational, fun environment for Mendocino coast families and friends to learn, have fun and reconnect! Sea Star Studios was founded by Daphne Washburn and Leslie Kashiwada, and opened to the public in October, 2022! We offer creative arts classes for infants through seniors, with a variety of creative, fun classes including Music Together®  Family classes, Art Start classes, children's Earth/Ocean Sciences, and Play and Learn classes in our nautical themed playgym. Have your child's birthday party at Sea Star Studios on a Sunday, but make sure to schedule you party ahead of time, space is limited!

Sea Star Studios is a community gathering space that draws people together! Our nautical themed playgym will entertain and educate the children and our cozy reading nook will inspire our little ones to read. The studio also includes a retail section with child-friendly instruments, high quality educational chilldren's books, and other whimsical gifts. 

Leslie is the owner of Music Together^® on the Mendocino Coast, which was founded by Liz Petersen in 1999 with classes in Mendocino and Caspar. Classes were later brought to Point Arena, Boonville, Fort Bragg, and Westport. After attending Music Together classes with her daughter for a year, Leslie became a registered Music Together teacher and started teaching for Liz in 2003. Jill Burnham joined the teaching team shortly thereafter. Leslie and Jill took over as co-directors in 2005, with Liz staying on as a teacher. Leslie became the sole director in late 2005 and has been directing and teaching ever since. She has had the pleasure of mentoring and teaching with Missy Fiedler, Rowyn Kaminski, Sarah Cullar, and Daphne Washburn. She also has a PhD in Biological Oceanography from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and taught at MiraCosta College and San Diego State University before moving up to Fort Bragg in 1999.

Daphne has a music performance/technology degree and has been teaching early childhood music for the last fourteen years. Daphne Washburn joined Music Together on the Mendocino coast in the fall of 2021. Daphne started Music Together Sea Stars in December 2022. Prior to working for Music Together on the Mendocino Coast, Daphne was the Assistant Director of Heartsong Music in Austin, TX for ten 10 years, until she returned to California in September of 2021. Prior to that Daphne was a traveling pre-school music teacher for Musically Minded in Seattle, WA. Daphne also managed a Gymboree Play and Music for two years, where she taught pre-school age music, art and play and learn classes.

Learn more about our teachers on our teacher biography page. 

Are you interested in renting our space for a class you offer or an event? We offer discounted rates for child focused classes/events. Contact us for our class/event rental rates. 

Come join us for a free trial class to experience our fun, playful, educational program!