Registered Non-Profit · Reg. 80346296

Sowing visual arts into South Estonia’s cultural soil.

Mittetulundusühing AADE is a registered Estonian non-profit association working with clay, pigment and community since 2012 — running art workshops, creative wellbeing sessions and rural exhibitions across Põlva County.

Artist's hands shaping wet clay on a pottery wheel in the AADE studio
Studio night · Sülgoja, 2026
Our mission

Art should not stop at the city limits.

AADE exists so that people in rural South Estonia — children, elders, farmers, newcomers — can make, see and talk about visual art where they live. We believe a pottery wheel in a village hall matters as much as a white cube in the capital.

Since our registration on 31 August 2012 we have organised hands-on workshops, seasonal exhibitions and open studio days in and around Räpina parish, always free or at cost, always open to absolute beginners.

Transparency first

A registered, accountable Estonian non-profit — in the open, by law.

80346296e-Business Register code
2012Registered 31.08.2012
14Annual reports filed, 2012–2025
€0Tax debt — certificate clean

Mittetulundusühing AADE is an ordinary non-profit association under the Estonian Non-profit Associations Act. Our registry card, articles of association and every annual report are public in the Estonian e-Business Register. Board members receive no dividends; all revenue is reinvested into programs.

What we do

Three programs, one promise: everyone gets to make something.

Community pottery workshop with participants shaping clay at a shared table
Arts education

Community Workshops

Weekly hands-on sessions in ceramics, drawing and printmaking for children, adults and mixed-family groups across Räpina parish. Materials included, no experience needed.

See workshop calendar
Close-up of hands gently working soft clay during a calm wellbeing session
Art & wellbeing

Creative Wellbeing

Slow, guided making sessions for people carrying stress, loneliness or burnout — run with local care workers and held in small, safe groups of six.

How sessions work
Visitors viewing artworks at a small rural gallery exhibition
Culture & artists

Rural Exhibitions

Seasonal shows in barns, libraries and village halls — pairing South Estonian artists with work made in our own workshops, so participants see their pieces on a wall.

Current exhibitions
Sunlit AADE art studio with works in progress, brushes and canvases
Why it matters

“I hadn’t held a pencil since school. Now my bowl sits in the parish library.”

That sentence, from a 68-year-old participant in Meeksi, is the whole organisation in one breath. Making something with your hands changes how people see themselves — and a village that sees its own art on display starts to see itself differently too.

Impact in numbers

Small by design. Steady by choice.

600+Workshop participants since 2012
27Rural exhibitions organised
11Villages & towns served
96%Sessions free of charge
Get involved

Come make something with us this season.

Write to us at info@aadearts.org — tell us who you are and what you’d like to try, and we’ll find you a seat at the table.