Things to Do in Gilbert

Before East Side Art was officially founded in 1971, its first inhabitant was the visionary artist Benhardt Michelson, who used the location as an artist community in the 1930s. Today, art instructors and students flock to this oasis of beauty for summer and winter courses in painting, drawing, sculpture, and meditation. After pupils practice in the classroom, they can pop into the art-supply store, where wooden walls and ceilings shelter rows of shiny new supplies. East Side Art also has the ESA Gallery, where artists display Southwest-inspired paintings and prints, as well as sculptures made out of bronze, clay, and chewing gum. Outside, a lush courtyard and water garden provides an idyllic location for poetry readings and performances. While guests lounge in the shade after a hard day's painting, they can catch a glimpse of the Superstition Mountains, where the government stores its good luck.

Today's side deal gets you three classes at A Scrappin' Affair for $25 (a $45 value). At the end of the three-part craft course, students will take home a 6"x6" book. You also get eight hours of cropping time (a $15 value), meaning you can come in and use all the non-consumable tools in the scrapbooking lab without having to invest in expensive equipment. You can schedule the crop whenever you want, but it can't be split between multiple days.

When the Ukrainian Easter egg you painted in the second grade finally explodes, fill the creative void with longer-lasting art. Today's Groupon pats your inner painter on its outer back with $25 worth of self-painted pottery at Mind Over Splatter in Chandler for $10. Continue the evolution in your artistic odyssey and create a masterpiece that will leave you more excited than a Pygmalion standing before his pristine statue. Gather your friends and throw a creativity jamboree or give your kids the freedom to express their love of fallen teen idols with paint.

Descending from three generations of dairy farmers, siblings Casey and Alison Stechnij carry on their family's legacy by maintaining Superstition Farm's 30 acres. The brother-and-sister duo regularly shepherd informative tours through the landscape, summoning horses, chickens, goats, and sheep to greet guests and share their perspectives. The four-legged residents also assist in horseback riding lessons and appearances at the onsite petting zoo.

Every Thursday, local food trucks flock to Superstition Farm for a weekly market, where they vend fresh produce, breads, and meats alongside the farm's own dairy products, including the house-made Udder Delights brand of ice cream and artisanal cheeses. Superstition Farm further disseminates its farm-fresh cuisine via a 30-foot-long food truck that makes appearances at local events and defends cattle against the persistent threat of monster trucks.

A kaleidoscope of multichromatic blossoms and emerald leaves bursts from the soil, blanketing 65 acres of desert landscape at Desert Botanical Garden. Diverse walkways flanked by more than 50,000 types of cacti, succulents, and wildflowers educate visitors on the importance of protecting the environment and not hugging every plant they see. In addition to the garden's more stationary organisms, some of which go home with local green thumbs during biannual plant sales, numerous avian and insect species make their homes amid the thriving greenery.

Players wage war across VIP Airsoft’s 19,000-square-foot cityscape, unleashing BBs down alleys, corridors, and courtyards. Referees regulate each game, roaming the field to stop unfair play or illegal equipment usage. Vanguard also rents airsoft guns to warriors who often also don chest, face, and hand protection. Between games, players can take advantage of free WiFi and satellite-television streams or check out the on-site pro shop and online products page to pick up new gear.