Watching artwork take shape is like seeing a flower bloom: it unfolds gradually, it's full of mystery, and in the end you can't resist sneezing all over it. Cover your mouth and open your mind with today's Groupon for the Lux Art Institute in Encinitas. Choose from three options.

• For $9, you get two admission tickets, each good for two visits during the same artist residency (a $20 value).
• For $25, you get an individual membership (a $50 value).
• For $50, you get a family membership for two adults and all children in the same household (a $100 value).

The Lux Art Institute cracks open the musty cage surrounding the artistic process, showcasing not just finished artworks but also putting working artists themselves on display for audiences to engage with and assess. Members gain free admission to the Institute's collection of rotating exhibitions and permanent installations, a discount on enrollment for kids' camps and classes, as well as a subscription to the Lux Quarterly Newsletter and invitations to artist lectures, roundtables, and Lux Residency openings. Because regular admission tickets are good for two visits during the same residency, arterati are free to return for second helpings of painting pie, charcoal casserole, and sculpture soufflé.

Reviews

The Lux Art Institute won a Grand Orchid award for architecture and landscaping. The museum has also been featured in the Los Angeles Times, North County Times, and Kontact Mag. Five Yelpers give them a 3.5 star average.

• Lux Art Institute, an innovative approach to art exhibition, creation and consumption housed within an architecturally striking building along the San Diego coast. – Gregory Collins, Kontact Mag
• A living, breathing, vital local adjunct to those who love and respect the artistic creative process. – gail p.,Yelp