Sofonisba Atelier · For companies · Pilot 2027
Sofonisba Sessions
A three-session drawing course for employees, taught by artist Paulina Ree. Participants learn drawing techniques step by step and take home a simple creative practice to manage everyday stress. No art skills needed.
Designed for HR and people leaders at companies in the Oslo area with 50 to 500 employees, including international teams working in English.
The challenge
One in four sick-leave days in Norway is caused by mental health problems.
Most of that pressure builds slowly, day after day.
26%
of doctor-certified sick-leave days in 2025 were due to mental health disorders (29% for women, 23% for men). Only musculoskeletal disorders were higher, at 33%. Source: NAV.
6.57%
total sick leave in 2025. For a company of 100 people, that is roughly six and a half full-time positions absent on an average day.
2019
is when mental health sick leave began to rise sharply, with especially strong growth from 2022 to 2024.
Under the Working Environment Act, employers in Norway must work systematically on the psychosocial work environment, and the national IA agreement 2025 to 2028 targets lower sick leave. A drawing course can be one preventive measure within that work. It is not treatment.
Why art
Making art lowers a body marker of stress, even for people who have never painted.
45 minutes of art-making lowered cortisol, a hormone linked to stress, in about 75% of adults in a Drexel University study of 39 participants, regardless of prior art experience.
The World Health Organization reviewed more than 3,000 studies and found a role for the arts in preventing ill health and supporting wellbeing.
Your Brain on Art (Random House, 2023) shows how hospitals and clinics bring artists and creative activity into care. Its authors lead the International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins Medicine and design at Google.
We use this research to design the sessions. We do not promise clinical outcomes.
The course · 3 hours per session
One technique per session, step by step.
Each session teaches one technique, with demonstration, guided exercises and individual feedback. Three hours gives people who are not used to drawing time to settle before they start. Sessions are taught in English, and the materials used are included.
A session:
Arrive and land, 20 min. Phones away, tea, a short grounding exercise.
Warm-up exercises, 30 min. Basic mark-making and observation, so nobody faces a blank page alone.
Technique and guided practice, 90 min. Demonstration and practice of the session’s technique, on a theme agreed with HR.
Reflect and transfer, 30 min. Small-group sharing, and one simple drawing practice to use at work as a pause from stress.
Close, 10 min. Everyone leaves with their own drawing and a short practice guide.
Before the first session, we hold a 30-minute call with HR to adapt the theme to the team: everyday stress, change, team connection, or recovery after an intense period.
The pilot course · 3 sessions, 1 report
A single session is a one-off. Three sessions build a skill and a habit.
The pilot runs three sessions with the same group over three months. Each session builds on the last: charcoal and pencil, then pastels, then watercolour, ending with a shared piece the group creates together. The results report gives HR what it needs to decide whether to continue.
Formats and prices
The atelier, away from the workplace, or a course at your office.
Atelier experience · up to 10
NOK 54,000
Pilot, 3 sessions. A working artist’s studio in Bekkestua, outside the office. Full immersion, no interruptions.
At your office · up to 15
NOK 45,000
Pilot, 3 sessions. We bring all materials to your meeting room. Easy for busy teams.
Included. The HR kick-off call, a one-page summary after each session, both surveys and the results report.
Founding partners. The first two companies receive 30% off the pilot: NOK 37,800 at the atelier, NOK 31,500 at your office. The group keeps the shared piece created in session 3, with a team photo, in exchange for a testimonial and permission to share photos, with participants’ consent.
Single sessions and larger groups. On request.
VAT. VAT is not currently charged and may be added if legally required.
Payment. The pilot is invoiced at signing, with 14 days’ payment terms.
Accessibility. The atelier has lift access and is wheelchair accessible.
Measuring impact
HR gets a one-page summary within two working days of each session.
After the third session, HR receives a short report comparing how participants felt before the first session and after the third.
What we measure:
Wellbeing: the WHO-5 Well-Being Index, five internationally used questions, before session 1 and after session 3.
Stress in the moment: one question on a scale from 0 to 10, at the start and end of every session.
Use at work: “Have you used the technique since the last session?” in sessions 2 and 3.
Value to the team: would you recommend it to a colleague, plus one open comment, after session 3.
All answers are anonymous. HR only sees group results, reported only for groups of five or more, so no one can be identified. Taking part in the surveys is voluntary.
Who we are
Paulina Ree, artist and course lead
Sofonisba Atelier is the studio of artist Paulina Ree in Bekkestua, named after the Renaissance painter Sofonisba Anguissola.
Next step
Book a 20-minute call.
We listen to what your team is going through and tell you honestly whether this pilot fits. Founding pilots start from January 2027, or earlier by agreement.
Sofonisba Atelier, Gamle Ringeriksvei 39, Bekkestua. A session can be moved free of charge up to 7 days before.
Sources
NAV: Sick leave annual note 2025 · Regjeringen: IA agreement 2025 to 2028 · Drexel University: art-making and cortisol (Kaimal, Ray and Muniz, Art Therapy, 2016) · WHO Europe: arts and health scoping review (Fancourt and Finn, 2019) · Johns Hopkins: Your Brain on Art (Magsamen and Ross, 2023) · CORC: WHO-5 Well-Being Index