The first workshop based on the Triangle Arts prototype , was held in 1982 in Manhattan. Thirty seven countries now hold these workshops annually and more than three thousand artists a year take place in the events and the classes. The workshops are organized by the artists native to whichever country the workshop is being given at the time. Each session is an uninterrupted segment of time, usually running two weeks, where artists can just simply focus on their work, and the work of their peers, without the influences of the outside, day to day life imposing. Each workshop has only up to twenty-five participants at one time, allowing every ones voice to be heard, and work to be seen.
The first of the Thupelo Art Project workshops to be held in South Africa, was in Johannesburg in 1985. The center of town, including the restaurants and hotels Johannesburg offers supported the newly emerging opportunities for the artists of their community. This series of workshops was organized by Bill Ainslie and David Koloane. Not only is there the opportunity to learn from the instructors, but the students found that they learned much from each other, as every artist had something to offer to the group. Koloane attributes much of the success of the South African workshops to the fact that over the years, the black artists of the country have been breaking stereotypes and taking chances with their work. The international art world has finally come to see just what these artists are capable of creating.
Now the Thupelo workshops are also held in Cape Town. Artists travel from all over the world to attend those classes that are available here, and to take advantage of a facility that was born out of the success, the Greatmore Studio space. This is a working artists space, where local artists live and have access to exhibitions in the gallery, and to take place in the various outreach programs that are funded here. Similar studio spaces have resulted, such as the South African, Bag Factory and the Gasworks Studio in Great Britain.