Matthew, 75, and Fiona Robertson, 66, have taught drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, mask-making and pottery workshops for children at King Edward Court, in Stuart St, since 2004.
Today, the Robertsons will be taking their last workshop.
The only rules Mr Robertson had for the children at Ma Fi Arts were no teasing or bullying, respect the tools and materials and 15 minutes of compulsory drawing at the start of each workshop.
He wanted to create an environment where the learning was led by the children and he did not "boss them around".
The couple gave them minimal instruction and allowed them to figure out what they wanted to do on any given day.
"When the kids come here, no motivation talk is necessary, because the room itself motivates.
"We’ve got everything — not only the drums — but we’ve also got kid-sized guitars and all sorts of things."
Children came for a minimum of three hours and some stayed all day.
"They never miss a beat, they just keep going.
"We do so much for so many kids.
"It’s all about creativity and self-control and self-discipline."
Moving out of King Edward Court was going to be an enormous undertaking.
Mr Robertson said he would prefer it if a couple of young artists took over teaching the workshops.
He was open to helping them.
Holding back tears, he said Ma Fi Arts had been the "fulfilment of an ambition".
As a student and high school teacher, he found there was too much overt discipline, aggression and bullying in education.
"It wasn’t my way. My way was always to be inclusive."
