This class will introduce students to acrylics, watercolor, inks, pastels, crayons and collage materials. Learn to play with these mediums and express yourself in your own unique way. Students will explore texture, shape, line and color with a focus on composition and design. Come unleash your creative spirit!
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Laurie Daddona
Cost: $235
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Jill Carver will discuss how unity and variety are paramount to create overall harmony in a painting, exploring design tools relating to the core components of shape, value and color. Not only will she be explaining how to manage each of these elements but also how to explore the visual ‘what-if’s’, experiment, and identify ways to produce personal, poetic, intentional paintings. Jill embraces the notion that creativity - and fun - are rooted in the design choices we make. She will also explain how the choice of design/compositional tools should be dictated by the subject matter and what an individual artist wishes to say about it. Jill will structure the workshop through set exercises, slide-shows, lectures, demos and brainstorming discussions.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Jill Carver
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Monotypes are an expressive and accessible entry into printmaking: draw or paint an image on a Plexiglas plate or other surface and then print it on paper or fabric to create a one-of-a-kind artwork. Instruction will cover both hand-printing and press techniques, as well as water- and oil-based colors. Tuition includes a $20 lab fee.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Tony Rosati
Cost: $470
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Printing from a drawing carved into wood or a linoleum block is the oldest and most straightforward form of printmaking. The direct nature of this process makes it an ideal introduction to printmaking for beginners, while artists of all levels enjoy its potential for intricate detail and graphic impact. This six-week course is the perfect condensed exploration into this striking technique. All aspects of the process will be covered, including drawing on the block, carving your design and printing black-and white and color prints. All levels welcome. Tuition includes a $20 lab fee.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Ron Wyffels
Cost: $315
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

This six-week course teaches the basic skills needed for making metal sculpture. Learn fundamental methods of cutting, bending and welding metal such as sawing, heating, and MIG welding. Students will be encouraged to explore the medium with directness and spontaneity to gain a knowledge and understanding of its complexion. Note: Tuition includes a $25 lab fee.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Steve Nocella
Cost: $320
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Learn to explore new possibilities and paint more intuitively under the guidance of artist/critic/mentor Kassem Amoudi! Work from personal subject matter (objects, images, emotions, or ideas) to find your own visual language, informed by examples from contemporary and modern art. Examine how to use concepts of color, harmony, focal point, space, and mark-making as powerful tools of personal expression. Open painting is heavily supported by critiques and advice from the instructor as he works one-on-one with each student to guide them in their personal style and goals. This course is excellent for students pursuing abstract or nonobjective imagery, seeking knowledgeable feedback and a focused community painting environment. Painting experience recommended.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Kassem Amoudi
Cost: $450
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Lithography is a versatile printmaking process that allows for a complete range of drawing effects: contour line, hatching/cross-hatching, painterly wash applications, expressive mark-making, and reductive techniques. Learn all aspects of the lithographic process through step-by-step demonstrations and hands-on practice: preparing a traditional stone or lightweight aluminum plate; creating your own drawing from observation, imagination or photographic transfer using a range of drawing materials; selecting paper; printing in black-and-white and color; and editioning your prints. Note: Tuition includes a $20 lab fee.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Ron Wyffels
Cost: $470
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

The versatile nature of screenprinting lends itself to printing on paper, fabric and other surfaces. For the beginner, this course will cover all aspects of the process including screen preparation, image development, and printing techniques. Printmakers with experience may propose independent projects. Note: Tuition includes $20 lab fee.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Tony Rosati
Cost: $470
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Explore the possibilities of stone carving by using traditional and nontraditional methods. All processes from rough carving to polishing will be covered, and various tools and techniques will be demonstrated. Develop proficiency in basic tool use including manual carving, pneumatic carving, sawing, grinding, and sanding. Open to all levels. Tuition includes $20 lab fee.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Steve Nocella
Cost: $470
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Gouache (opaque watercolor paint) is the perfect medium for landscape painting in the open air! Painters of all levels will fall in love with it as a portable, fast-drying, and easy-to-clean-up alternative to oils. Explore gouache’s subtle but vibrant color and versatile application methods as you portray the beauty of Philadelphia’s parks in your own personal style. Learn techniques for choosing a composition, mixing color, and working efficiently outdoors as you complete a series of rapid sketches and at least one sustained painting. Open to all levels. Painting locations featuring shade, restrooms, and other amenities may include Wissahickon Park in Mt. Airy, Washington Square Park near Independence Hall, and Bartram's Garden in Southwest Philadelphia. Students are responsible for their own transportation.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Michelle Oosterbaan
Cost: $325
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

This course presents basic intaglio and monotype printing techniques including monoprint, drypoint, etching, aquatint, collograph and polymer plate methods. Image embellishments will include embossing, chine collé, collage, paper plates and mixed media techniques. All levels welcome; experienced students may continue independent work. Tuition includes a $20 lab fee. 
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Tony Rosati
Cost: $315
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Artist, philosopher, and influential 20th-century composer John Cage, along with artist and educator Sister Corita Kent, developed a set of 10 Rules for Students and Teachers to encourage artistic production. Learn to apply these valuable guidelines to your own creative processes to find useful and meaningful ways of generating ideas, moving past ruts or stumbling blocks, and maintaining a steady and productive studio practice.  This hands-on drawing/mixed-media class will utilize engaging exercises to challenge you to go beyond your comfort zone and find inspiration in chance and impediments. Work on paper in your choice of media from imagination or prompts to explore means of building abstract imagery through personal means of mark-making and layering.  Instruction will be supplemented by discussions.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Keith Leitner
Cost: $295
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Push the boundaries of what it means to paint with acrylics in this exciting exploration into experimental techniques. Explore the fluid, sculptural, assembled possibilities of acrylics! This hands-on, one-of-a-kind journey will take you places that you never thought you would go in acrylic painting: pour paint to make layers of color that can be peeled up, sculpted into three-dimensional forms, or collaged and layered into other works. Create flexible tiles of acrylic color that can be snipped, shaped, and assembled into mosaics or applied to a variety of surfaces for artistic or decorative effects. Discover a myriad of alternative supports, brushes, and methods of paint application to incorporate abstract effects into your current body of work.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Anthony Ciambella
Cost: $295
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Nature can stimulate creativity and mindfulness, and likewise mindful creativity can amplify one’s appreciation of nature. Improve your ability to be conscious in and with nature by creating a temporary artwork in a natural setting using the materials found there. Making an artwork onsite not only amplifies attention to the beautiful details of one’s surroundings, but also the ephemeral, or impermanent, nature of land work releases the artist from preconceived ideas or pressures of making a lasting "product" so that they can be concerned only with creating in the moment. Students will create their works in Montgomery County's peaceful Fort Washington State Park, and afterward photograph it or make a short video to preserve the memory.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Colleen O'Donnell
Cost: $125
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

The act of hand-stitching is a meditative and relaxing process that produces beautiful and unique results without any machine required. Learn the techniques of slow-stitching by creating your own small (wall-hanging)-sized quilt. All techniques will be taught by hand, but students are welcome to bring personal sewing machines if they wish. The following methods will be taught: Patchwork, Applique (raw edge and turned edge), Traditional quilting & tied quilting, and Binding.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Sheryl Kessler
Cost: $195
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Many artists can feel frustrated in front of a blank canvas, unsure of how to start and what to paint. This workshop offers a step-by-step technique which will enable you to paint with confidence by tapping into your intuitive process and finding inspiration more easily. Experienced instruction and advice from the instructor will push students to take chances and explore unexpected directions and accidental marks as a means of achieving artistic discoveries. Demonstration of different drawing and painting techniques will enhance your knowledge of the process of painting. Students will utilize line, color and space, as well as the possibilities of editing, to create busy/calm areas and focal points in their paintings. Painting experience recommended.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Kassem Amoudi
Cost: $225
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

The primary focus of this 3-day in-classroom workshop will be on color. While Cynthia is known as a palette knife painter and will give a knife demo, the aim of the workshop is to help people find their own visual voice. What separates you from your fellow painters, what are your particular skills and strengths from which to grow?
 
Location: Marietta, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Cynthia Rosen
Cost: $450
Sponsor: Susquehanna Art Workshops
Website, email, 717-314-9551