These two carefully guided, immersive days in the studio will focus on nurturing perceptual discrimination and clarifying observation, asking questions about not what we see, but more importantly, how we see, within the experience of visual encounter. Working both the from the model and from reproductions (including older and 20th century masters,) we’ll paint our way through a sequence of playful visual exercises and explorations, to understand that abstraction – composition/design with color and shape – is THE foundation, the great engine behind all painting.
 
Location: Philadelphia, PA, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Stuart Shils
Cost: $395
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery and Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

Embody the spirit of spring with fresh and immediate painting! Learn to capture the essence of a living, botanical subject quickly and spontaneously in pencil and watercolor. This alla prima method can be used for preparatory studies for sustained paintings, compiling a field sketchbook, or as an end in itself. All levels welcome. Tuition includes a $10 materials fee to cover floral subjects.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Linda Gist
Cost: $205
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Embrace the vibrant renewal of spring by creating a field sketchbook dedicated to the season’s first growth. This hands-on workshop invites participants to capture the earliest indicators of a new botanical cycle—delicate ferns, fleeting spring ephemerals, sprouting bulbs and flowers, and the swelling buds of trees—through lively exercises in pencil, ink, and watercolor. Learn to observe subtle changes in the landscape as expert instruction guides you through techniques for recording form, color, and texture in real time. Perfect for both budding and experienced artists, this class will nurture observational skills and creativity while deepening your connection to nature’s awakening. Leave with a good start to a beautifully illustrated sketchbook filled with your own studies of spring’s earliest wonders.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Margaret Saylor
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Unlocking Composition is a two-day immersive workshop that helps artists create stronger, more visually engaging paintings by putting theory into practice. Working from their own photos, participants will learn to break down complex scenes into simplified shapes and values. They’ll learn how to make and use focal areas that guide the viewer’s eye. On the second day, we’ll delve into understanding balance and unity to create harmony in a painting. Through lectures, demonstrations, and one-on-one- instruction, artists will learn the tools Mark uses to analyze and design a painting. By the end, artists will have practical tools and strategies to approach composition confidently and apply key principles to their own work, helping their paintings feel more cohesive and engaging.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Mark Vander Vinne
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Geometry has been a source of interest, beauty and creative inspiration for the artist through the ages. Geometric forms, lines and shapes are all around us and can be seen in everything from architecture to plant life to seashells. Learn non-mathematical strategies inspired by geometry designed to enhance your ongoing body of work or be the starting point for a new one with focus on simplifying subject matter, building a unified composition and creating or enhancing a color palette. Work in the medium of your choice: acrylic, gouache or watercolor while working from your own reference photographs, drawings, books or digital imagery. Designed for both beginners and experienced art makers.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Michael Smith
Cost: $175
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery & Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

Unity ties a painting together—think matching colors, similar brushstrokes, and overall vibe. Rhythm keeps things lively by guiding your eye with repeated shapes, lines, and energetic brushstrokes and marks. When both qualities interact, something remarkable happens: the painting becomes a seamless blend of order and vitality and true beauty emerges. This workshop is all about Unity and Rhythm, and we'll keep things hands-on with some basic techniques you can actually use. Students are encouraged to paint what they love. You can bring objects from home to build your own still life arrangements or bring photo references you like. I will provide a still life arrangement. All skill levels welcome. Work in oil, acrylic, or gouache.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Fred Jackson
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This intensive workshop is designed for those looking to push their portrait drawing abilities toward the professional level. Demonstrations and in-class exercises will open up how you see, think, and approach the creation of a likeness, avoiding common pitfalls. Explore subtleties of form and the relationships of lines, planes and tones, capturing the character and energy of the subject. Additionally, instruction will cover facial expressions and deep anatomy of the face, neck, and upper body. Drawing will be primarily in graphite pencil and stick. Introductory portrait drawing or equivalent recommended. Note: Tuition includes a $10 models fee. For more introductory instruction, see the instructor's Portrait in Pencil Workshop (not required for enrollment in the Advanced workshop).
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: RA Friedman
Cost: $205
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Have you been using a palette knife just to mix paint, but not sure how to use it on the canvas? In this one-day workshop, discover how to paint confidently with a knife to achieve bold texture, crisp edges, and expressive detail. Through demonstrations and hands-on practice, you’ll explore techniques for painting architecture and landscapes with depth and energy. Learn to create vibrant color, dynamic texture, and a more painterly approach in this fun, fast-paced class.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Shushana Rucker
Cost: $95
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery & Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

Do you jot down writings as you paint? Or maybe you have an ongoing writing practice. Join poet and artist Cathleen Cohen and explore the link between painting and poetry. Deepen and expand your creative process even if you've never written a poem before! Draw and paint with watercolor and write in response to helpful prompts in a supportive environment. Examine how artists like Jean Arp, Kenneth Patchen and Wassily Kandinsky linked the written word and visual art. All levels welcome.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Cathleen Cohen
Cost: $75
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery & Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

Photolithography the process by which images are photographically transferred to a plate and then printed. This wonderfully approachable practice allows students to transition from image creation to printing relatively quickly while still learning the principles of lithographic printmaking. In this short course, students will be guided through the process of creating monochromatic and multi-color lithographs using both photographic materials and hand-drawn imagery. Instruction will cover film drawing techniques, plate exposure, developing, and press printing. This type of printmaking is excellent as an introduction to lithography as well as a great technique for experienced printmakers to add to their repertoire. Tuition includes a $20 lab fee.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Justine Ditto
Cost: $315
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

This class offers a combination of instruction and open studio practice allowing students to explore, take chances, develop critical thinking, and cultivate their artistic voices. Participants investigate basic color theory, learn how to create strong compositions, and develop technical skills. The choice of medium is up to each individual. Supportive individual and group critiques, specific assignments and demonstrations will encourage students to pursue their personal styles and growth.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Val Rossman
Cost: $300
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Watercolor is a versatile medium, which can be both transparent and opaque. Using a variety of subject matter, some techniques explored will be drawing for watercolor, painting without drawing, wet-in-wet watercolor, glazing with watercolor washes, the use of gouache and other aqueous media with watercolor. The instructor will start each class with a demonstration or an explanation of the technique for the day. Students will be encouraged to work in their own personal style. Each class will end with a group critique with the emphasis on constructive criticism.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Wendy Scheirer
Cost: $250
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Clouds and trees are common and important features in landscape paintings, their masses frequently encompassing significant portions of the composition. But how does the artist imbue these elements with texture, individuality, and detail without making them appear contrived or overfussed? Examine types of cloud masses and how they may best be translated through additive and reductive methods. Explore means of mimicking organic tree forms through brush movement and how to use color and detail to suggest distance. Instruction includes painting demonstrations as well as a review of how master artists have represented these features in historic and contemporary works. Open to all levels. Demonstrations will be conducted in watercolor, but this class presents valuable information for painters of all media.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: James Toogood
Cost: $225
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Wondering what Water Mixable Oil paints are all about? During this one-day intensive workshop, Beth shares her unique techniques. Beth uses unconventional tools including squeegees and Q-tips, along with her brushes focusing on composition, values, edges, and drawing rather than color. Beth will do a demo and show how she uses photography and simple apps on her phone to simplify forms enhance value and emphasize composition. She will also discuss how to pick objects that make an exciting still life set up. Beth will have paint for her students to try as well as one of her prepared painting panels, brushes and other supplies for you to use during the workshop.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Beth Bathe
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This workshop will provide an opportunity for those interested in the palette knife and other alternative painting tools to broaden horizons and creative skills. While all mediums are invited, the workshop is particularly geared to those working in oils or acrylics. The format, while reinforcing the basic skills needed for the creation of well-balanced colorful images, is individualized to accommodate a wide variety of experience levels as well as styles of painting; and from those interested in representational to abstract imagery. This is the perfect workshop for those wishing to introduce new tools to their repertoire, better master color usage, and gain a range of techniques for applying paint.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Cynthia Rosen
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Capture the small-town beauty Manayunk's hilly streets, rowhomes, and storefronts. Learn to create a convincing sense of space, light and time of day while depicting streetscapes, trees, water and sky. Color mixing and painting techniques for oils will be demonstrated, but all drawing/painting media are welcome. Located just 15 minutes outside of Philadelphia, Manayunk offers engaging urban and riverside neighborhood subjects with parking, shade, provisions and facilities available. Note: Students are responsible for their own transportation to painting locations.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Larry Francis
Cost: $295
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

This class with instruction by Alice Meyer Wallace will focus on classic watercolor techniques used by Sargeant, Homer, Rodin, Nolde, and particularly Charles Demuth, from Lancaster, PA. Come enjoy this fun and relaxed class! The class will work predominantly from still life but on occasion, the instructor will lead the class in painting from the model (2 times) and there will be an option of experimenting with watercolor and collage.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Alice Meyer-Wallace
Cost: $250
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This 12-week course is for beginners who want to explore drawing and oil painting, and for more experienced artists who want to improve their artistic skills. Using still-life compositions, students will learn about form, space, design, value, and color through working observationally. In addition, the instructor will introduce a variety of artists who are representative of the lessons provided and conduct in-process and final critiques for a helpful synopsis of the student’s progress and ideas. The class will be broken up into two weeks of drawing and four weeks of painting, but the student is open to work in any medium if they prefer.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Annie Gardner
Cost: $210
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This class will focus on the fundamentals of painting with watercolors and will include step-by-step instruction with demonstrations and practice. Attention and focus on individual growth at the students’ own pace will be central in this class. Learn to paint watercolors in a free, fun and fluent manner. Discover and nurture your own personal style of expression. All levels welcome.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Indira Cariappa
Cost: $290
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This class with instruction by Alice Meyer Wallace will focus on classic watercolor techniques used by Sargeant, Homer, Rodin, Nolde, and particularly Charles Demuth, from Lancaster, PA. Come enjoy this fun and relaxed class! The class will work predominantly from still life but on occasion, the instructor will lead the class in painting from the model (2 times) and there will be an option of experimenting with watercolor and collage.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Alice Meyer-Wallace
Cost: $165
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This workshop is for those who are new to oil painting or have limited experience. Through discussion and demonstration, it covers all the basics such as what painting medium is for and how much to use, what different type brushes are about, and strategies for putting paint on canvas. Learn how to how to mix and use color to get the results you want. Drawing experience is recommended.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Frederick Kaplan
Cost: $95
Sponsor: Cerulean Arts Gallery & Studio
Website, email, 267-514-8647

This workshop focuses on discovering your unique abstract voice. Through a series of small paintings created on the first day, you'll begin to recognize the development of your authentic expression and how it distinguishes you from other artists. These initial works may also reveal insights into how adjusting your approach to using visual language can more powerfully express your abstract voice. The second day features group discussion exploring how artistic inspiration shapes color and composition differently for each artist, followed by individual consultations on integrating the workshop's insights into your personal practice. This workshop is for artists with some painting experience and artists with a lot of painting experience.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Marianne Mitchell
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Learn the techniques and tools of figure sculpture through demonstration and hands-on sculpting from the model. Explore anatomy, proportion, gesture, and design through the versatility of clay. Personal expression will be emphasized though representational and abstract approaches. Open to all levels and perfect for beginners. Tuition includes a $35 models fee.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Colleen O'Donnell
Cost: $230
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Painting a face can be complex, maybe even overwhelming. Knowing where to start can be the key to a meaningful painting process and the success of your work. This workshop is devoted to the crucial first step in developing a portrait – doing a tonal study of the values or “grisaille”. Relative values and creating a sense of light will be explained and demonstrated. We will be concentrating on the proportions of the face and features, and getting a “likeness,” while painting from a live model. Students will be using a single color (or color mix) of paint during this workshop. Demos, handouts, and lots of one-on-one feedback at your easel. The workshop is geared toward oil painting but other mediums are welcome.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Ellen Cooper
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This course will focus on issues of, composition, color, texture, measure, likeness, proportion, with special attention given to technical painting issues, like, how to translate skin’s complex surface characteristics in paint. Demonstrations of a layered painting technique to bring out the full depth and richness of color in our portraits will be presented and discussed. The class will include demonstrations, discussions of masterworks, both traditional and contemporary, and thoughtful feedback on work. The drawing course will be a valuable resource for participants of any age and skill level. This course is open to all skill levels, from beginners to advanced, encouraging all participants to deepen their knowledge of portraiture through the process of painting.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Ernie Norcia
Cost: $300
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

The convincing depiction of form in three-dimensional space is one of the great conceptual breakthroughs in Western art initiated during the Renaissance. This class will begin by drawing still life items on toned paper. How do you begin a drawing, and when do you stop? We will explore physical viewpoint, composition and the rendering of light and shadow to create mood and feeling. Recreate what you see with power and fresh vision. The goal is to build a drawing vocabulary that communicates your thoughts and feelings. The class will include demonstrations, discussions of masterworks and thoughtful feedback on class work. The drawing participants will discover this to be a valuable resource for more advanced work in drawing and painting.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Ernie Norcia
Cost: $300
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Working from cast studies and life models, this class emphasizes the rhythm, form and structure of the human figure, with attention placed on introductory anatomy. Students encouraged to explore a variety of mediums, including charcoal and graphite. All levels welcome, from beginner through experienced. High School students ages 16 and older are welcome.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Michael Doyle
Cost: $300
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Take your work to the next level under the mentoring guidance of artist/critic Kassem Amoudi. In this live focused open studio environment, all levels of students will discover how to enhance their own visual language and interests exploring new ways of painting. Expert instruction and advice from the instructor will push students to explore new possibilities and work more intuitively, allowing unplanned marks and passages to become artistic breakthroughs. Examples from contemporary and modern art will be examined to promote a broader understanding of the abstract qualities of space, line and color. Advance beyond confined lines and hard edges to a more liberated way of painting. It does not matter What you paint. It is the How you paint it.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Kassem Amoudi
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Want to make a couple of really cool pots this session? In this workshop style class, we will be exploring multi-piece pots that will be a combination of wheel thrown sections, hand-built sections and a variety of surface design techniques to complete larger pots. We will be focusing on, designing our pots, building each section, adding coils, slabs, carving and finishing with stains and glazes. This class is designed to elevate your pottery into eye catching works of art. Prior wheel throwing knowledge required. Class tuition includes your first bag of stoneware clay as well as glazes and firing fees for coursework completed in class.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Eva Hozinez
Cost: $405
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This hand building class is appropriate for beginners and advanced students. Demos on the three major hand building techniques coils, slabs and pinching will prepare students to discover and develop their own unique approach to working with clay, embracing and mastering a particular method or combination of techniques unique to each student. There will also be two pit firings, offering an alternative means of finishing the work. Tuition includes the first bag of stoneware, glazing and firing of coursework completed.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Jimmy Clark
Cost: $305
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

From entry level to advanced wheel and handbuilding skills, all are welcome here! Bring your creativity and ability to think outside the box into the studio and watch your clay projects come to life. Do you have something you have always wanted to make out of clay? Bring your idea to class and we can make it happen. Ready to learn the basics or fine tune the mechanics of the potters wheel? Great! Veronica will be there with a potters wheel demo every week. Handbuilding on thrown pieces have endless possibilities so come and join the fun! Tuition includes your first bag of stoneware plus glazing and firing of work completed in your coursework.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Veronica McLaughlin
Cost: $305
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Satisfy your curiosity about clay! Come get your hands dirty in this fun and thorough introduction to throwing pots on the pottery wheel. After throwing pots you’ll learn how to decorate and glaze your ceramic work for the final firing. What have you always wanted to make? Coffee mugs, bowls, a decorated plate or vases. You will have the opportunity to learn the skills required to make these wheel thrown forms. Each student will receive a 25 lb bag of clay included in the price of the class. Additional clay may be purchased after that. Tools are available for purchase from the center, or you can bring your own tools. Wear old clothes or a smock……throwing is dirty but fun!
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Peter Murray
Cost: $305
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

All levels welcome! In this 12-week session we will use the coil method to construct forms starting with coil pots. These forms can be based off of ancient or modern pottery. As students progress they will learn various handbuilding techniques to use with the coil method. Projects will continue based on student interest and ideas. Sam will continue to demonstrate any methods needed to support project ideas. First bag of clay, firing and glazing fees for work completed in class are provided.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Sam Diamond
Cost: $305
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Paper clay, or as many people call it fiber clay, is the process in ceramics where artists add cellulose fibers to plastic clay. These fibers burn out after the first firing leaving only the clay remaining. Adding these fibers makes the clay easier to work with and more plastic. However, many of the rules that govern regular clay do not apply to paper clay. Jerry Bennett, a leading international paper clay artist, will conduct a hands-on course which will provide an opportunity for students to explore and experience new approaches to functional pottery and sculptural forms using paper clay.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Jerry Bennett
Cost: $325
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Discover the freedom and spontaneity of loose watercolor painting in this fun, relaxed class! This course focuses on letting go of perfection and embracing the unpredictable beauty of watercolor. You'll learn techniques for painting with soft edges, vibrant color blends, and expressive brushwork—without getting caught up in too many details. Working from your own photo references, we’ll explore subjects like florals, landscapes, and everyday scenes, while gaining confidence in your own unique style. If you’d like to break out of a tight, controlled approach, this class will help you loosen up and enjoy the process.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Anne Whalon
Cost: $210
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Want to draw things that look “real”? Creating accurate drawings is a skill set that can be learned, step by step, like any other skill. In this class, we’ll begin at the beginning. We’ll get familiar and comfortable with a range of pencils and erasers. We’ll do simple exercises to start sharpening your ability to see critically. You’ll learn how to translate what you see to lines on the page. You’ll look for shapes, angles, and distances. Then we’ll look at what helps define an object in space, and how to use shading to create all the effects you want, from shiny metal to soft fur, from see-through glass to a human hand.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Mamie Duff
Cost: $250
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Whether it is portrait, still life, landscape or abstracts, the presence of light against shadow gives the subject form and dimension. Bring your own inspiration to class and with this principle in mind, watch your paintings come to life! Composition and color mixing will be a focus in this class. All mediums and skill levels are welcome!
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Stefanie Lieberman
Cost: $250
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This 12-week course invites students into the exciting world of abstract mixed media art. Guided by artist and educator Birgit Raders-Eichinger, students will explore a wide range of materials, techniques, tools and compositional strategies to create richly layered artwork. Topics include mark-making, texture, layering, contrast, intuitive composition, adding and subtracting, similar but different, balance, and focal points. The course encourages experimentation with tools like brushes, palette knives, color shapers, and unconventional materials. Participants will develop and refine at least one (or more) large cohesive abstract collage artwork, while also creating smaller exploratory pieces throughout the course as part of learning new techniques and materials. Students will be encouraged to take risks, trust their intuition, and enjoy the process of discovery.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Birgit Raders-Eichinger
Cost: $350
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Designed for artists ready to challenge themselves and take their work to the next level, this class is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of the artist's own creative process and sensibility. A variety of subject matter will be explored. Previous drawing and painting experience is recommended.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Karen Fogarty
Cost: $350
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Led by master artist Michael Doyle, students consider the composition of a figure within an interior setting. Students may elect to draw or paint, using a variety of materials.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Michael Doyle
Cost: $350
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Whether it is portrait, still life, landscape or abstracts, the presence of light against shadow gives the subject form and dimension. Bring your own inspiration to class and with this principle in mind, watch your paintings come to life! Composition and color mixing will be a focus in this class. All mediums and skill levels are welcome!
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Stefanie Lieberman
Cost: $300
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Acquaint or re-acquaint yourself with the pleasure of oil painting. Learn about the materials and techniques that form the basis of the medium. Students will use still life, simple and complex, as subject matter. All levels are welcome.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Karen Fogarty
Cost: $350
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Bring your current work to develop each week. The instructor will help you strengthen your existing approach and refine your paintings. All subject matter and mediums are welcome (instructor works in oil). We will explore ways to move beyond blending and over-polishing toward a more semi-abstract direction. With a focus on shape, color, and composition, your work can become more powerful as forms are distilled and the underlying painted structure emerges. *Please note this is a semi-abstract class, we will work with representation.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Claudia Rilling
Cost: $260
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Bring your own flowers and a small vase and learn how to set them up for a successful painting. We will explore shapes, lighting, and form, focusing on how they work together in a composition. Through a more gestural approach, you’ll learn how to suggest form and capture the essence of flowers without rendering small details. Medium: All (instructor works in oil).
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Claudia Rilling
Cost: $260
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Learn how to paint harmonious, vibrant watercolor paintings. Unlock the power of color in this 6-week watercolor course focused entirely on color theory and color mixing. Discover how to confidently mix clean, vibrant colors and create harmonious watercolor paintings. Learn the foundations of color theory, temperature, value, and palette design in this step-by-step course designed for beginners and intermediate artists.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Radhika Srinivas
Cost: $250
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Want to draw things that look “real”? Creating accurate drawings is a skill set that can be learned, step by step, like any other skill. In this class, we’ll begin at the beginning. We’ll get familiar and comfortable with a range of pencils and erasers. We’ll do simple exercises to start sharpening your ability to see critically. You’ll learn how to translate what you see to lines on the page. You’ll look for shapes, angles, and distances. Then we’ll look at what helps define an object in space, and how to use shading to create all the effects you want, from shiny metal to soft fur, from see-through glass to a human hand.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Mamie Duff
Cost: $290
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

We will begin by drawing the figure on toned paper. Our drawing tools will be charcoal and white chalk. We will explore physical viewpoint, effective composition and effective rendering of light and shadow to shape our expression and create a unified pictorial image. The goal is to encourage a sensitive approach to handling a wide range of values, in tandem with a variety of lines and edges to build a drawing vocabulary that communicates a class member’s visual ideas and ideals. The class will include demonstrations, discussions of masterworks, both traditional and contemporary, and thoughtful feedback on work. The drawing course will be a valuable resource for students of any age and skill level.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Ernie Norcia
Cost: $350
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Students explore all aspects of working with oils, with a strong emphasis on composition, color mixing and various painting techniques. Individual instruction provided in a fun and relaxed atmosphere. Ideal for beginners as well as more experienced artists.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Stefanie Lieberman
Cost: $350
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Few artists are as universally admired as Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669). With a career spanning the 17th century Dutch Golden Age, Rembrandt created intimate and probing self portraits and monumental civic works like 1642s The Night Watch. In his lifetime Rembrandt experienced both great success and devastating failures. This talk will consider the breath of Rembrandt’s work from brash early pictures to contemplative late ones. We’ll also explore the evolution of his painting technique which has been described as a kind of alchemy. The Art of Rembrandt builds on the groundwork of the talk Dutch Golden Age Painting presented on March 12th. William Perthes is an educator, author, and curator.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: William Perthes
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Water-based paints such as watercolor, gouache, and fluid acrylics are the perfect mediums for landscape painting in the open air! Work in your choice of these portable, fast-drying, and easy-to-clean-up alternatives to oils as you portray the beauty of spring in Philadelphia’s parks in your own personal style. Learn how to choose a composition and mix color for depth and expressive effects as you complete a series of rapid sketches and at least one sustained painting. Explore techniques for achieving transparency effects with stained gesso, working fat over lean, and rendering with ink over washes. Open to all levels. Painting locations feature shade, restrooms, and other amenities. Note: Students are responsible for their own transportation to painting locations.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Michelle Oosterbaan
Cost: $260
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Working in oil or pastel from photographic reference, this class is about translating the photographic image onto either canvas or paper. Focusing on color, value and mark making as essential tools, students are encouraged to move a step beyond the restraints of a camera to create a successful and personal work. Discussion will include working with painting mediums and exploring different techniques.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Anne Graham
Cost: $300
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Using your own inspiration e.g., photos, tablets, still life objects etc., you will learn different techniques to give your paintings life and energy. Composition, value, color mixing and technique will be the main focuses of this class. All mediums are welcome! All mediums and skill levels are welcome!
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Stefanie Lieberman
Cost: $350
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

In this guided acrylic class, students will all paint the same image using a photo reference while following a step-by-step demonstration by the instructor. Throughout the session, students will explore a variety of subjects. From serene landscapes to vibrant still lifes and intriguing textures, each painting process will help build skills and confidence with every brushstroke. Perfect for beginners or anyone looking to refine their technique in a relaxed, supportive atmosphere.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Nicole Lee
Cost: $290
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This class is for students who want to deepen their understanding of watercolors and move beyond the basics. We learn advanced techniques in a progressive, step by step manner. This class is very interactive with demos and practice. The students progress at their own pace. Everyone is encouraged to discover and develop their own style. This is a fun filled class, with one-on-one attention to every student.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Indira Cariappa
Cost: $290
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This course is designed to create paintings that we will build from a loose, underpainting and refine as we go along. This class is ideal for those painters who want to break out of the habit of focusing in on details and let the paint create a more expressive piece. Attention will be paid to composition, color mixing, paint application and technique. All skill levels welcome in a fun and relaxing atmosphere!
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Stefanie Lieberman
Cost: $350
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Uncovering the connection between your identity and your artwork can be both liberating and inspiring. In this class, we will explore methods designed to help you discover and develop your unique aesthetic and artistic voice. Our focus will be on paint handling, color selection, and composition. You will learn to manage your palette, make intentional color choices, and understand their impact on your work. Play will be encouraged! Music will serve as our muse, providing inspiration as you select your subject matter with guided support. This journey encourages mindfulness and self-discovery, and connects us more deeply with the world around us and ourselves. All skill levels are welcome and valued in this class.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Heidi Techner
Cost: $350
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Discover the joy of painting with the natural world as inspiration. In this gentle, exploratory class, students of all levels are invited to slow down, observe, and draw inspiration from the colors, textures, and rhythms of nature. Using flowers, trees, landscapes, and seasonal changes as starting points, we’ll experiment with playful techniques and creative prompts that spark imagination and personal expression. Rather than striving for perfect results, this course celebrates process over product...finding peace, presence, and delight in the act of painting itself. Along the way, you’ll cultivate a deeper connection to both nature and your own creativity. No prior painting experience is needed—just curiosity, openness, and a willingness to explore.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Heidi Techner
Cost: $350
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Discover the expressive world of pastel with artist Barbara Berry. Known for her emphasis on suggestion rather than precise detail, Barbara guides students on a journey of creative interpretation—inviting both beginners and seasoned artists to explore the rich possibilities of soft pastels. Through dynamic in-class still life setups and personal photographic references, participants will learn to capture atmosphere, emotion, and form with bold color and evocative strokes.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Barbara Berry
Cost: $350
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This 5-week course is for beginners who want to explore drawing, and for more experienced artists who want to improve their artistic skills. Using still-life compositions, students will learn about form, space, design, and value through working observationally. In addition, the instructor will introduce a variety of artists who are representative of the lessons provided and conduct in-process and final critiques for a helpful synopsis of the student’s progress and ideas.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Annie Gardner
Cost: $210
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

This course is designed to help you develop the skills needed to paint a portrait and achieve a likeness of your subject, working either in a traditional or contemporary style. Focus will be on observation, composition, and color with an emphasis on skin tones as well as learning to translate the various planes of color and light that are so important in painting the figure.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Anne Graham
Cost: $365
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Workshop participants will begin by learning to handle watercolor materials: papers, paints, brushes, palettes, and more. From the bold application of washes to fine detail, we’ll explore specifics: how to begin a watercolor and how to conclude a work, wet-in-wet to dry-brush, what to put in and what to leave out. The skillful use of the elements of composition and the simplification of form will provide a means to achieving dynamic results. We’ll also explore ways of creating a sense of light and mood in a watercolor, through the use of structured tone. Students will be encouraged to work from still-life, and photos to start. Further development in the watercolor medium will be determined by each participant's interest.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Ernie Norcia
Cost: $250
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Discover the unique possibilities of drawing on Mylar in this immersive weekend workshop. Students will explore how the smooth, translucent surface of Mylar allows for even blending, soft moody values, and bold contrasts. Through guided demonstrations and hands-on exercises, participants will experiment with graphite, charcoal, and erasing techniques to create expressive drawings. Ideal for artists interested in expanding their drawing vocabulary, this workshop offers a focused introduction to using Mylar’s versatile and forgiving surface.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Shushana Rucker
Cost: $115
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

This one-day workshop will concentrate on painting one of the most beautiful and challenging aspects of a tree: its trunk and branches. Trunks are rarely perfectly round; instead, their surfaces present a combination of flat planes and rounded forms that interlock together and describe the tree's surface. The pattern of its branches, roots and rippling bark tell each tree’s life story and are influenced by interaction with other trees, the sun, and the earth. Our goal in this class is to simplify the tree's structure and capture its essence as effectively as possible. Rather than aiming for finished paintings, we will create several small studies focusing on the topography of different trunks and how we can communicate them using paint.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Claire Haik
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Bohls’ work is deeply rooted in a study of historical vessels. She translates these forms first by doing a series of drawings and then building forms using the coil and pinch method of handbuilding. In this workshop, Margaret will share images of a variety of historical pottery forms. She will also give a brief demonstration of her drawing techniques - used to create a visual framework for her coil-build objects and to translate historical form language into contemporary pottery forms. Demonstrations will include the building of a variety of utilitarian forms, with an emphasis on the creation of inventive lids, spouts, handles and other attachments. Student will have the opportunity to build a small vessel during the workshop.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Margaret Bohls
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Working from still life set-ups, learn the various techniques of aqueous media used for creating light, structure, texture, transparency and opacity. While the focus of the class is water-based acrylics, students are welcome to work in pastels or oil if they prefer. Instructor demonstrations and group discussion, as well as individual attention, provided during each class session.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Joeseph Sweeney
Cost: $250
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Students learn basic techniques and mechanics of oil painting to help guide them from inspiration to expression. Working from still-life set-ups, students build paintings as they consider the relationship of objects within a composition, as well as the overall picture including color, hue, and intensity.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Michael Doyle
Cost: $200
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Work independently in the drawing medium of your choice! This monitored studio is designed to give students the opportunity to work from live nude models without instruction, allowing you time to explore and experiment. Just as any life drawing session the poses will range from short gestures gradually building to longer poses at the end. This is an extraordinary opportunity for you to develop and extend your drawing skills.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Leslie Bowen, Monitor
Cost: $215
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Join veteran plein air artist Joe Sweeney for a unique opportunity to paint inside one of the oldest rowing clubs in Philadelphia: the Bachelors Barge Club on Boathouse Row. Work from picturesque views of the Schuylkill River with the benefit of full access to the historic building with access to the dock, rain-/sun-sheltered porch, and amenities including restrooms. Experienced guidance will cover tactics for working efficiently outdoors, selecting a composition, color mixing, and capturing time of day and atmospheric effects. Instruction and demonstrations will be geared toward acrylic, oil, and pastel painting, but experienced watercolorists are welcome to participate. Note: Students are responsible for their own transportation to painting locations.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Joseph Sweeney
Cost: $195
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Instead of getting caught up in tiny details, we focus on making big, bold strokes with large, juicy brushes. By loading our brushes with a generous amount of water and pigment, we can let the colors mingle and flow across the paper in exciting and unpredictable ways. It’s a messy, joyful experience that helps students overcome the fear of a blank page and discover the unique magic of watercolor as a medium. This approach encourages a playful mindset and results in vibrant, expressive paintings that are full of life and movement.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Paulette Staley
Cost: $160
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Given the priority of authentic light in my work, it is this element that I like to focus on during the three-day workshop. As such, we will focus on value and color temperature relationships above all else. While good drawing is paramount to our effort—since nothing spoils a painting faster than drawing errors—our time is better spent on the more difficult and crucial concepts of value and color temperature. Elements such as appropriate edges, surface texture, composition, and others will also be discussed as needed. We will be painting in oil.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Mark Boedges
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Working from a limited palette, this one-day workshop focuses on ways to create expressive florals on a larger canvas exploring energetic brushstrokes to create a harmonious and vibrant garden scene of flowers. Students will work from their own or provided imagery. Examples of colorful works by Josef Klimt and Joan Mitchell will be shared to inspire your process. A short demo will be shared on color mixing and simplification of form.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Abby Ober
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553

Exploring abstracts on a larger scale in the medium of your choosing, this 5-day class will push you into new territory where growth lives… only upsized, because bigger risks equal bigger rewards. You will be shown a system for developing your artistic voice, with a focus on design principles and the language of abstraction. The emphasis is on creative process, exploring new ways to develop and build paintings, create inventive compositions, and build authentic intent in your work. The class is as much a challenge for the experienced as it is for the developing artist, but it’s not for the rank beginner. Bring a sense of humor, a fearless creative spirit, and an open mind.
 
Location: Wayne, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Larry Moore
Sponsor: Wayne Art Center
Website, email, 610-688-3553