Wednesdays, 5:30 - 8:30 p.m.  
Instructor: John Greig 
Eight-Week Short Course 

This class will explore wood as a primary art-making medium, looking at its many types, techniques and uses. Students will develop a well-rounded foundation of wood-working skills including cutting, milling, laminating, joinery and safe use of wood-working tools. Contemporary, traditional and ancient art works made of wood will be presented for historical and contextual understanding. Students will be encouraged to find their own unique voice within the material while building skills. Tuition includes $30 materials fee.

Image: John Greig

Register by: May 27 
Materials List
Please review CE's Summer 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.

Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. 
Instructor: James Toogood 
Weekend Workshop (14 Hours) 

Interested in learning or improving your watercolor skills? All materials and techniques will be discussed, including the selection of papers, brushes, and pigments, as well as transparent and opaque painting methods. Students will work from still-life subjects and/or their own source material. All levels welcome.

Image: James Toogood

Register by: May 29 
Materials List 
Please review CE's Summer 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.

Tuesdays, 3 - 5 p.m. (Zoom with supplemental Canvas content) Instructor: Colleen O'Donnell 
Six-Week Short Course (18-Hour Equivalent) 

From the poetic artworks of Joseph Cornell to politically charged assemblages of Betye Saar, assemblage is a powerful means of artistic expression, engaging the unconscious while drawing on elements of design, whimsy, and chance to reflect a point of view and a moment in time. In this class, learn to transform everyday items, found objects, elements of nature, or memorabilia into three-dimensional sculpture and collage. Be guided through a different topic each week, delving into your own responses and ideas to create dramatic, humorous, emotional, and satirical works of art.

Register by: June 2 
Materials List  
Please review CE's Summer 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering. 
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses

Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. 
Instructor: Linda Gist 
One-Week Intensive (30 Hours) 

Explore flowers and other natural forms, beginning with line and value drawing and progressing to full-color rendering in watercolor and mixed media.  Topics will include sighting techniques, line quality, tone and value, creation of depth, composition, texture, and basic color. All levels welcome. Tuition includes a $15 materials fee for floral subjects, provided.

Image: Linda Gist

Register by: June 15
Materials List
Please review CE's Summer 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.

Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.  
Instructor: Colleen O'Donnell 
Weekend Workshop (12 Hours) 

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.

Image: Colleen O’Donnell

Register by: June 18
Materials List
Please review CE's Summer 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.

Tuesdays, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 
Instructor: Tony Rosati 
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours) 

Experience masterful instruction in PAFA’s spacious print facilities as you explore an array of 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. Note: Tuition includes $20 lab fee.

Image: Tony Rosati

Register by: June 30 
Materials List 
Please review CE's Summer 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.

Open Studio Access: M - F, 7 a.m. - 10 p.m.; Sat, 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.; Sun, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.  

Move-In: Available starting Monday, July 6, at 9 a.m.

Orientation: Monday, July 6, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Critiques: Every Thursday by timeslot sign-up, 9 a.m. - TBD

Lead Critic/Coordinator:  Roger Chavez

This six-week on-campus studio-rental program is designed for experienced visual artists who desire constructive feedback on their artwork, as well as the support and interaction of an artistic community. Stimulate your personal artistic growth in your own private PAFA studio through individual weekly critiques from a stellar ensemble of notable artists, including members of PAFA’s acclaimed faculty, as well as discussion, group critiques, and artist studio visits.

Tuition covers a personal studio in PAFA's Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building, weekly critiques (one-on-one; one group critique), and additional group discussions and outings to museums and commercial galleries (scheduled per students' interests).  

Studio spaces for this program are approximately 10 x 14.5 feet (145 sq. ft.), white-walled, with easel and stool provided (students are responsible for additional furniture or equipment needs). Spaces are located on PAFA's main drawing/painting classroom floor within the school's beautiful and spacious quad studios: partitioned into four units per studio-room, these individual spaces offer both privacy and community, lockable shared-unit doors, and options for windows.  A limited number of single-unit, building-interior spaces (not located along PAFA’s windowed exterior walls), with private doors may be available.  Indicate preference during registration; assignment preferences are honored in order of registration and not guaranteed.

One-on-one and group critiques will be conducted in-person from a roster of artist-/curator-critics (one per week), scheduled each Thursday by time-slot sign-up.  Lead faculty-critic Roger Chavez will host orientation, group and final critiques, and additional activities scheduled to best accommodate the group's needs.

Note:  This is an uninstructed program; as such, prior art-making experience and the ability to work independently are required. Beyond this understanding, there are no specific application requirements or prerequisites for this program.

Summer 2026 Critics Coming Soon!

Policy Information and Deadlines:

• Registration Deadline:  Rolling, on a space-available basis. Enrollment is limited to 12 participants.
  
  
• Withdrawal/Refund Deadline:  A withdrawal fee of 10% tuition ($150) applies to all refund requests received by June 28 (prior to one week before the start date, per policy); no refunds can be issued for withdrawals after June 28. Withdrawal requests must be issued in writing to continuinged@pafa.edu (dated by June 28 for refund eligibility).  Please note that the minimum withdrawal fee applies to all refunds, including for same-day withdrawals, in order to cover third-party registration/processing fees.  Please check your schedule and review all information before registering.
  
  
• Studio Deposit: Registration requires an additional $200 studio deposit that is refundable upon satisfactory return of the studio to its original condition at the end of the program. Students must agree to and sign PAFA’s studio agreement form.
  
  
• Additional Pricing Information: No scholarships or discounts are available for this program. Membership discounts apply to regular CE courses only; Special Programs are not eligible for tuition deductions.
  
  
• Materials:  No materials list is provided for this program.  Students may work in their media of choice within PAFA's safety/clean-air guidelines.  Access to print and sculpture shop facilities is not included in tuition:  Students must be enrolled in in-person CE printmaking or sculpture classes, or registered/approved for a PAFA Shop Membership, for access to the pertinent shop facilities and abide by shop rules and access hours.
  
  
• Housing:  Students requiring housing are responsible for their own accommodation arrangements. PAFA does not provide a campus housing option for this program; however, students can find short-term rental options through Airbnb, https://www.airbnb.com/a/stays/Philadelphia--Pennsylvania--United-States, and other sources.

Review Studio Critique Program registration and policy information above, as well as the CE Policy Guide Summer 2026, prior to registering. By enrolling in the Summer Studio/Critique Program, you agree to abide by PAFA's Procedures and Policies.

Registration deadline: Rolling, on a space-available basis.
Materials List (PAFA-Approved Materials) 
Please review Summer 2026 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Tuesdays, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. 
Instructor: Roger Chavez 
Six-Week Condensed Course (30 Hours) 

Energize and open up your approach to figure painting through rapid, loose oil painting studies from the life model. Learn tactics to avoid the tendency toward tightness and over-attention to detail too early in the process that can lead to work that lacks liveliness in gesture or mark and is difficult to adjust or correct. Through short, small-scale painting exercises from the model in one-day poses, learn new ways of approaching life painting with an emphasis on keeping compositions fluid, capturing the gesture and character of the subject before getting locked into its contours, and both initiating and retaining a sense of freshness in your color and brushstrokes. Instruction will address color mixing, painting materials and methodologies, and the importance of cultivating sustainable methods for growth in your painting practice. Note: Tuition includes a $65 models fee.

Image: Roger Chavez

Register by: June 30
Materials List
Please review CE's Summer 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.