Thursdays, 1 - 4 p.m. 
Instructor: Peter Van Dyck 
Twelve-Week Course (36 Hours) 
Note: No class during Spring Break, March 2 - 8.

Register by December 15 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2026 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Winter/Spring classes and workshops only. Fall 2025 courses, studio rental programs, Fifteen-Week Extended Studio Courses (special programs), gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.

This course will focus on creating paintings of the human figure from poses ranging from one to five days. It will provide an opportunity to explore the development of a figure painting over multiple sessions, emphasizing the accurate drawing of large forms and gestures, the translation of those forms into structured color relationships, and the depiction of the color of light that defines the environment. Through the extended duration of the poses, students will have the time to refine their observations, deepen their understanding of structure, and build more nuanced and cohesive paintings. Technical topics such as oil paint handling, surface preparation, and color organization will also be addressed. Students will leave the class with an enhanced ability to construct complex figure paintings that are both formally sound and personally expressive.

This course is excellent paired with Figure Drawing: Intuition and Analysis for students seeking intensive full-day figure study.

Image: Peter Van Dyck

Register by: January 15 
Materials List - Coming Soon 
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.

Thursdays, 6 - 9:30 p.m. 
Instructor: Pavel Efremoff 
Twelve-Week Condensed Course (42 Hours) 
Note: No class during Spring Break, March 2 - 8.

Register by December 15 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2026 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Winter/Spring classes and workshops only. Fall 2025 courses, studio rental programs, Fifteen-Week Extended Studio Courses (special programs), gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.

This course will cover all aspects of the foundry process. Demonstrations and hands-on instruction will be given in wax modeling and casting, ceramic shell techniques, bronze pouring, metal chasing, TIG welding and patination. All levels welcome. Note: Tuition includes a $75 lab fee.

Image: Pavel Efremoff

Register by: January 15 
Materials List - Coming Soon 
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.

Fridays, 9 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. 
Instructor: James Toogood   
Ten-Week Condensed Course (45 Hours) 

Register by December 15 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2026 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Winter/Spring classes and workshops only. Fall 2025 courses, studio rental programs, Fifteen-Week Extended Studio Courses (special programs), gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.

Enrich your knowledge of painting with an in-depth look at watercolor. Thoroughly investigate a wide range of watercolor materials and techniques from your choice of landscape, still life, portrait, and figure subjects. The course is designed to equip each participant with the knowledge and skills necessary to make accomplished, personally rewarding watercolor paintings. Open to watercolorists of all levels and to acrylic/oil painters looking to broaden their skills.

Learning Objectives

• Students will learn about color theory as applied to watercolor.
• Students will receive a comprehensive explanation of watercolor materials and tools, with particular focus will be paid to the properties of paint and pigments as they interact with the paintbrushes and paper.
• Through both discussions and demonstrations, first time participants and beginners will learn a variety of techniques that are fundamental to watercolor, presented in a systematic step by step method. Participants can expect to have regular individual instruction, given at their current skill level.
• Focus also will be paid on acquiring the skills needed to achieve a richness of color and a feeling of light.
• Participants will work from direct observations from the still life and model, or from their own source material. Those not taking the class for credit will have the option to work on landscape, still life, portrait and figure or abstraction, as they wish.
• Participants will be exposed to a variety of watercolor styles and encouraged to discover one’s own personal aesthetic.

Image: James Toogood

Register by: January 16 
Materials List - Coming Soon 
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.

Saturdays, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. 
Instructor: Steve Nocella 
Twelve-Week Course (36 Hours) 
Note: No class during Spring Break, March 2 - 8.

Register by December 15 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2026 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Winter/Spring classes and workshops only. Fall 2025 courses, studio rental programs, Fifteen-Week Extended Studio Courses (special programs), gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.

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. Open to all levels. Note: Tuition includes $30 lab fee.

Learning Objectives 

• Develop proficiency in basic tool use including manual carving, pneumatic carving, sawing, grinding, and sanding.
• Learn the methods of stone carving beginning with "roughing out" a form and finishing with sanding and polishing.
• Develop a perceptual ability for spatial relationships of the elements that constitute a sculpture or a three-dimensional image.
• Learn to use creative and critical thinking in the process of carving sculpture.
• Gain an appreciation for the influence and informing effect that medium and process have on image making.
• Acquire an introductory understanding of the history of stone carving and the capacity to conceptualize context for the student's sculpture.

Image: Steve Nocella, Untitled, 1995, limestone, 26 x 6.5 x 7 in.

Register by: January 16 
Materials List - Coming Soon 
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.

Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 
Instructor: David Wilson 
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours) 

Register by December 15 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2026 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Winter/Spring classes and workshops only. Fall 2025 courses, studio rental programs, Fifteen-Week Extended Studio Courses (special programs), gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.

Painting the human form from observation is one of the cornerstones of PAFA's long tradition of rigorous instruction. Working from the nude model in poses of varying lengths, investigate color mixing, proportion, and composition using oil paint as a medium. Focusing on alla prima painting techniques and a limited flesh-tone palette, learn to model the human form through gesture, shape, volume, and temperature – excellent for painted sketches and preparatory studies, foundations for extended work, or an introduction/refresher to figure painting. Intended for all skill levels, this course also offers the valuable opportunity for more advanced students to continue to hone their skills to deepen their understanding of the language of painting.  Instruction will be geared toward oil, but students may draw-only, or use other appropriate media, if they wish. Note: Tuition includes a $35 models fee.

Image: David Wilson

Register by: January 16 
Materials List - Coming Soon 
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.

Sundays, 3 - 4 p.m. (Interactive asynchronous Canvas content supported by weekly Zoom meetings) 
Instructor: Al Gury 
Six-Week Condensed Course (30-Hour Equivalent) 

Register by December 15 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2026 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Winter/Spring classes and workshops only. Fall 2025 courses, studio rental programs, Fifteen-Week Extended Studio Courses (special programs), gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.

Explore the methods of some of the greatest painters in recent art history with Al Gury, noted professor and author of Alla Prima, Color for Painters, and Foundations of Drawing. Notable women artists Alice Neel, Mary Cassatt, Gabriel Munter, and Cecilia Beux, among others, will provide the basis for weekly painting projects. Learn from, and gain an increased appreciation for, these masters through an examination of their materials, color palettes, working methods, and histories through visual examples, discussions, video demonstrations, and tailored painting projects that will be critiqued by the instructor for helpful feedback. Class meetings will be held on Zoom, and assignments and asynchronous class content will be posted on Canvas, PAFA’s online learning platform. Open to all levels of experience and all media: oil, acrylic, watercolor, and pastel. 

Image: Mary Cassatt, Young Thomas and his Mother (detail), 1893, pastel on wove paper, 23 5/8 x 19 3/4 in. Collection of the PAFA Museum,  Accession # 1904.10.  Pennsylvania Academy purchase.   

Register by: January 16 
Materials List - Coming Soon 
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering. 
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses

Mondays, 12:30 - 3:30 p.m. 
Instructor: Justine Ditto
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours) 

Register by December 15 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2026 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Winter/Spring classes and workshops only. Fall 2025 courses, studio rental programs, Fifteen-Week Extended Studio Courses (special programs), gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.

Painting and printmaking go hand-in-hand, not only as adjacent mediums but in combination. This freeing and instructive course presents printmaking techniques as jumping off points to making mixed media work in spirit of experimentation and personal expression. Learn how to make monotypes, drypoints, and screenprints as a foundation for incorporating your choice of graphite, colored pencil, acrylic, watercolor, oil paint, and/or collage. Content includes technical advice from an artist-instructor ideally skilled in a variety of media as well as critiques to expand your creative boundaries. This class is perfect for painters/draftspeople seeking to expand their processes, printmakers seeking to employ painterly and mixed media techniques, and anyone with love of color and experimentation. Open to all levels – no prior printmaking or painting experience required. Tuition includes a $20 materials fee.

Image: Justine Ditto

Register by: January 20 
Materials List - Coming Soon
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.

Mondays, 12:30 - 3:30 p.m. 
Instructor: Roberto Osti 
Twelve-Week Course (36 Hours) 
Note: No class during Spring Break, March 2 - 8.

Register by December 15 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSPRING2026 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Winter/Spring classes and workshops only. Fall 2025 courses, studio rental programs, Fifteen-Week Extended Studio Courses (special programs), gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.

Paint portraits from a variety of models using the direct painting method. Examine the proportions and volumes of the head, as well as the placement, structure, and characteristics of the facial features, through preliminary drawings and demonstrations. Develop color using a limited palette to understand how to use chroma, temperature, value, tint, and tone. Instruction will address materials, composition, paint handling, and color mixing, blending, and theory. Content includes at least one cast study from PAFA's historic collection to improve understanding of modeling form through value. Homework assignments working from photos, Masterworks, or oneself/others will encourage students to learn to make personal aesthetic and technical choices and to practice concepts addressed in class. Open to all levels, this course is excellent for beginners as well as experienced students who want to review fundamental techniques or who simply enjoy painting portraits from life. Note: Course tuition includes a $75 model fee. 

Image: Roberto Osti, portrait detail.

Register by: January 20 
Materials List - Coming Soon 
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.