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Continuing Education at PAFA

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Figure and Portrait Drawing in Dry Media and Ink Intensive (In-Person)

$515

with Phyllis Laver

Calendar Next available session starts May 19, 2025 at 9 am, runs for 1 week

Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Instructor: Phyllis Laver
One-Week Intensive Course (30 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (See Below)

This course is a truly intensive week of figure and portrait study, with six hours a day working from a model! Mornings will feature life/nude models, and afternoons will focus on clothed subjects, allowing students to expand their notions of figure vs. portrait drawing to a method of depiction that combines the gesture and posture of the whole body with the individual character of the face. Participants will work with a range of graphite and crayon dry materials, as well as ink, using both a brush and a bamboo pen – an exciting and freeing approach to translating the human form. Knowledgeable instruction will guide students through observation-based drawing techniques while exploring figure and facial topics of gesture, proportions, anatomy, and expression. This exceptional experience is open to everyone, for all skill levels. Note: Tuition includes a $65 models fee.

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $660, including models fee. Select credit option with price adjustment when registering.

Register by: May 9 
Materials List 
Summer 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

All About Acrylics (In-Person)

$295

with Frederic Kaplan

Calendar Next available session starts May 19, 2025 at 6 pm, runs for 6 weeks

Mondays, 6 – 9 p.m. 
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only
No class on May 26 (Memorial Day)

This complete acrylic painting course covers basic to advanced methods. Learn to use quick-drying acrylics expertly in both thin transparent layers and thicker, more opaque applications that produce textural and impasto effects. Materials like fluid mediums, gels, and pastes will be demonstrated, along with both brush and palette knife techniques. Several different color palettes will be introduced as students work from still life subjects. This course is ideal for students looking for a non-toxic, flexible painting medium, as well as anyone seeking to explore acrylics’ excellent potential for representational and abstract work. Drawing experience is recommended. 

Image: Frederic Kaplan

Register by: May 12 
Materials List  
Summer 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Life Drawing: Medium- and Long-Pose (In-Person)

$330

with John Horn

Calendar Next available session starts May 20, 2025 at 9 am, runs for 6 weeks

Tuesdays, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Instructor: John Horn
Six-Week Short Course
Credit: Non-Credit Only

This course will be dedicated to three- and six-hour poses focusing on the structural and aesthetic characteristics of drawing from the model. Classes will begin with brief lectures covering spatial organization, volume, proportional relationships, and anatomy. The rest of each session will focus on drawingthe life model in a variety of standing, seated, and reclining poses, with attention to measuring techniques and rendering the figure through light and shade. Examples of drawings from the Old Masters,and discussions about their approaches, will supplement instruction.Students of all levels are welcome; those with less experience can make several studies during a long pose while experienced students can develop a single drawing. Note: Tuition includes a $35 models fee.

Register by: May 13
Materials List
Summer 2025 CE Policy Guide,
including withdrawal/refund policies

Mixed Media Explorations: Collage, Combines, and Assemblage Art (Online)

$265

with Colleen O'Donnell

Calendar Next available session starts May 20, 2025 at 10 am, runs for 6 weeks

Tuesdays, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. (Zoom with posted Canvas content) 
Instructor: Colleen O'Donnell
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours) 
Credit: Non-Credit Only

Explore alternative ways of conceptualizing and creating mixed-media art. 2D and 3D techniques have been an essential part of modern art history, as evinced in the poetic artworks of Joseph Cornell, politically charged assemblages of Betye Saar, revealing works of Eileen Agaar, and whimsy of Robert Rauschenberg. Push your art-making process to a new level by combining 2D and 3D art into a contemporary expression of your own. Intrinsically engage awareness while drawing on design elements to reflect a point of view and a moment in time. Each week discover your unique expression while bringing new work into existence.

Register by: May 13
Materials List
Summer 2025 CE Policy Guide,
including withdrawal/refund policies 
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses

Monoprint/Etching (In-Person)

$315

with Tony Rosati

Calendar Next available session starts May 20, 2025 at 1 pm, runs for 6 weeks

Tuesdays, 1 - 4 p.m.
Instructor: Tony Rosati
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only
No class on June 19 (Juneteenth)

This short but comprehensive 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.

Register by: May 13 
Materials List 
Summer 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Oil Painting: Core Techniques (In-Person)

$450

with Frederic Kaplan

Calendar Next available session starts May 21, 2025 at 9 am, runs for 6 weeks

Wednesdays, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Six-Week Condensed Course (30 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (See Below)

Whether you are new or returning to oil painting, this comprehensive foundational course is the perfect way to learn its materials and techniques and how to apply them effectively. Instruction will discuss and demonstrate a range of colors, paint brands, and painting mediums and demystify painting conventions such as “fat over lean” and “thick over thin.” Working from still-life subject matter, begin with simple “direct” alla prima sketches, and then advance to “indirect” layering approaches of building upon a tonal underpainting – first with a limited selection of transparent and opaque colors, and later with a more extended palette. Develop methodologies for the process of making a painting, including managing color and value, and constructing an engaging composition. Previous drawing experience recommended.

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $595. Select credit option with price adjustment when registering.

Register by: May 14
Materials List
Summer 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Terracotta Figure Sculpture (In-Person)

$515

with Morgan Dummitt

Calendar Next available session starts May 21, 2025 at 9 am, runs for 6 weeks

Wednesdays, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Instructor: Morgan Dummitt
Six-Week Condensed Course (30 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (See Below)

Modeling the figure in clay is the foundational skill of traditional sculpture. Working from a model, learn to sculpt in clay from initial gesture to surface finishing techniques. Topics of study will include proportion, composition, structure, and simplified sculptural form. Students will complete two sculptures in the course of the class. All work will be fired after class. Beginners welcome. Note: Tuition includes a $65 models fee.

Student Learning Outcomes

  • Gain a basic understanding of the osteology, myology, and anatomy of the figure
  • Analyze and organize the various elements of the body into simplified sculptural forms
  • Carry out best practices for modeling and maintaining water-based clay sculpture
  • Understand best practices for creating ceramic sculpture

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $660, including models fee. Select credit option with price adjustment when registering.

Register by: May 14
Materials List
Summer 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Watercolor Plunge (Online)

$265

with Tony Rosati

Calendar Next available session starts May 21, 2025 at 1 pm, runs for 6 weeks

Wednesdays, 1 - 4 p.m. (Zoom with posted Canvas Content)
Instructor: Tony Rosati
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only

Join Tony Rosati, PAFA Certificate faculty and accomplished watercolorist, in this live Zoom class designed for those with little or no experience in watercolor. Acquire a thorough grounding in basic watercolor materials and techniques, including papers, brushes and pigments, as well as transparent and opaque painting methods. Gain the confidence to progress in your skills and enjoyment in the medium, in future studies or personal expression.

Image: Tony Rosati, Ship Bottom, 2012, watercolor, 4 x 9.5 in.

Register by: May 14
Materials List
Summer 2025 CE Policy Guide,
including withdrawal/refund policies 
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses





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