Wednesdays, 8:30 – 11:20 a.m.
Instructor: John Horn
Fifteen-Week Open Academy (BFA) Course (45 Hours)*
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.5 Undergraduate Credits (See Below) 

PAFA’s Open Academy provides the opportunity for Continuing Education (CE) and non-matriculated students to enroll in select BFA courses for credit or non-credit.  Open Academy students enrolled in PAFA’s renowned studio arts courses learn technical skills, creative expression, and critical thinking from master artist-teachers while working amongst dedicated full-time students in PAFA's classrooms.

The purpose of this course is to promote an individual way of seeing and working from the human figure and develop personal vision. This includes approaching the figure either as an end in itself or as a point of departure, and exploring an individual use of materials and techniques. Instruction for this course will be directed to the individual along with some group criticism and group discussion.

Optional: This course is available for 1.5 undergraduate credits for $1,400. Select credit option with price adjustment during registration.

*Note: No class on March 5 (Spring Break).

Image: John Horn

Register by: January 2
Materials List
Open Academy Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies
Please note: A minimum 10% fee applies to cancellations any time after registration, including same day, to cover third-party processing charges -- please check your schedule before registering!

Thursdays, 8:30 - 11:20 a.m. (includes option to add afternoons, 1 - 3:50 p.m., for full-day attendance -- see description)
Instructor: Al Gury
Fifteen-Week Open Academy (BFA) Course (45 – 90 Hours)
*Credit: Non-Credit or 1.5/3.0 Undergraduate Credits (See Below) 

PAFA’s Open Academy provides the opportunity for Continuing Education (CE) and non-matriculated students to enroll in select BFA courses for credit or non-credit.  Open Academy students enrolled in PAFA’s renowned studio arts courses learn technical skills, creative expression, and critical thinking from master artist-teachers while working amongst dedicated full-time students in PAFA's classrooms.

Students will have availability of models for painting and drawing in the classroom, using a variety of setups, lighting, etc., where the instructor will guide and critique projects. Strategies for referencing the visual material in the settings for the development of work with a personal point of view will be discussed. Included will be historical and contemporary perspectives on painting and drawing with the figure. To address the needs of the advanced student emphasis will be placed on independently directed work. Therefore, this class can serve as a bridge to figurative work being developed in the private studio as well as in the open studio classroom. Students may work in their studios, where the instructor may be invited to offer criticism regarding work in progress. The goal of this course is to support, strengthen and prepare the students for independent work as a studio artist.

Optional: This course is available for half-day for 1.5 undergraduate credits for $1,400. For the option of full-day (morning, 8:30 - 11:20 a.m. and afternoon, 1 - 3:50 p.m.), this course is available for $2,300 non-credit or $2,800 for 3.0 undergraduate credits. Select length and credit choice with tuition adjustment during checkout.

* Note: No class meeting on March 6 (Spring Break).

Image: Al Gury

Register by: January 2
Materials List
Open Academy Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies
Please note: A minimum 10% fee applies to cancellations any time after registration, including same day, to cover third-party processing charges -- please check your schedule before registering!

Tuesdays, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Instructor: Douglas Martenson
Twelve-Week Course (36 Hours)*
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (See Below)  

Join PAFA’s celebrated figurative tradition, combining Eakins-influenced historical techniques with contemporary approaches.  Master the drawing elements of gesture, proportion, volume, anatomy, tone, and composition in charcoal and colored chalk on toned paper.   Progress to oil painting materials and techniques, expanding from limited colors to a full palette.  Ideal for all levels, with options to draw- or paint-only based on experience.  Note: Tuition includes $75 models fee.   

*Note: No Class on March 4. 

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $770 (including models fee). Select credit option with price adjustment when registering. 

Registration Still Open!
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Tuesdays, 1 – 4 p.m.
Instructor: Douglas Martenson
Twelve-Week Course (36 Hours)*
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (See Below)  

Explore the power and nuance of one of art’s most engaging subjects: the portrait. Investigate the structure, proportions, form, and anatomy of the human head through drawings and painted studies.  Progress to finished paintings and address issues of likeness, composition, space, texture, and aspects of the clothed figure. Learn to better see and understand color to mix it more successfully, a useful skill for painting all subject matter.  Designed students at all levels learning or pursuing work in oil, acrylic, or other media; students may draw-only if they wish. Note: Tuition includes $75 models fee.   

*Note: No Class on March 4. 

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $770 (including models fee). Select credit option with price adjustment when registering. 

Registration Still Open!
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Tuesdays, 6 – 9 p.m.
Instructor: Jill A. Rupinski
Ten-Week Course (30 Hours)*
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (See Below)

Expand the boundaries of traditional watercolor painting! Explore the wonderful range of effects that may be achieved by incorporating compatible water-soluble materials such as ink, watercolor pencils, and opaque pigments, as well as toned surfaces. Demonstrations and examples of masterworks will illustrate traditional and contemporary techniques, with a wealth of practical and technical advice provided. Observational study in PAFA’s still life studio may be supplemented by options to work from personal sketches, photo sources, recognized artworks, and memory or imagination. Students will be encouraged to experiment, explore, and develop their personal expression with water-media.  

*Note: No class on March 4. 

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

Registration Still Open!

Materials List

Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies 

Thursdays, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Instructor: John Horn
Twelve-Week Course (36 Hours)*
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (See Below)  

Develop your ability to render the human form through the time-honored combination of anatomical study and life drawing.  Learn the methods and technical skills of traditional figure drawing, such as measuring, capturing gesture, anatomical structuring, and tonal rendering. Through lectures and demonstrations, and work from the life model, learn the structural aspects of the human form: bony landmarks, simplified volumes, and proportional relationships. Progress to the skeletal framework and superficial muscles to identify their surface effects and how they influence mass and movement. Incorporate your knowledge of figure anatomy to capture the fluidity, vitality, and subtleties of the human form while working from the life model in short and extended poses. This course is ideal for anyone interested in strengthening their figure drawing, painting, or sculpture skills, as well as for those interested in future medical illustration.  Note: Tuition includes a $75 models fee. 

*Note: No class on March 6. 

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $770, including models fee. Select credit option with price adjustment when registering. 

Registration Still Open!
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Thursdays, 12:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Instructor: Phyllis Laver
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only

If you’ve never drawn before, or your skills are a little rusty, then this class is for you! Learn to draw what you see with confidence. Work from simple forms, still life arrangements, and interior and exterior spaces to master the drawing elements: shape, contour line, composition, light and dark, texture and perspective. Instruction will guide students through sight-drawing and measuring techniques, use of materials, gauging value, and ways of defining form and space. This course is excellent as a foundation for future study, as a precursor to more advanced drawing study or to painting and other disciplines. Note: This part 1 course does not include work from models. 

This class is part 1 of an optional 2-part course! See also Drawing Fundamentals: Cast and Figure for continued instruction. Students are welcome to enroll in either or both parts; Line and Form is not required as a prerequisite to Cast and Figure but is recommended for students with little or no drawing experience. 

Image: Ellen R. Warren, Begonia, ca. 1880, pen and black ink on white wove paper, 2 x 3 1-4 in. Collection of PAFA.

Registration Still Open!
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Instructor: David Wilson
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only (see below for combined 1.0 credit option)* 

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.

*Optional combined-course 1.0-credit offering:  Students wishing to earn 1.0 undergraduate credit may combine this class with the Extended Pose course, for a 12-week credit-bearing course by registering here.  See academic credit policies in the CE Policy Guide, below. Note: Because changes in academic status must occur prior to the third class for 12-week courses, credit registration is only available through February 7. See credit course description.

Registration Still Open!
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies