Fridays, 8:30 a.m. - 3:50 p.m.

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 goal of this course is to strengthen and hone a student’s foundational skills of drawing through a series of one and two-day drawing projects. The major topics of concern will be gesture, design, perspective, structure and space. Students will be encouraged to experiment with different media and to develop a personalized drawing practice. Subjects for this exploration will be the life model, anatomical models, the city and the observable environment in general. The course includes field trips to the Wagner Free Institute of Science, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Reading Terminal and the Observation Deck at Liberty One.

Optional:  This course is also available for 3.0 credits for $2,800 (select add-on pricing during registration).

Please note:  All students enrolling in on-campus courses must submit proof of full COVID-19 vaccination and one booster upon registration. Requests for exceptions for medical or religious reasons must be submitted with appropriate documentation and approved by PAFA’s head of security. PAFA reserves the right to refuse entry and withdraw enrollment for students who have not provided proof of vaccination and have not been approved for exemption. Withdrawals for noncompliance will result in fees. See Open Academy Policy Information for complete COVID safety requirements and policies.

Image: John Horn (detail)

Register by: January 6

Materials List

Open Academy Policy Guide

CE Proof of Vaccination/Booster Form

Tuesdays, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. 

Develop your ability to render the human form through the joint time-honored methods of cast and life drawing with noted artist and author Roberto Osti.  Learn the methods and technical skills traditionally associated with beautiful figure drawing, such as measuring, tonal rendering, anatomical structuring, and establishing the effects of light on the figure through graphite on white paper, charcoal and chalk on toned paper, reduction techniques, and the trois crayons technique. Half of the course will be devoted to study from PAFA’s historic cast collection of Antique and Renaissance sculpture: a traditional way to master sight-measuring and tonal development.  The other half of course content will be devoted to drawing the figure from life, for the essential experience of learning how to capture the elegance, dynamism, and subtleties of the human form, art’s most enduring subject.  Note: Course tuition includes a $25 model fee. 

This course does not meet during Spring Break, March 6 – 12.  

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $700 (including model fee). Select credit option when registering. 

Please note:  All students enrolling in on-campus courses must submit proof of full COVID-19 vaccination and at least one additional booster upon registration. Registrations lacking vaccine documentation or approved medical exemption one week after submission are subject to withdrawal. Requests for medical or religious exemptions must be approved by PAFA’s head of security. Withdrawals for noncompliance will result in fees. See CE Policy Guide for complete COVID safety requirements and policies.  

Image:  Roberto Osti, Brutus Charcoal Copy, 2022 

Register by: January 6 

Materials List 

CE Policy Guide Winter/Spring 2023 

CE Proof of Vaccination/Booster Form - SUBMISSION REQUIRED AT TIME OF REGISTRATION

Wednesdays, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. 

This combination of instructed class and open studio is designed for students interested in advancing their representational drawing and painting.  Design and work on your own personal projects utilizing the cast collection, figure/portrait models, and still life or interior spaces, assisted by individual critiques and group instruction on topics of broad concern or interest.  This course features intermediate-level instruction for students with prior drawing/painting experience.  Note: Tuition includes a $50 model fee. 

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $1,150 (including model fee). Select credit option when registering. 

This course does not meet on March 22 & 29 but runs through PAFA’s Spring Break. 

Please note:  All students enrolling in on-campus courses must submit proof of full COVID-19 vaccination and at least one additional booster upon registration. Registrations lacking vaccine documentation or approved medical exemption one week after submission are subject to withdrawal. Requests for medical or religious exemptions must be approved by PAFA’s head of security. Withdrawals for noncompliance will result in fees. See CE Policy Guide for complete COVID safety requirements and policies.  

Image:  Peter Van Dyck, Couple Manayunk

Register by: January 6 

Materials List 

CE Policy Guide Winter/Spring 2023 

CE Proof of Vaccination/Booster Form - SUBMISSION REQUIRED AT TIME OF REGISTRATION 

Thursdays, Half-Day 8:30 - 11:20 a.m. OR Full-Day 8:30 a.m. - 3:50 p.m.

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.

Life Drawing will focus on developing skills and exploring the use of the figure with the following concepts: (1) structural and anatomical delineation of human form with line and tone. (2) The figure as an expressive end in itself. (3) Simple group compositions in interior as well as invented space. The class is open to various media & techniques.

Optional Length/Credit Adjustments:  Base-price listed covers Half-Day Mornings, non-credit.  This course is also available for the following (select add-on pricing during registration):

• Half-Day Mornings, 1.5 undergraduate credits for $1,400
• Full-Day, non-credit for $2,300
• Full-Day, 3.0 undergraduate credits for $2,800.

Please note:  All students enrolling in on-campus courses must submit proof of full COVID-19 vaccination and one booster upon registration. Requests for exceptions for medical or religious reasons must be submitted with appropriate documentation and approved by PAFA’s head of security. PAFA reserves the right to refuse entry and withdraw enrollment for students who have not provided proof of vaccination and have not been approved for exemption. Withdrawals for noncompliance will result in fees. See Open Academy Policy Information for complete COVID safety requirements and policies.

Image:Christian Schussele, [Figure study: female nude reclining, back view], n.d., Charcoal on green-gray wove paper, 13 13/16 x 21 in. irr. (35.09645 x 53.34 cm.) Accession #1876.9.572. John S. Phillips Collection.

Register by: January 6

Materials List

Open Academy Policy Guide

CE Proof of Vaccination/Booster Form

Thursdays, 12:30 – 3:30 p.m.  

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 still life arrangements, PAFA’s renowned cast collection, interior spaces, and the human figure to master the drawing elements: shape, contour line, composition, light and shadow, texture and perspective. Instruction will guide students through sight-drawing and measuring techniques, use of materials, shading methods, and ways of defining form and space. This course is also excellent as a foundation for future study, including for painting and other disciplines.  

This course does not meet during Spring Break, March 6 – 12. No class on April 6.  

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $675. Select credit option when registering.     

Please note:  All students enrolling in on-campus courses must submit proof of full COVID-19 vaccination and at least one additional booster upon registration. Registrations lacking vaccine documentation or approved medical exemption one week after submission are subject to withdrawal. Requests for medical or religious exemptions must be approved by PAFA’s head of security. Withdrawals for noncompliance will result in fees. See CE Policy Guide for complete COVID safety requirements and policies. 

Image:  Phyllis Laver, Mid-Day, 2010, 34 x 48 in.

Register by: January 6 

Materials List 

CE Policy Guide Winter/Spring 2023 

CE Proof of Vaccination/Booster Form - SUBMISSION REQUIRED AT TIME OF REGISTRATION

Fridays, 9 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

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. 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, as well as from one’s own source materials. 
• 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. 
• The course is ultimately designed to equip participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to make accomplished, personally rewarding watercolor paintings. 

Optional: This course is available for 1.5 undergraduate credits for $995. Select credit option when registering. 

Please note:  All students enrolling in on-campus courses must submit proof of full COVID-19 vaccination and at least one additional booster upon registration. Registrations lacking vaccine documentation or approved medical exemption one week after submission are subject to withdrawal. Requests for medical or religious exemptions must be approved by PAFA’s head of security. Withdrawals for noncompliance will result in fees. See CE Policy Guide for complete COVID safety requirements and policies.  

Image:  James Toogood

Register by: January 20

Materials List 

CE Policy Guide Winter/Spring 2023 

CE Proof of Vaccination/Booster Form - SUBMISSION REQUIRED AT TIME OF REGISTRATION 

Wednesdays, 9 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

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. 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, as well as from one’s own source materials. 
• 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. 
• The course is ultimately designed to equip participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to make accomplished, personally rewarding watercolor paintings. 

Optional: This course is available for 1.5 undergraduate credits for $995. Select credit option when registering. 

Please note:  All students enrolling in on-campus courses must submit proof of full COVID-19 vaccination and at least one additional booster upon registration. Registrations lacking vaccine documentation or approved medical exemption one week after submission are subject to withdrawal. Requests for medical or religious exemptions must be approved by PAFA’s head of security. Withdrawals for noncompliance will result in fees. See CE Policy Guide for complete COVID safety requirements and policies.  

Image:  James Toogood

Register by: January 20

Materials List 

CE Policy Guide Winter/Spring 2023 

CE Proof of Vaccination/Booster Form - SUBMISSION REQUIRED AT TIME OF REGISTRATION