Open studio access, 8 a.m. - 10 p.m. daily, September 5 - December 15. 
Weekly meetings/studio-visits on Thursdays, September 7 - December 14 (no meeting on 11/23), 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Instructor/Lead Critic: Roger Chavez

Taking the leap to start or cultivate an art-making practice in a private studio space can be both exciting and daunting. Learn how to create work and stay motivated on your own terms in this new and unique combination studio-rental and classroom course! Tuition for this fifteen-week program will confer an individual studio space on PAFA’s Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building’s 9th floor, as well as weekly meetings for critique and instruction on a variety of artist’s concerns led by artist-instructor/critic Roger Chavez. Studios for this program are located side-by-side within a private, key-accessible corridor for an engaging community atmosphere. Each space is approximately 9 x 16 feet, white-walled and curtained (no individually locked doors, but with secure hallway access), opening out to the corridor’s large east-facing windows for an artist’s dream of beautiful natural light. A limited number of interior studios spaces (no natural light, but with lockable doors) also will be available (select preference during registration). Weekly meetings will feature both one-on-one in-studio critiques/discussions as well as group instruction on art topics designed to motivate and assist you in your work, including drawing sessions, assignment prompts, materials and techniques demonstrations, health-safety lectures for artists, gallery visits, group critiques from guest critics, and more. This class is perfect for artists of varying levels of experience wanting to jumpstart or advance their personal practice, for students considering application to a studio-centered certificate or degree program, or for anyone lacking a home studio and seeking a space (with additional support!) to pursue their work. Participants will benefit from some prior art-making experience and the ability to work independently.

Note: Registration will require a $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. Membership and early registration discounts cannot be applied to course tuition, but students are eligible to receive 10% off additional Fall CE courses to supplement their studio pursuits.

Please note that no additional interior studios are available at this time -- windowed/natural-light spaces only.

This course’s weekly meeting will not take place during Thanksgiving Break, November 23 - 26. 

Optional: This course is available for 1.5 undergraduate credits for $3,100 (plus refundable deposit). Select credit option when registering.

Image: CE Summer Studio/Critique Program, 2022. 

Registration Deadline: Rolling, on a space-available basis. Late registration (after first weekly meeting) available.

Materials List (Approved Materials) 

Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies

Thursdays, 1 – 4 p.m. 
Instructor: Tony Rosati 
Credit: Non-credit or 1.0 undergraduate credit (see description)

The versatile nature of screenprinting lends itself to printing on paper, fabric and other surfaces. For the beginner, this course will cover all aspects of the process including screen preparation, image development, and printing techniques. Printmakers with experience may propose independent projects. Note: Tuition includes $20 lab fee.

Learning Objectives:

• Students will gain a basic understanding of the screenprinting process. 
• Students will acquire technical experience with screens, squeegees, ink, tools, and equipment. 
• Students will learn basic screenprinting techniques including image development, coating and processing screens, mixing ink, and printing. 
• Students will acquire technical expertise by way of printing various stencils from fine detail images to flat broad areas. 

• Students will learn printmaking professionalism including printing editions on clean registered printmaking paper, signing and numbering editions appropriately. 
• Students will learn the importance of image development through individual reviews and by exploring various possibilities with the process. 
• Students will develop critical visual and verbal skills by way of individual discussions with the instructor and with their peers. 

This course does not meet during Thanksgiving Break, November 23 - 26.

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $615 (including lab fee). Select credit option when registering.

Register by: September 8 

Materials List

Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies

Thursdays, 6 – 9:30 p.m. 
Instructor: Pavel Efremoff 
Credit: Non-credit or 1.5 undergraduate credits (see description)

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 $65 lab fee. 

This course does not meet during Thanksgiving Break, November 23 - 26.

Optional: This course is available for 1.5 undergraduate credits for $1,060 (including lab fee). Select credit option when registering.

Image: Ann Lax-Antrim, The Practitioner – Her Guitar, 2023, Bronze and wood, 15 x 8 x 5 in. Courtesy of the student.  

Register by: September 8 

Materials List  

Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies

Fridays, 9 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. 
Instructor: James Toogood 
Credit: Non-credit or 1.5 undergraduate credits (see description)

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. 

This course does not meet during Thanksgiving Break, November 23 - 26. 

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

Image: James Toogood, Bermuda.

Register by: September 8 

Materials List

Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies

Fridays, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. 
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan 
Credit: Non-credit or 1.0 undergraduate credit (see description)

Using oil or acrylic paints, exploit a wide range of techniques and artistic languages to transform everyday reality into expressive, symbolic, or personal statements. Base your paintings on unique studio still-life arrangements or use your own photographs as a starting point, and progress to working from a life model during the final weeks of the course. Topics discussed and demonstrated include using color as an emotive element, designing compositions to convey mood and movement, and employing energetic mark-making. For less experienced students, materials, color mixing, and basic techniques are also reviewed.

Course Objectives

The student will learn… 

• Selection and use basic materials, including the characteristics of various commonly used colors, solvents, and mediums 
• Execution of a variety of direct and indirect painting methods. 
• Approaches to interpreting and modifying observed reality to achieve emotive, symbolic, and compositional goals 
• Descriptive, emotive, and symbolic use of color, shape, and mark 

• Basic color theory and color mixing 

This course does not meet during Thanksgiving Break, November 23 - 26.   

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $695. Select credit option when registering. 

Image: Fred Kaplan, A Curious Place, 2001, Oil on canvas, 32 x 48 in.  

Register by: September 8 

Materials List  

Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies

Saturdays, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. 
Instructor: Steve Nocella 
Credit: Non-credit or 1.0 undergraduate credit (see description)

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 $20 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 as well as the capacity to conceptualize context for the student's own sculpture. 

This course does not meet during Thanksgiving Break, November 23 - 26.

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $715 (including lab fee). Select credit option when registering.

Image: Francesco Toledo, 3 Mayan Girls, 2023, Carrara marble, 18 x 16 x 12 in. Courtesy of the student. 

Register by: September 8 

Materials List 

Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies

Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 
Instructor: David Wilson 
Credit: Non-Credit Only

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, in this class, if they wish. Note: Tuition includes a $35 models fee.

Image: David Wilson, 2016.

Register by: September 8 

Materials List

Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies

Sundays, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. 
Instructor: Keith Leitner 
Credit: Non-credit only

Capture the colors of fall en plein air through vibrant watercolor! Become comfortable and confident with the practice of working outdoors at picturesque Lemon Hill, Laurel Hill, and other select locations around the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Fairmount Park. Instruction will cover means of accurately and expressively depicting outdoor sites, watercolor painting techniques, color mixing, and the history and capabilities of water media. All levels welcome. Note: Students are responsible for their own transportation to painting locations.  

Learning Objectives:  

• Learn to observe and depict landscape and cityscape en plein air with attendant materials and set up
• Learn color mixing and watercolor application techniques
• Study of pigment history and development
• Learn about watercolor history via short discussions of painters and their motifs 

Image: Keith Leitner, Above Stockton, watercolor, 12 x 12 in.

Register by: September 8 

Materials List

Fall 2023 CE Policy Guide, including updated Withdrawal/Refund Policies