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Continuing Education at PAFA

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Painting over the Line (In-Person)

$450

with Kassem Amoudi

Calendar Next available session starts Feb 4, 2026 at 12:30 pm, runs for 10 weeks

Wednesdays, 12:30 - 3:30 p.m. 
Instructor: Kassem Amoudi 
Ten-Week Course (30 Hours) 

Learn to explore new possibilities and paint more intuitively under the guidance of artist/critic/mentor KassemAmoudi. Work from personal subject matter (objects, images, emotions, or ideas) to find your own visual language, informed by examples from contemporary and modern art. Examine how to use concepts of color, harmony, focal point, space, and mark-making as powerful tools of personal expression. Instruction is geared toward open painting time supported by critiques and advice from the instructor as he works one-on-one with students to guide them in their personal style and goals. This course is excellent for students pursuing abstract or nonobjective imagery, seeking knowledgeable feedback and a focused community painting environment. Painting experience recommended.

Image: Kassem Amoudi

Register by: January 28 
Materials List 
 
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.

Terracotta Figure Sculpture (In-Person)

$515

with Morgan Dummitt

Calendar Next available session starts Feb 4, 2026 at 6 pm, runs for 10 weeks

Wednesdays, 6 - 9 p.m. 
Instructor: Morgan Dummitt 
Ten-Week Course (30 Hours) 

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

Image: Morgan Dummitt, Brittany, terracotta.

Register by: January 28 
Materials List  
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.

Oil/Acrylic Painting: Abstracting the Real (In-Person)

$450

with Frederic Kaplan

Calendar Next available session starts Feb 6, 2026 at 9 am, runs for 10 weeks

Fridays, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. 
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan 
Ten Week Course (30 Hours) 

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. 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

Students 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  

Image: Frederic Kaplan

Register by: January 30 
Materials List 
 
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.

Portrait in Pencil Workshop (In-Person)

$205

with RA Friedman

Calendar Next available session starts Feb 7, 2026 at 9 am

Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Instructor: RA Friedman 
Weekend Workshop 

Using inexpensive materials, this hands-on workshop will introduce the concepts and methods needed to create a strong sense of dimension and likeness in your portrait drawings. Explore the proportions and planes of the head, neck and shoulders. Learn how to create a structural foundation and how to easily manage anatomy by breaking down forms into simple geometric shapes. Instruction will address different strategies for creating a finished tonal portrait as well as tips and tricks that will help you draw like a pro! Note: Tuition includes a $10 models fee.

For more advanced instruction or an optional follow-up to this course, see Advanced Portrait Drawing Workshop.

Image: RA Friedman

Register by: January 30 
Materials List
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.

Color Woodcut Printmaking (In-Person)

$480

with Rebecca Gilbert

Calendar Next available session starts Feb 12, 2026 at 1 pm, runs for 10 weeks

Thursdays, 1 - 4 p.m. 
Instructor: Rebecca Gilbert 
Ten-Week Course (30 Hours) 

Printing from a drawing carved into wood is the oldest and most straightforward form of printmaking. Expand the expressive possibilities of the medium by infusing color into the process! Learn reduction and multiple block relief printmaking techniques to produce vibrant, layered color prints. Instruction will cover all steps from start to finished print: material selection and use, image planning, tool handling for a variety of mark-making tactics, reduction and multiple block processes, color mixing, printing by hand and on an etching press, registration techniques, cleaning, and editioning. All levels welcome. Tuition includes a $30 lab fee.

Image: Rebecca Gilbert, Momento Mori/Swans, Reduction and Multiple Block Woodcut.

Register by: February 5 
Materials List
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.

Watercolor Workshop (In-Person)

$225

with James Toogood

Calendar Next session starts Feb 21, 2026 at 9 am

Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Instructor: James Toogood 
Weekend Workshop 

Interested in learning or improving your watercolor skills? All materials and techniques will be discussed, including the selection of papers, brushes, and pigments, as well as transparent and opaque painting methods. Students will work from still-life subjects and/or their own source material. All levels welcome.

Image: James Toogood

Register by: February 13 
Materials List
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.

Full Course

Ceramic Sculpture (In-Person)

$480

with Matthew Courtney

Calendar Next available session starts Feb 24, 2026 at 12:30 pm, runs for 10 weeks

Tuesdays, 12:30 - 3:30 p.m. 
Instructor: Matthew Courtney 
Ten-Week Course (30 Hours) 

Unlock your creativity through the art of sculpting with clay. Through hands-on instruction and practice, learn essential techniques such as pinching, slab-building, coil-building, and surface treatments. Explore the principles of form, texture, and composition, as well as the fundamentals of the firing process. Join us to express yourself and develop your sculpting skills in a supportive and inspiring environment -- open to both beginners and experienced artists! Tuition includes a $30 lab fee.

Image: Matthew Courtney, Birds, 2017.

Register by: February 17 
Materials List
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.

Wood Studio (In-Person)

$480

with John Greig

Calendar Next available session starts Feb 24, 2026 at 5:30 pm, runs for 10 weeks

Tuesdays, 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. 
Instructor: John Greig 
Ten-Week Course (30 Hours) 

This class will explore wood as a primary art-making medium, looking at its many types, techniques and uses. Students will develop a well-rounded foundation of wood-working skills including cutting, milling, laminating, joinery and safe use of wood-working tools. Contemporary, traditional and ancient art works made of wood will be presented for historical and contextual understanding. Students will be encouraged to find their own unique voice within the material while building skills. Tuition includes $30 materials fee.

Image: John Greig

Register by: February 17 
Materials List
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.





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