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Continuing Education at PAFA

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Gouache Painting for Fine Art and Design (Online)

$425

with Kate Samworth

Calendar Next available session starts Sep 24, 2025 at 1 pm, runs for 10 weeks

Wednesdays, 1 – 4 p.m. (Zoom) with Supplemental Canvas Content 
Instructor: Kate Samworth
Ten-Week Course (30-Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (See Below)

Register by August 22 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDFALL2025 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Fall classes and workshops only. Studio rental programs, Open Academy (BFA) courses, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible. 

Explore color, painting methods, and composition in gouache – vibrant and easy-to-use opaque watercolor paint.  Instruction will address fundamentals including materials, paint application techniques,and control of flow.  Particular emphasis will be placed on understanding and mixing color, examining harmony, relativity, value, temperature, and chroma through guided exercises using limited palettes.  Subjects will range from pattern designstocopying masterworks. Instruction will include slide presentations, painting demonstrations, and feedback on student artwork.

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

Image: Kate Samworth

Register by: September 17

Materials List 
Fall 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies  
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses

Foundations of Art 101 (Online)

$425

with Al Gury

Calendar Next available session starts Oct 5, 2025 at 3 pm, runs for 10 weeks

Sundays, 3 – 4 p.m. (Interactive asynchronous Canvas content supported by weekly Zoom meetings)
Instructor: Al Gury 
Ten-Week Course (30-Hour Equivalent)
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (See Below)
Note: No class on November 30

Register by August 22 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDFALL2025 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Fall classes and workshops only. Studio rental programs, Open Academy (BFA) courses, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible. 

Al Gury, Professor of Painting and Drawing at PAFA, and noted author of Alla Prima, Color for Painters, and Foundations of Drawing, presents the foundational basics of art making. This course is designed for individuals who are new to or just beginning to study art, or for those desiring a refresher in the basic elements, with a goal of imparting a solid and practical understanding of essential topics and practices. As a survey course, each week will focus on a specific topic and a project assignment. Topics will include the materials of drawing and painting, drawing shapes, measuring, forms, perspective, depth, use of line, understanding light and shade, and composition. Exercises will include the basics of charcoal and pencil drawing, use of pastel, color concepts, and how oil paints work. Subjects will include still lifes, interior spaces, portraits, and life drawing through the use of masterworks. Course content and assignments will be posted on Canvas, PAFA’s online learning platform. Weekly Zoom meetings will provide opportunities for Q&A, art history discussion and references, illustrations of key concepts, and explanations of the weekly project by the instructor.

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

Image: Al Gury

Register by: September 26

Materials List 
Fall 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies  
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses

Composition Through Color in Drawing and Painting (Online)

$295

with Al Gury

Calendar Next available session starts Oct 5, 2025 at 4:30 pm, runs for 6 weeks

Sundays, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. (Interactive asynchronous Canvas content supported by weekly Zoom meetings)
Instructor: Al Gury
Six-Week Condensed Course (30-Hour Equivalent)
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (See Below)

Register by August 22 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDFALL2025 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Fall classes and workshops only. Studio rental programs, Open Academy (BFA) courses, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible. 

Explore how to use color as an organizing force in your drawings and paintings with Al Gury, Professor of Painting and Drawing at PAFA, and noted author of Alla Prima, Color for Painters, and Foundations of Drawing. This class presents practical skills and strategies for making strong compositions using color in the selection of hues, arrangement of marks/shapes, range values, and use of temperature to establish visual balance, space, and visual focus within the pictorial frame of an artwork. Projects will utilizelandscape, portrait, still life, and abstraction to examine color’s impact on design. Classes will contain explanations of the visual compositional strategies in both historic and contemporary art, instructor demonstrations, and tactics for problem-solving, as well as weekly assignments and critiques of personal work.Content will address techniques in oil, acrylic, watercolor, and pastel, with a focus on color applications. Class meetings will be held on Zoom, and assignments and asynchronous class content will be posted on Canvas, PAFA’s online learning platform.Beginning and advanced studentswelcome.

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

Image: Al Gury

Register by: September 26 
Materials List
Fall 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies  
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses

Practical Perspective (Online)

$265

with Kate Samworth

Calendar Next available session starts Oct 15, 2025 at 1 pm, runs for 6 weeks

Wednesdays, 1 – 2 p.m. (Zoom) with Asynchronous Canvas Content
Instructor: Kate Samworth
Six-Week Course (18-Hour Equivalent)
Credit: Non-Credit Only

Register by August 22 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDFALL2025 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Fall classes and workshops only. Studio rental programs, Open Academy (BFA) courses, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible. 

Understanding the principles of one- and two-point perspective is essential to drawing and painting convincing forms in space. Master the fundamentals of this geometric system that was developed during the Renaissance and is used to this day. Instruction will break down sometimes-intimidating principles into basic concepts to provide practical methods for creating interior spaces, landscapes, and cityscapes, including elements of repeated patterns, arches, stairways, and more. Limited class size will allow time for one-on-one assistance. Great for illustrators and artists of any media requiring a strong drawing framework. 

Image: Kate Samworth

Register by: October 8

Materials List 
Fall 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies  
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses

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

$265

with Colleen O'Donnell

Calendar Next available session starts Oct 31, 2025 at 10 am, runs for 6 weeks

Fridays, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. (Zoom) with Posted Canvas Content
Instructor: Colleen O’Donnell 
Six-Week Course (18-Hour Equivalent)
Credit: Non-Credit Only
Note: No class on November 28

Register by August 22 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDFALL2025 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Fall classes and workshops only. Studio rental programs, Open Academy (BFA) courses, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible. 

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.

Image: CE Student.

Register by: October 24 
Materials List 
Fall 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies  
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses

Animals in Watercolor (Online)

$265

with Michelle Oosterbaan

Calendar Next available session starts Nov 3, 2025 at 6 pm, runs for 6 weeks

Mondays, 6 – 8 p.m. (Zoom) with Asynchronous Canvas Content 
Instructor: Michelle Oosterbaan
Six-Week Course (18-Hour Equivalent)
Credit: Non-Credit Only

Register by August 22 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDFALL2025 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Fall classes and workshops only. Studio rental programs, Open Academy (BFA) courses, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible. 

Dogs, cats, and other animals at home or in nature have been depicted in master drawings and paintings throughout the centuries — as portrait subjects themselves or as a part of landscapes, domestic scenes, still lifes, and other genres. Find inspiration in the creatures of the great outdoors or those curled up on your own couch to make animals a meaningful part of your painting practice. Utilize sketches and photo references to explore ways of realistically and expressively depicting domestic or wild animals, to capture facial features, posture/gesture, and textural effects of fur, feathers and whiskers while learning sound visual principles and techniques in water-media. Content will include examples from historical and contemporary art, engaging homework assignments, and discussions about the role of animals in art and tactics for making them a special focus in your own work. Instruction will focus on drawing and watercolor or gouache painting, but students are welcome to work in other media.

Image: Honoré Desmond Sharrer, Study for "Two Dogs in a Still Life" (detail), mid 20th century, casein or gouache on paper, 11 x 14 in. Collection of PAFA, gift of Adam Zagorin and the late Perez Zagorin. Copyright © artist or artist’s estate.

Register by: October 27 
Materials List 
Fall 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies  
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses

The Color of Light and Shadow in Acrylics (Online)

$295

with Frederic Kaplan

Calendar Next available session starts Nov 4, 2025 at 1 pm, runs for 6 weeks

Mondays, 1 – 2:30 p.m. (Zoom meetings supporting majority asynchronous content)
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan 
Six-Week Condense Course (30-Hour Equivalent) 
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (See Below)

Register by August 22 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDFALL2025 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Fall classes and workshops only. Studio rental programs, Open Academy (BFA) courses, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible. 

Exploit the unique qualities of acrylics to create paintings infused with light and rich, transparent shadows. Through a combination of online videos and illustrated lessons plus live Zoom sessions, learn how to build your paintings in layers of radiant opaque and transparent colors. A variety of acrylic painting techniques will be addressed, including the tenebrism of Baroque master Caravaggio. A rich resource of information about the wide array of acrylic painting materials is also provided. This course is appropriate for students at all levels, including beginners, but drawing experience is recommended.

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

Image: Fred Kaplan

Register by: October 28 
Materials List 
Fall 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies  
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses

Color Matters Workshop (Online)

$175

with Kassem Amoudi

Calendar Next available session starts Nov 22, 2025 at 10 am

Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. (Zoom Only)
Instructor: Kassem Amoudi 
Weekend Workshop
Credit: Non-Credit Only

Register by August 22 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDFALL2025 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Fall classes and workshops only. Studio rental programs, Open Academy (BFA) courses, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible. 

Elevate the role of color and learn how to incorporate it both strategically and intuitively into your paintings under the guidance of artist/critic/mentor KassemAmoudi in this condensed two-day workshop. Explore color’s role in creating focal points, suggesting space, influencing mark, and promoting personal expression. Work from personal subject matter (objects, images, emotions, or ideas) to develop your personal style, informed by examples from contemporary and modern art. Zoom sessions feature open painting time, supported by critiques and advice from the instructor as he works one-on-one to guide students toward their goals. This course is excellent for students seeking to jumpstart their use of color in abstract/nonobjective imagery. Painting experience recommended. 

Image: Kassem Amoudi

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





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