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

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 $30 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 and the capacity to conceptualize context for the student's sculpture.

*Note: No class on March 8.

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $725 (including lab fee). Select credit option with price adjustment when registering.

Image:  Joseph McGrath [CE Student], Pointing to Princton, Alabaster.

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

Saturdays, 12:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Instructor: Steve Nocella
Ten-Week Course (30 Hours)*
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (See Below)

This ten-week course teaches the basic skills needed for making metal sculpture. Learn fundamental methods of cutting, bending and welding metal such as sawing, heating, and MIG welding. Students will be encouraged to explore the medium with directness and spontaneity to gain a knowledge and understanding of its complexion. Open to all levels. Note: Tuition includes a $65 lab fee.

*Note: No class on March 8.

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $660 (including lab fee). Select credit option with price adjustment when registering.

Register by: January 24
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

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

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 the instructor's Advanced Portrait Drawing Workshop.

Register by: January 31
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Saturdays, 1 – 4 p.m.
Instructor: Michelle Oosterbaan
Ten-Week Course (30 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (See Below)

Learn the fundamentals of drawing with the vibrancy colored pencil! Work from still life objects and arrangements, natural and urban landscape window views, and clothed portrait/figure models to explore descriptive and expressive line quality, light/shadow, composition, color relationships, cross-hatching and layering methods, as ways to render scenic form and space. Instruction will guide students through observational sighting and measuring techniques and color theory essentials to achieve a sense of realism and to serve as a solid foundation for future study. Tuition includes a $25 models fee.

Optional: This course is available for 1.0 undergraduate credit for $620, including models fee. Select credit option with price adjustment when registering.

Register by: January 31
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Instructor: Colleen O'Donnell
Weekend Workshop
Credit: Non-Credit Only

Learn how to translate ideas of nature and abstraction into three-dimensions through the medium of clay. Combine your observations of the forms and textures of the natural world with your imagination to create sculptures that capture the graceful lines, fluid forms, and intricate patterns of leaves, bark and branches, flowers, animal matter, and geological features. Students are encouraged to explore traditional and contemporary treatment of subject matter, with abstract expression encouraged to capture the essence and beauty of organic objects. Open to all levels; no experience necessary. 

Register by: February 7
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Saturdays, 1 – 3:30 p.m. (Zoom with posted Canvas content)
Instructor: Susan Sullivan
Ten-Week Course (30-Hour Equivalent)
Credit: Non-Credit or 1.0 Undergraduate Credit (See Below)

Abstraction in art can look like a variety of different things, from the painterly glow of a Turner seascape to the flattened patterns of a Matisse interior to Pollock’s nonobjective drip technique. But how does one get from painting realistically what one can see in the real world to translating it into invented color and shape or to abandoning form altogether? Learn from master artists throughout modern art history by trying on their techniques to find your own personal style! Explore different paint application methods, color interactions, and compositional tactics as you take on a variety of subjects, including still life, interiors, landscape, and the figure or self-portrait…using the examples of Helen Frankenthaler, David Hockney, Mickalene Thomas, and other master artists to guide you. Each session will open with lecture/critique with artist examples and then lead into open painting time with one-on-one feedback from the instructor. Whether you are seeking to drive your current work to a new direction or simply experiment with different ways of generating imagery, this is a great steppingstone to making abstraction – in whatever form it may take – personal, expressive, and satisfying. Open to all media and levels but drawing experience recommended.

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

Register by: February 7
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses

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

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. 

Register by: February 14
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies