Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. (Rain Dates: May 3 – 4*)
Instructor: Joseph Sweeney
Weekend Workshop
Credit: Non-Credit Only

Paint on location on the grounds of beautiful Ridgeland Mansion, the historic 18th century Federal-style house located in west Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. Landscape painting topics will include color mixing to achieve a sense of light and air, capturing time of day, compositional fundamentals, and sound painting practices for oil, acrylic, or pastel painting. Students are responsible for their own transportation. 

* Rain Dates: May 3 - 4. Please reserve the rain dates in your schedule when registering – no refunds for withdrawals less than one week prior to the original workshop date, including for students unable to attend the postponed date. See policy guide, below.   

Register by: April 18
Materials List
Winter/Spring 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies

Sundays, 3 – 4 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)
No class on May 25 (Memorial Day Weekend)

Register by April 21 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSUMMER2025 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 Summer Session 1 and 2 classes and workshops only. Summer Studio/Critique Program or other studio rental programs, certificate registration, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.)

This six-session class is a visually rich, hands-on, and informative presentation of the working methods, color, materials, and techniques of six great eras of painting. Topics for examination will include Spanish and Dutch painters such as Velasquez and Rembrandt, great Impressionist painters like Manet and Pissarro, the painters of Montmartre such as Matisse and Picasso, the early expressionist painters like Kandinsky and Soutine, and the great abstract painters of the 20th century. Each week will include video demonstrations of master painting methods, lessons in visual art history, and a Q&A Zoom review session of materials and methods for all painting approaches. Students will complete weekly projects to create paintings using the approaches and aesthetics of each of the six great eras of painting, which will be critiqued and commented on by the instructor on the online platform Canvas, with a learning goal of enriching each student’s confidence, knowledge, and skills as they acquire tools for their own art-making practice. Open to all media and levels of experience.

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

Register by: May 12
Materials List
Summer 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies 
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses

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)
No class on May 25 (Memorial Day Weekend)

Register by April 21 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSUMMER2025 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 Summer Session 1 and 2 classes and workshops only. Summer Studio/Critique Program or other studio rental programs, certificate registration, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.)

Improve your skills and understanding of drawingthe human figure and portrait! This fascinating and informative class will address the materials for drawing; the structure of the human body; how to understand the shapes, volumes, and anatomy of the figure; descriptions of the bone and muscular structures; and traditionalfigure drawing materials and techniques. Topics of study will include the visual history of drawing people, master techniques, and styles and expression in drawing the figure. Instruction will address techniques for gesture drawing, achievingrealisticproportions, defining form through line and shading,drawing the portrait, and tackling hands and feet. Each class will include Q&A, problem solving, presentations of drawing approaches to anatomy, and video demonstrations by the instructor. Students will be assigned weekly projects which the instructor will critique and comment on via the online learning platform Canvas. Excellent for both beginners and experienced artists.

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

Register by: May 12
Materials List
Summer 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies 
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses

Sundays, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Instructor: Keith Leitner
Five-Week Short Course (15 Hours)
Credit: Non-Credit Only
Includes Rain Date: July 13

Register by April 21 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSUMMER2025 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 Summer Session 1 and 2 classes and workshops only. Summer Studio/Critique Program or other studio rental programs, certificate registration, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.)

Capture the colors of summer enplein 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 enplein 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

Register by: May 23
Materials List
Summer 2025 CE Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies 

Sundays, 3 – 4 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 April 21 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSUMMER2025 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 Summer Session 1 and 2 classes and workshops only. Summer Studio/Critique Program or other studio rental programs, certificate registration, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.)

Al Gury, noted author ofAlla Prima: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Direct Paintingand Color for Painters: A Guide to Traditions and Practice amongst other works, presents this in-depth approach to the skills, materials, colors, history, and techniques of direct landscape painting. Working from photographs, master works, or available on-site images, learn concepts that will not only improve your landscape painting but also grow your in confidence in your artistic practice. Video demonstrations, images, and written instructions on Canvas will be supplemented by critiques and weekly Zoom discussions. Oil painting will be the primary focus, but all media are welcome.

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

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

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 April 21 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSUMMER2025 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 Summer Session 1 and 2 classes and workshops only. Summer Studio/Critique Program or other studio rental programs, certificate registration, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.)

Explore the creative and expressive possibilities that can enhance your traditional and observational artwork. Each week the class on Zoom will begin with a traditional subject: still lifes, landscapes, portraits, interiors and figures and master works with a goal of exploring and bringing greater expression and creativity to the subject. Content will include Q&A about materials and processes that students might struggle with, the visual history of the creative diversity and variety of the subject in art history, color, style and compositional possibilities, richly informative materials posted in Canvas and video demos by the instructor. A weekly project will be assigned with a goal of incorporating creative possibilities in each subject with critiques on Canvas by the Instructor. Each class will be recorded for review and sent to students weekly. The class learning goal for students is an enriched toolbox of creative ideas, and possibilities for the artistic process. Open to all media.

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

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