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City Landscape Drawing and Painting (Outdoor)
with Larry Francis
Sundays, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Instructor: Larry Francis
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
Rain Date: May 31
Capture the small-town beauty Manayunk's hilly streets, rowhomes, and storefronts. Learn to create a convincing sense of space, light and time of day while depicting streetscapes, trees, water and sky. Color mixing and painting techniques for oils will be demonstrated, but all drawing/painting media are welcome. Located just 15 minutes outside of Philadelphia, Manayunk offers engaging urban and riverside neighborhood subjects with parking, shade, provisions and facilities available. Note: Students are responsible for their own transportation to painting locations.
Image: Larry Francis, Hill Town Paintings - View from Fleming, 2024, gouache on blue grey paper, 18 x 24 in.
Register by: April 6
Materials List
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.
Drawing on Mylar Workshop (In-Person)
with Shushana Rucker
Saturday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Instructor: Shushana Rucker
One-Day Weekend Workshop
Discover the unique possibilities of drawing on Mylar in this immersive weekend workshop. Students will explore how the smooth, translucent surface of Mylar allows for even blending, soft moody values, and bold contrasts. Through guided demonstrations and hands-on exercises, participants will experiment with graphite, charcoal, and erasing techniques to create expressive drawings. Ideal for artists interested in expanding their drawing vocabulary, this workshop offers a focused introduction to using Mylar’s versatile and forgiving surface.
Image: Shushana Rucker, 30th Street, Graphite on Mylar, 6 x11 in.
Register by: March 13
Materials List
Please review CE's Winter/Spring 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.
Figure Painting: Alla Prima and the Limited Palette
with David Wilson
Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Instructor: David Wilson
Six-Week Short Course (18 Hours)
No class on May 23
Register by April 27 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSUMMER2026 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Dual Plus or Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Summer Session 1 and 2 classes and workshops only. Spring 2026 courses, Summer Studio-Critique/studio rental programs, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.
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.
Image: David Wilson
Register by: May 15
Materials List
Please review CE's Summer 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.
Methods of the Masters: More Great Women Painters (ONLINE)
with Al Gury
Sundays, 3 - 4 p.m. (Interactive asynchronous Canvas content supported by weekly Zoom meetings)
Instructor: Al Gury
Six-Week Condensed Course (30-Hour Equivalent)
No class on May 24
Register by April 27 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSUMMER2026 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Dual Plus or Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Summer Session 1 and 2 classes and workshops only. Spring 2026 courses, Summer Studio-Critique/studio rental programs, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.
Explore the methods of some of the greatest painters in recent art history with Al Gury, noted professor and author of Alla Prima, Color for Painters, and Foundations of Drawing. Notable women artists including Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’Keeffe, Cecilia Beaux, Gwenn John, Jane Freilicher, Elaine de Kooning, and Vanessa Bell will provide the basis for weekly painting projects. Learn from, and gain an increased appreciation for, these masters through an examination of their materials, color palettes, working methods, and histories through visual examples, discussions, video demonstrations, and tailored painting projects that will be critiqued by the instructor for helpful feedback. Class meetings will be held on Zoom, and assignments and asynchronous class content will be posted on Canvas, PAFA’s online learning platform. Open to all levels of experience and all media: oil, acrylic, watercolor, and pastel.
Note: This course is a continuation of the Spring 2026 course, Methods of the Masters: Great Women Painters, but students need not have taken the first course to participate in this class. This course will present new material to students who enrolled in the earlier class.
Image: Coxcomb by Georgia O'Keeffe, Partial gift and bequest of Bernice McIIhenny Wintersteen at PAFA, Georgia O'Keeffe Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Register by: May 11
Materials List
Please review CE's Summer 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses
Observational Painting Toward Expression and Abstraction (ONLINE)
with Al Gury
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)
No class on May 24
Register by April 27 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSUMMER2026 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Dual Plus or Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Summer Session 1 and 2 classes and workshops only. Spring 2026 courses, Summer Studio-Critique/studio rental programs, 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.
Register by: May 11
Materials List
Please review CE's Summer 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.
Information for PAFA CE Online Courses
Sketch on the Go (OUTDOOR)
with Frederic Kaplan
Saturday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Instructor: Frederic Kaplan
Weekend Workshop (One-Day, 7 Hours)
Rain Date: June 6*
Register by April 27 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSUMMER2026 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Dual Plus or Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Summer Session 1 and 2 classes and workshops only. Spring 2026 courses, Summer Studio-Critique/studio rental programs, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.
Capture the active life of the city and its rich architecture. This is an excellent workshop for anyone who wants to learn to sketch on the bus or train, in cafés and public parks, or while traveling abroad. Topics include perspective, gauging proportions by eye, gesture figure drawing, and methods for simplifying form. All levels welcome.
*Please reserve the rain date 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: May 22
Materials List
Please review CE's Summer 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.
Stone Carving
with Steve Nocella
Saturdays, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Instructor: Steve Nocella
Ten-Week Course (30 Hours)
No class on July 4
Register by April 27 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSUMMER2026 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Dual Plus or Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Summer Session 1 and 2 classes and workshops only. Spring 2026 courses, Summer Studio-Critique/studio rental programs, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.
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.
Register by: May 22
Materials List
Please review CE's Summer 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.
Metal Sculpture
with Steve Nocella
Saturdays, 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Instructor: Steve Nocella
Ten-Week Course (30 Hours)
No class on July 4
Register by April 27 for a 10% Early Bird Discount! Enter promo code EARLYBIRDSUMMER2026 at checkout (and click “+” to add the discount). PAFA members at the Dual Plus or Friend level and above receive an additional 10% off. Discount applies to CE regular adult Summer Session 1 and 2 classes and workshops only. Spring 2026 courses, Summer Studio-Critique/studio rental programs, gift certificates, membership purchases, and lockers are ineligible.
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.
Register by: May 22
Materials List
Please review CE's Summer 2026 Policy Guide, including withdrawal/refund policies, prior to registering.