All levels welcome

The letters of the alphabet can be a foundation as well as a place for experimentation. Using a fascinating series of hands-on and messy exercises developed by this award-winning instructor, students will explore non-traditional ways of making marks, generating letters, and inventing pictorial narratives. These methods can be applied to designing typefaces, adding new dimensions to calligraphic practice, creating personalized fonts, and even lead to unique ways of observing our world.

Cyrus Highsmith is a letter drawer, teacher, author, and graphic artist. He teaches type design at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). He wrote and illustrated the acclaimed primer Inside Paragraphs: Typographic Fundamentals. In 2015, he received the Gerrit Noordzij Prize for extraordinary contributions to the fields of type design, typography, and type education. In 2017, he became Creative Director for Latin Type.

Fee: $305 (Course Fee: $220 + Lab Fee: $45 + Non-Refundable Registration Fee: $40)

Some throwing experience needed

“I love making functional pottery for daily use, every aspect of the process is an opportunity to dig deep. I believe pots can be a powerful conduit for human connection, convey a sense of comfort, curiosity, and play. My choice of clay and glaze are hyper-intentional. The arrangement of slip/glaze, idiosyncratic marks, leaf motifs, horizon lines, circles, and grids represent my interest in seeing the world through a filtered lens, allowing my taste and experiences to bleed into my work. This approach helps to shift perceptions about what pottery can be; a profoundly soulful way to build relationships through a simple pot”.

Doug Peltzman was born in New York City and raised on Long Island. Having a voracious appetite for risk, being a skateboarder and artist, Peltzman has been making pots since 2003 and painting and drawing his entire life. After graduating with his MFA from Penn State, he established a pottery studio in Shokan, NY. He has taught workshops throughout the country, was a founding member of Objective Clay (2012-2021), and is one of the principal creators of the successful Hudson Valley Pottery Tour. Doug is a dedicated husband, full-time studio potter, and father of three superbly talented and cheerful children.

Fee: $660 (Course Fee: $550 + Lab Fee: $70 [includes first bag of clay] + Non-Refundable Registration Fee: $40)

All levels welcome

Using some of my hand-building templates as a starting point, students will learn how to design and create their own templates while transforming flat clay slabs into functional pottery forms. This class focuses on form development, template-making, surface texture, and thoughtful assembly/alteration techniques. Students will gain practical strategies for translating ideas into repeatable forms, strengthening problem-solving skills, and building confidence in slab construction.

Jen Allen is a studio potter, educator, and mother based in Morgantown, West Virginia. When she's not creating pottery, teaching, or designing templates, you’ll likely find her in the woods with her pup Margot, or at the hockey rink, cheering on her kids' teams.

Fee: $650 (Course Fee: $550 + Lab Fee: $60 [first bag of clay included] + Non-Refundable Registration Fee: $40)

All levels welcome

In this hands-on workshop, Betsy demonstrates how to bypass the frustrating parts of making representational art using simple methods she has developed to make the process fun. Participants will learn how to transfer a basic sketch, make it look "realistic" right away by introducing the darkest darks, simplify what you see, and choose the most dominant colors. Participants will leave with their completed painting plus easy-to-follow methods for continuing their journey. All levels are welcome, from novice to expert. Tools and materials will be provided.

Betsy Jacks is a Hudson Valley-based visual artist. She grew up in New York City and was Director of Marketing for the Whitney Museum of American Art. For two decades she was the Executive Director of the Thomas Cole National Historic Site — an art museum and home of the 19th-century landscape painter. She has won numerous awards, including New York State Museums Individual Achievement Award of Distinction. Her work has been exhibited widely and is in the collection of the Albany Institute.

Fee: $430 (Course Fee: $330 + Lab Fee: $60 + Non-Refundable Registration Fee: $40)

All levels welcome

This course is designed to encourage students to lean into the history of ceramics and to explore ways to utilize historical forms as inspiration for new work. During this innovative workshop the throwing class, with instructor Suze Lindsay, will be collaborating with the hand-building class, taught by Margaret Bohls. Suze and Margaret will share their own deep pools of historical inspiration through brief and entertaining lectures to kindle purpose and intention. Students are invited to bring images of historical works that inspire them. Working on wheels and tabletops, we will explore strategies and techniques for creating functional pots. Conversations and demonstrations will help students create dynamic forms and explore approaches to surface using texture, carving, and a variety of slip decoration techniques. There will be a bisque firing.

Margaret Bohls makes pottery and vessel forms that are inspired and informed by a study of historical ceramics and other decorative arts. She has an abiding interest in the vernacular language of utilitarian forms, with an emphasis on the ways in which process and material can communicate abstract ideas. Bohls has been teaching ceramics at the college level for 30 years. Her teaching interests include the history of ceramics and clay and glaze formulation.

Fee: $655 (Course Fee: $550 + Lab Fee: $65 [includes first bag of clay] + Non-Refundable Registration Fee: $40)

All levels welcome

This course is designed to encourage students to lean into the history of ceramics and to explore ways to utilize historical forms as inspiration for new work. During this innovative workshop the throwing class, with instructor Suze Lindsay, will be collaborating with the hand-building class, taught by Margaret Bohls. Suze and Margaret will share their own deep pools of historical inspiration through brief and entertaining lectures to kindle purpose and intention. Students are invited to bring images of historical works that inspire them. Working on wheels and tabletops, we will explore strategies and techniques for creating functional pots. Conversations and demonstrations will help students create dynamic forms and explore approaches to surface using texture, carving, and a variety of slip decoration techniques. There will be a bisque firing.

Suze Lindsay is a studio potter in North Carolina. Her formal training started as a CORE fellow at Penland School of Craft, followed by earning an MFA from LSU. After completing 3 years in Penland’s artist-in-residence program, she established Fork Mountain Pottery with partner and fellow potter, Kent McLaughlin. She has presented workshops and lectures nationally and internationally. Suze strives to make pots that are good companions for daily use. “I make pots that entice the user to take pleasure in everyday activities, inviting participation, promoting hospitality.”

Fee: $655 (Course Fee: $550 + Lab Fee: $65 [includes first bag of clay] + Non-Refundable Registration Fee: $40)

All levels welcome

Join us for a hands-on introduction to Relief Printing. While always visceral, this printmaking process is conducive to personal approaches as varied as high detail or free flowing. Learn exciting techniques for carving designs and imagery into linoleum blocks and how to print your unique artworks. Explore personal imagery and storytelling along with the fathomless possibilities and qualities this tactile process provides. Perfect for beginners and/or artists looking to enliven and expand their practice.

Martin Kruck’s artwork has been featured in 25 solo exhibitions and in over 100 group exhibitions in Germany, Estonia, United Kingdom, Northern Ireland (UK), and the United States. He has received artists grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, and the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation. He is a Professor of Art/Printmaking at Kean University Jersey City.  

Fee: $310 (Course Fee: $220 + Lab Fee: $50 + Non-Refundable Registration Fee: $40)

All levels welcome

Join us for an immersive introduction to oil painting. Using the historic and vibrant world of food ‘still-lives’ as our inspiration, learn the fundamentals of capturing light, color, and form as we build layers of oil paint to create exciting depth and illusion. Participants will be introduced to approaches that consider the rich narrative threads weaving together food, culture, and human experience. Receive lots of individual attention and engage in group discussions as we practice daily painting methods. Perfect for beginners and those looking to refine their skills.

Mia Brownell’s paintings use the illusionistic conventions of traditional food still-life painting to explore larger conversations about being human. Referencing 17th-century Dutch realism and the swirling forms of molecular imaging, her work considers food as more than sustenance, examining how it is grown, processed, marketed, and consumed, and how it functions as a cultural signifier. Through illusionistic depictions, she probes questions of identity, values, and the parallels between microbiology and the social constructs that shape who we are. Mia is a Professor of Art & Design at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven.

Fee: $520 (Course Fee: $440 + Lab Fee: $40 + Non-Refundable Registration Fee: $40)