Create a functional and decorative ceramic trinket shelf in this beginner-friendly handbuilding workshop. Participants will learn to roll, cut, and assemble clay slabs using simple templates to build a custom mini shelf perfect for displaying jewelry, keepsakes, or other small treasures.

With guidance from your instructor, you’ll practice essential clay techniques such as slip and scoring, smoothing seams, and adding texture or carved details to personalize your piece. Holes for hanging can be added for a finished, ready-to-display result.

All materials, tools, and firings are included. Finished pieces will be fired and available for pickup after the workshop.

• We believe art should be accessible to all. Scholarships are available for those who qualify.
• Membership is one of the easiest and most effective ways to support our mission! Learn more about it's benefits and discounts!

In this vibrant, hands-on class, young artists will explore a variety of materials and techniques designed to ignite their imagination. Each project encourages creative expression while building fine motor skills, artistic vocabulary, and confidence. From playful experimentation to proud finished pieces, children will discover the joy of making art in a supportive and inspiring environment.

• We believe art should be accessible to all. Scholarships are available for those who qualify.
• Membership is one of the easiest and most effective ways to support the mission of HYS

Students in Magic of Abstraction will learn to experiment with concepts and ideas relating to color, depth, perception and space. Working with your medium of choice, participants will learn to break down elements of abstraction including composition and rhythm, texture, movement, and balance. 

Students may be encouraged to work outside of their comfort zone at times, or experiment freely with new techniques with the intention of broadening knowledge of the materials (increased familiarity with various mediums can provide for more spontaneity and freedom when painting abstractly). From the Bauhaus to Basquiat, and from minimalism to surrealism, participants will review and analyze abstraction throughout history and begin to understand the choices and reasons behind painting “outside of the lines.” 

Click HERE for a materials list for this course

• We believe art should be accessible to all. Scholarships are available for those who qualify.
• Membership is one of the easiest and most effective ways to support our mission! Learn more about it's benefits and discounts!

Whether you are a true beginner or you are looking to brush up on your drawing skills in charcoal and pastel, this class is your opportunity! Become familiar with the tools of pastel painting. Approach the easel with confidence with an understanding of the Elements of Design, Composition, Shape, Value and Color. You will receive plenty of individual attention and groups critiques will be offered at the end of each class.

Click HERE for a materials list for this course!

• We believe art should be accessible to all. Scholarships are available for those who qualify.
• Membership is one of the easiest and most effective ways to support the mission of HYS

In this engaging studio-style class, preteens will dive into a wide range of artistic materials and techniques while developing their personal creative voice. Projects are designed to promote problem-solving, critical thinking, and creative risk-taking—building both artistic skill and confidence. Students will be encouraged to explore, experiment, and refine their ideas as they create meaningful, expressive works in a supportive and inspiring environment.

• We believe art should be accessible to all. Scholarships are available for those who qualify.
• Membership is one of the easiest and most effective ways to support our mission! Learn more about it's benefits and discounts!

Celebrate Historic Yellow Springs’ role in marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with botanical artist Margaret Saylor in this unique two-part Making History workshop series.

Inspired by a remarkable composite volume from the archives, featuring 37 hand-colored engravings originally illustrated by naturalist James Sowerby, this historic text once guided physicians and apothecaries in the identification and use of medicinal plants during the Revolutionary era. In the winter session, participants will work from high-resolution scans of these plates to begin their own botanical sketchbook or art journal—a personal reference to the medicinal plants documented by William Woodville in Medical Botany. 

Guided by Margaret Saylor, artists will develop observation and illustration techniques, record notes, and build lasting skills for documenting nature through art. The summer session, part two of the series, invites participants to draw live medicinal plant specimens inspired by the historic plates, expanding their journals with direct field observation. This immersive series offers a rich blend of art, science, history, and hands-on practice to deepen your botanical art practice and connection to historic herbal knowledge.

Click HERE for a materials list for this workshop

• We believe art should be accessible to all. Scholarships are available for those who qualify.
• Membership is one of the easiest and most effective ways to support our mission! Learn more about it's benefits and discounts!

Ready to scratch the surface of pottery design? In this beginner-friendly pottery workshop you will be introduced to the technique of Sgraffito. Sgraffito (skrah-FEE-toh) is a decorative technique that involves scratching or scraping through a layer of slip or underglaze to reveal the contrasting colored clay beneath. In this hands-on workshop, you will carve bold black + white patterns into tiles.This 3-hour workshop is geared for beginners (ages 16+) and anyone sgraffito-curious. Tiles will be made ahead of time (so no 'pottery skills' are required for this workshop). Carving tools will be provided.

• We believe art should be accessible to all. Scholarships are available for those who qualify.
• Membership is one of the easiest and most effective ways to support the mission of HYS.

This is a fun and deeply relaxing way to enter the meditative and expressive world of weaving. In this beginner frame loom weaving workshop, you will learn various weaving techniques as you work intentionally with cotton yarn to create a handwoven bookmark for your favorite book! From setting up your loom to finishing your piece you will be guided through the weaving process. During our time together you will be encouraged to play and explore, creating a handwoven bookmark uniquely created by you! Materials Fee: $12

• We believe art should be accessible to all. Scholarships are available for those who qualify.
• Membership is one of the easiest and most effective ways to support the mission of HYS.