Create your own sculptural wire bonsai tree in this engaging, hands-on workshop. Using a bundle of wire, participants will shape and form one of four styles: natural, weeping willow, windswept, or forest!

Choose your preferred finish and granite base, and leave with a completed piece ready to display. This process-focused workshop is approachable for all experience levels and offers a rewarding introduction to form, movement, and design through wire.

All materials and equipment are included in the price!

• 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!

This two-day studio workshop will focus on painting “alla prima” (all at once) as well as developing greater skills of observation, simplification and painting “wet on wet” to create strong “painterly” paintings. The workshop will also discuss techniques to quickly transfer the elements of your reference to the canvas with the goal of creating an artistic painting that accurately relates the important forms of a composition rather than simply copying everything in a photograph.

The first morning of the workshop begins with a discussion of painting basics (from materials to paint handling) and will also address the fundamentals of color, value, edges, perspective and other “practical” elements that make a successful painting. Each day participants will work on a series of timed painting exercises incorporating the techniques discussed while developing their skills of observation, simplification, bold brushwork and painting in a “decisive” and “intentional” manner.  

Each morning of the workshop will include a short painting demo by Dan with an explanation of his process.  Dan will provide plenty of one-on-one individual instruction throughout each day of the workshop.

This workshop is designed for intermediate to advanced painters in both oil and acrylic mediums, however proficiency in basic drawing is required.  Participants will be able to choose from a wide variety of reference photos supplied by the instructor for their painting exercises. 

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!

Join kiln builder and ceramic artist Tyler Gulden for a rare hands-on opportunity to help construct a new soda kiln at Historic Yellow Springs. Participants will assist with the building process and will also have the opportunity to be included in the kiln’s inaugural firing.   The build will be physically demanding and on a tight schedule so while efforts will be made to instruct participants through hands on tasks, it may be necessary for participants to step back and observe certain aspects to ensure quality construction and completion within the given time frame.

Discussion will cover how soda kilns function, the introduction of soda ash into the kiln at high temperatures, and how vapor glazing interacts with clay surfaces to produce rich, atmospheric effects. This collaborative workshop offers valuable insight into both kiln construction, loading, and firing philosophy.

Includes build participation and one share in first firing.

Loading: Monday, August 24

Firing: Tuesday, August 25

Unloading: Friday, August 28

This demonstration workshop focuses using layered mark making to create surface design for altered wheel-thrown and hand-built pottery.  Workshop participants will learn a variety of methods including underglaze decorating, sgraffito, and other mark making techniques.  During the workshop we will discuss aesthetic issues (i.e. proportions, color theory, etc.), making strong functional pots at low fire temperatures, and creative problem solving in the studio. Additional discussions of marketing, social media and the changing landscape of contemporary craft will leave the workshop attendees recharged, rejuvenated and ready to grow in their own studio practice.

Learn more about this artist: CarterPottery.com

• 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!

Join master potter, teacher, and writer Jack Troy for this immersive two-day hands-on workshop exploring the transformation of wheel-thrown forms through alteration and intuitive process. Using the potter’s wheel as a starting point, participants will create a range of bottle forms that evolve beyond their original shapes through paddling, shaping, and manipulation at both soft and leather-hard stages.

Through guided demonstrations and studio exploration, participants will develop sensitivity to clay’s changing responsiveness while learning how enclosed forms can be altered around trapped air pockets into dynamic organic and geometric shapes that are both sculptural and functional.

The workshop will also introduce Troy’s ongoing exploration of ishi no sasayaki—Japanese for “stone with secret voice.” These enclosed ceramic forms contain hidden rattles that create subtle, shifting sounds unique to each finished piece, bringing an unexpected sense of life and mystery to the work.

This lively workshop encourages curiosity, experimentation, and the expansion of personal form vocabulary beyond familiar approaches.

Participants should be comfortable throwing bottles 6" tall or larger.

Please bring a ceramic object you have lived with for several years that holds personal meaning and that you would be willing to share with the group.