Registration is now open for Summer 2025
A01 Cartooning
Week: 1 Grades: 2 – 6
Week: 2 Grades: 4 – 8
Attention: fans of comic books, cartoons and comic strips! Explore the art of cartooning. Human animation will be emphasized, including facial expression, body movement and setting. Learn to create original story lines and scripts. The class will “publish” a collective comic book. Instructor: John Vandenbergh
A02 CLAY & other SQUISHY STUFF
Week: 1 Grades: 2 – 4
There are many modeling materials to create with – self hardening clay, model magic, polymer clays and others. To each you may add other materials such as popsicle sticks, wire, yarn, beads, glitter, feathers and almost anything else you can think of to create amazing pieces from bowls to creatures. Instructor: Gabi Lacijan
A03 Whimsical Wire Workings!
Week: 1 Grades: 3 & up
In this course we’ll twist, bend and shape all types, sizes and colors of wire into fun sculptures, mobiles, creatures, jewelry and more! We’llalso combine wire with other materials – cork, wood, cloth, cardboard, paper, beads, model magic and paris craft to make almost anything you can imagine – from castes to dragons and everything ion between. Great for kids of all ages!!! Instructor: Colleen Skiff
A04 Book Arts
Weeks: 1,2 Grades: 5 – 8
Do you like to tell stories? Do you enjoy drawing? Then this is the class for you. We will be exploring the creative practice of writing through fun games and exercises. We will also discuss the art of illustrating stories, and how imagery can enhance your written work. Then you will pull all of your imaginative efforts together in a hand made book. Each day will include an inspirational walk around the land. Instructor: Jessica Loy
A05 Brazing, Welding & Wire Sculpture
Week: 1 Grades: 6 & up
In this class you will learn how to plan out two-dimensional and three-dimensional steel wire sculptures, then bring them to life using a form of welding called brazing! This is an exciting class where students will learn to use a variety of tools while working with steel wire, and learn fun brazing techniques. Instructor: Emma Hampston
A06 Multicultural Creations
Week: 2 Grades: 2 – 5
In this class you will explore the traditions of different cultures and artistic creations from around the world! Please come join us in this fun and exciting class making multicultural art with fun mediums using your own creative expression. Mandala rock painting, watercolor Chinese Dragons, Glue batik, Origami, Paper dream catchers, paper rangoli and more! Instructor: Gabi Lacijan
A07 Clay Exploration
Weeks: 2, 3 Grades: 2 – 5
Come explore the wonderful world of clay in this fun and messy workshop. We will practice a variety of hand-building techniques to create unique projects like decorative name plates, silly pinch pot monsters, coil bowls and more.
**Students may take this class for one or for two weeks Instructor: Natalie Kossack
A08 Mixed Media Creations
Week: 2 Grades: 5 & up
In this fun and engaging class, we will focus on using a variety of materials including painting, coloring, drawing, collage, and more! Instructor: Harold Gosling
A09 Artistic Trading Cards
Week: 3 Grades: 3 – 8
Create many miniature artworks about the same size as baseball cards! A variety of mediums and techniques will be explored to create these mini masterpieces. These works of art will be presented in card-collector pockets, sleeves and sheets. These works are great to keep, trade, or even send in the mail to friends and family! Instructor: John Vandenbergh
A10 Metalwork & Design – Beginning and Advanced
Weeks: 2, 6 Grades: 6 & up
In this class, students will learn how a metalsmith/artist transforms ideas into design, and in the process, creates very cool pieces of art, including wearable pieces! Students will use many different hand-held tools and work with copper and brass to create their own, special metal designs. Returning students are welcome to work on more advanced projects. Instructor: Irene Purificato
A11 Watercolors
Week: 3 Grades: 4 & up
Watercolor is one of the easiest mediums to work with in the outdoors. Create ‘starry skies’ nights using sail, ‘sailing boats’ using masks and resists, ‘wheat fields’ using dry brush,’sunsets’ using washes. Once you learn the basic techniques you can transform any subject, place or moment into a magical piece of work filled with color. We’ll wander the Land from teepee to pond with paint brushes in hand. Instructor: Trisha Zigrosser
A12 Mixed Media Fun
Week: 3 Grades: 3 & up
Have a great time exploring with different materials and techniques: including paint, markers, paper, yarn, clay, wood…the list is endless!! Let your imagination and creativity run wild. Every art project you make is a different adventure! Instructor: Rachel Empie
A13 Cartoon Character Design
Week: 3 Grades 6 & up
Discover the process of creating your own comic! Embark on the journey of creating a comic starting with an initial idea that develops your own written script. All students will develop and draw their own characters and create their own unique stories as they learn the process of comic storyboarding. Instructor: Harold Gosling
A14 Macro Photography
Week: 3 Grades: 5 & up
Whether it’s a photograph of an insect’s wings, a frog’s eye or veins in a leaf… study photography from the macro perspective (really really up close), “focusing” on the use of bokeh (intentional blur), angle, light, subject stalking, equipment and technique. Students will roam the grounds of Heldeberg Workshop shooting lots of different subjects (flora, fauna, rock, face, object, background and misc) and produce a slideshow presentation for open house. We’ll also talk about crop, the theory of thirds, critique and depth of field.
Students will need a digital camera (or phone camera) capable of macro photos. This can be a DSLR with a macro lens, extensions tubes or step lens or even a smart phone capable of macro. Contact us if you have any questions about equipment for the class. Instructor: Chet Boehlke
AS10 Wonderful Trees
Week: 3 Grades 3 – 6
Come learn all about the trees native to this area and make drawings, paintings and plock prints to illustrate your findings on our daily walks in the forest. You will also look at paintings of trees and leaves in art history. Then you’ll mix shades and values of greens and browns to make your own beautiful paintings. Instructor: Dagmar Frinta
Registration note: This course will be found in the Science Department if searching by department for classes.
A15 SCULPTURE for FUN!
Week: 4 Grades 2 – 4
Transform ordinary paper into eye popping sculpture! Use paper mache and recycled materials to bring a creature to life! Learn to make outrageous mobiles for your room with a variety of art materials. Techniques and materials will include materials in nature, origami, paper sculpture, beads, yarn, and wire. We will be looking at the artists: Alexander Calder, Romare Bearden, and Frida Kahlo for inspiration. The possibilities are endless! Instructor: Gabi Lacijan
A16 Kaleidoscope of Art
Week: 4 Grades: 2 – 5
Using nature as inspiration and a variety of media including nature’s bounty, we will do rubbings of leaves and make marks with other things we find in nature during our nature walks on the trails. We will use our natural finds to paint with ink. We will use a brandishing technique to transfer images with graphite to create a symmetrical set of mandalas. Additionally, we will be creating oil pastel and watercolor self-portraits, inspired by a variety of artists. Instructor: Shannon Blakeley
A17 Clay, Clay and More Clay
Weeks: 4, 5 Grades: 3 & up
Get your hands dirty with a natural material that is fun to explore and easy to create with. We’ll use different hand building methods to create bowls, plates, food, animals, puzzle boxes, nature print chimes and more. Also learn how a pottery wheel works! **Students may take this class for one or for two weeks
Instructor: Colleen Skiff
A18 Mixed Media: Drawing and Painting
Week: 4 Grades: 6 & up
Learn drawing and painting techniques while creating still life, self portraits and landscapes with a variety of media including pencil, watercolors and acrylics. Instructor: Harold Gosling
A19 Printmaking
Week: 4 Grades: 5+
Want to create your own handmade paper? We’ll use natural and recycled materials to create our own one of a kind art papers. While we wait for our papers to dry, we will create a variety of stamps to print on our unique papers. We’ll use our surroundings for inspiration as we create drawings to transfer using various printmaking processes. Instructor: Christy Evers
A20 Tie Dyes and Blue Skies (hopefully)
Week: 5 Grades: 4 +
Art and the outdoors! Learn to tie-dye and create colorful and always unique art to wear or display. Basic materials will be provided, including a cotton T-shirt, and additional items to dye can be brought from home (100% cotton, pre-washed, is best). Between tying and dying we will take short hikes to enjoy the natural surroundings and search for natural items that could be used for dyes. Instructor: Robert Goldfarb
A21 Felting and More
Week: 5 Grades: 5+
Transform wool into textured “paintings” and 3D sculptures. We’ll learn about the amazing qualities of wool, how felted wool has been used throughout history, and look at how artists are creating inspiring and otherworldly works of art using felted wool. We’ll explore the process of needle felting and wet felting to create a variety of place based summer woodland inspired art. Instructor: Christy Evers
A22 Photography
Week: 5 Grades: 4+
Learn about historic and alternative photographic processes while we experiment with unconventional techniques that combine art and science! We will make cyanotypes and SolarFast images on things like: paper, fabric, clothes, and more while using natural materials from the world around us. We will practice composition by creating photo collages and also make a camera obscura. Instructor: Christina Coogan
A23 Japanese Book Binding and Zine
Week: 5 Grades: 4 & up
We will be creating hard-cover books using an ancient Japanese book-binding technique. We will also be paper-marbling and using marbles and ink to create unique papers to include in your books, and stationary. We will learn a basic fold to create “zines” and writing, drawing, and building your own stories inside the pages. Instructor: Theresa McTague
A24 Explore Architecture
Week: 6 Grades: 4+
From bridges to buildings, you’ll learn how to build structures which stay together and are unique. Turn a box into a cabin, palace or anything you can dream of as a starter project. Then learn how to draw architectural floor plans, design your own buildings and build them to scale. In this class, students will learn how to draw with rulers and learn perspective, build structures in 3D, and push the boundaries of what a building can really look like. Instructor: Colleen Skiff
A25 Drawing and Painting
Week: 6 Grades: 4+
Capture an immediate response on paper to your daily Heldeberg Workshop world of woods, waterfalls, fields, and mountains. Using a variety of drawing and painting mediums, we will learn how to draw and paint the essence of our surroundings. We will also learn techniques to make accurate drawings and experiment with light and shadow to make dramatic or colorful statements. Most importantly, we will explore and enjoy the fresh air and camaraderie of creating art outdoors! Instructor: Christina Coogan
A26 Wax on! Figurative, Abstract, and Unique Wax Designs
Week: 6 Grades: 5 & up
Create an original wax sculpture! Student artists will learn the reverse process of designing and building a mold to cast a one-of –a-kind sculpture. Artists will plan and carve a mold out of clay and fill it with melted wax. When the wax sets, students enjoy the surprise of unmolding their designs! As they become proficient with the casting process decorative elements including color are added for more advanced designs. Instructor: Suzanne Kawola
A27 Clay for Fun
Week: 6 Grades: 2-4
Explore working with clay using simple hand tools and your hands! You will be building a few pieces with air-dry clay to make decorative clay vessels and dishes. We will be making a pinch pot, a vessel, a dish for keys or coins, and an animal piece of your choosing. We will also be making a clay piece that may look like a piece of cake…but, once dried and painted, you can open the clay object up to reveal a hiding spot inside your dessert-looking creation. Instructor: Theresa McTague
AS11 Wonderful Rocks and Stones
Weeks: 6 Grades: 3 – 6
Learn all about the rocks and stones native to this area and make drawings, paintings, and block prints to illustrate your findings on our daily walks at the base of the mountain and also what we bring in to share. You will look at depictions of rocks and mountains in art history. You will learn to mix many shades and values of grays and browns to add specks of color to make your beautiful paintings. Instructor: Dagmar Frinta
Registration note: This course will be found in the Science Department if searching by department for classes.