Public Education Courses
Deepen your practice through course instruction that complements and enhances skills, knowledge, and concept.
View our current course offerings below. Our course table is sortable by medium, price, day of the week, faculty name, and course title to help you find what you are looking for. Trying to locate a specific class? Use the search bar below to type in keywords.
Courses fill on a first-come, first-serve basis. Early registration is recommended.
Course schedules are posted online days prior to the registration start date.
SPRING 2019
Registration opens Dec 1, 2018
Courses run late Jan–Apr
SUMMER 2019
Registration opens Apr 1, 2019
Courses run Jun–Aug
FALL 2019
Courses run Sep–early Dec
Spring 2019 Course Schedule
| Advanced Photography Tutorial
January 29- April 23 No class March 19 6:00pm-9:00pm |
Tuesday | Chris Grunder | Receive focused feedback on your personal photography projects in this course with an intensive tutorial structure aimed at substantive individual progress. | $530 | Photography | Register |
| Introduction to Oil Painting
January 29- April 23 No class March 19 7:30-10:30pm |
Tuesday | Robert Xavier Burden | Oil painting fundamentals, such as drawing, brushwork, color theory, and the technical manipulation of paint will further your skills along with demonstrations, and exercises designed to encourage new ideas in a positive atmosphere as you complete three paintings during the course. | $530 | Painting | Register |
| Contemplative Drawing
February 5- April 16 No class February 26 7:30-10:30pm |
Tuesday | Sarah Ammons | Sync your hands with your eyes and practice contemplative drawing in this course focused on working from life, pattern, figure, and concept. | $480 | Drawing | Register |
| Exploring Digital Photography
February 9- April 2 No class March 19 7:30-10:30pm |
Tuesday | Dana Morrison | Get the most out of your digital camera in this introductory course focused on camera operations, basic editing skills in Adobe Photoshop, as well as cultivating your personal photographic voice. | $295 | Photography | Register |
| Digitized Practice
February 26- April 9 No class March 19 6:30pm-9:30pm |
Tuesday | Yvette Dibos | This course will reflect how artist have used various technologies in their work since the 1960s. Incorporating a diverse range of time-based media artworks as well as video editing systems, students will explore digital fluidity and the impact of digital work on one’s art practice. | $295 | Art & Technology | Register |
| Graphic Ceramics
February 26- April 16 7:30-10:30pm |
Tuesday | Alyssa Block | Investigate the relationship between form, narrative, and design as you create a three-item collection of three-dimensional ceramic forms. Group discussions and demonstrations will support students in their exploration and contemporary application of the materials. | $385 | Ceramics | Register |
| Creating Miniature Spaces
March 26- April 6 7:30-10:30pm |
Tuesday | Amy M. Ho | Experiment working in miniature and create your own diorama or miniature space while learning the importance of scale. | $295 | New Genres | Register |
| Color Theory and Symbolism in Photography
February 16- March 16 10:00am-1:00pm |
Saturday | Victoria Mara Heilweil | Hone your understanding and utilization of color in photography through this four-session class focused on discussion, lecture, and in-class exercises. | $245 | Photography | Register |
| W*AH (Womxn* Art Handlers) Workshops
February 6, March 6, April 3, May 1 6:00pm-9:00pm |
Wednesdays | Kat Trataris + Marcela Pardo Ariza | Join in on a series of workshops based in basic tool and woodworking techniques with a special focus on preparator and fabricator skills sets. | $FREE | Artist-Driven Experience | Register |
| The Masterpiece
February 6- May 1 No class March 20 6:30pm-9:30pm |
Wednesdays | Ingrid V. Wells | Immerse yourself into the painting process and challenge yourself into completing one painting from beginning to end. Students will receive guided instruction conceptually and technically as their painting transforms over a twelve-week period. | $530 | Painting | Register |
| Fifty Faces
February 27- May 1 No class March 20 6:30pm-9:30pm |
Wednesdays | Jacob Kincheloe | Over eight weeks, using in and out-of-class work time, students will complete a series of 50 drawings of heads (human, animal, fantastical—the sky's the limit). The goal is to move towards technical mastery through practice and repetition. | $385 | Drawing | Register |
| The Handmade Photobook
March 6- April 7 No class March 21 7:30-10:30pm |
Wednesdays | Ward Long | Make a photobook by hand that deepens the experience of engaging with your pictures, as you learn more about editing, sequencing, storytelling, and various binding techniques. | $295 | Photography | Register |
| Arrangements: Cabinets, Boxes + Tableaux
March 6- April 24 7:30-10:30pm |
Wednesdays | Joanne Easton | Create sculptures and make arrangements to explore objects’ interrelationships as you are inspired by the work of David Ireland, Joseph Beuys, Stephanie Syjuco, Lindsey White, and more. | $385 | Sculpture | Register |
| Pics or It Didn’t Happen: Documenting Your Work
March 13- May 1 7:30-10:30pm |
Wednesdays | Alex Arzt | In this course, learn how to accurately and professionally photograph your work in a variety of settings for use in online portfolios, applications, and personal archives. This course emphasizes camera use, lighting techniques, color correction, and retouching workflows so that you can utilize this skillset successfully throughout your career in the arts. | $295 | Photography | Register |
| Narrative Painting
January 31- April 25 No class March 21 7:30pm-10:30pm |
Thursday | Felicita Norris | Examine intimate visual narratives as you make paintings centered on how human experience is remembered and transformed in this intermediate/advanced course for water-based painters. | $530 | Painting | Register |
| Large Scale Experimental Drawing
February 7- April 4 No class March 21 7:30-10:30pm |
Thursday | Kathy Sirico | Work gesturally and experimentally as we explore the use of ink and mixed media on large-scale paper. | $385 | Drawing | Register |
| Introduction to Oil Painting II
February 14- April 11 No class March 21 6:30-9:30pm |
Thursday | Robert Xavier Burden | Oil painting fundamentals, such as drawing, brushwork, color theory, and the technical manipulation of paint will further your skills along with demonstrations and exercises designed to encourage new ideas in a positive atmosphere as you complete three paintings during the course. | $385 | Painting | Register |
| Monstrous Bodies
February 14- April 25 No class March 21 7:30-10:30pm |
Thursday | Tessa Siddle | Looking at examples from contemporary art, mythology, folklore, and pop-culture we will consider how hybrids, cyborgs, zombies, vampires, and aliens have been deployed to embody social anxieties and investigate various efforts to reclaim the monstrous. | $480 | Artist-Driven Experience | Register |
| Intermediate Figure Drawing
February 21- April 18 No class March 21 7:30-10:30pm |
Thursday | Xiao Wang | Investigate conceptual aspects of figure drawing as you strengthen your technical skills, and gain insight into your personal artistic voice. | $385 | Drawing | Register |
| Multiples: Introduction to Casting
February 9- April 13 10:00am-1:00pm |
Saturday | Tim Kopra | Dig into what it takes to replicate objects and forms. Investigate the many ways this technique has been used from contemporary art practices to industrial use. Work with skin safe material to produce life casts, plaster and silicone to cast your favorite objects. | $480 | Sculpture | Register |
| Creating Environmental Soundscapes
February 16- March 23 10:00am-1:00pm |
Saturday | Hugh Livingston | Constructing soundscapes from found sounds in urban environments, the class will investigate ways to compose experiences that adapt and respond to the environment. Students will have the opportunity to discover field recording techniques with handheld devices as well as learn audio editing techniques to complete a composition. | $295 | New Genres | Register |
| Experimental Monotype Printing
March 2- April 6 10:00am-1:00pm |
Saturday | Rebecca Rippon | Try out the many exciting possibilities with the monotype printmaking technique in six sessions that will include print demonstrations, studio time, and a focus on experimentation. | $295 | Printmaking | Register |
| Idea Generation + Practice Development
March 2- April 6 10:00am-1:00pm |
Saturday | Daniel Melo | Reinvigorate your current photographic approach with exposure to new assignments, new artists from around the world, and new approaches while working on your already existing project throughout the course | $295 | Artist-Driven Experience, Photography | Register |
| Drawing Wilderness
April 6- April 28 10:00am-4:00pm |
Saturday + Sunday | Liesa Liezke | Get outside to Mt. Diablo and Mt. Tam and gain guided experience from an instructor regarding different drawing techniques and strategies for drawing outside. | $295 | Drawing | Register |
| Professional Photographic Practices
March 16- March 21 10:00am-1:00pm |
Monday-Thursday | Rafael Soldi | How do we sustain ourselves financially and fund our fine art practice? Through guided discussions, discover different art survival techniques and gain the tools necessary to develop yourself professionally as an artist. | $195 | Artist-Driven Experience, Photography | Register |
| Environmental Installation
April 5- April 7 10:00am-4:00pm |
Friday + Saturday + Sunday | Raheleh Minoosh Zomorodinia | Create installations and artworks based on the pioneer and contemporary history of such movements including: earthworks, ephemeral works, site-specific installations, environmental art, and performance. Discussions will investigate social, cultural, political, and environmental issues. | $295 | New Genres | Register |
| The Structured Accident
January 14- January 18, March 18- March 22 9:00am-5:00pm |
Monday-Friday | Allison Miller | The Structured Accident is a five day, eight hour per-day painting intensive intended for students with serious painting practices of their own. This course provides students the opportunity to open up their practice, push to experiment, and approach making paintings in new ways using risk-taking and chance within a rigorous conceptual structure. | $750 | Painting | Register |
| New Genres Class
February 13- April 10 No class March 20 6:30pm-9:30pm |
Wednesdays | Makia Sharp | New Genres will introduce students to new contemporary art practices, specifically focused on installation, sound, video, and time-based media. This studio course will be an introduction to conceptual and technical explorations within new genres through studio projects, class discussions, presentations, and collaboration. | $385 | New Genres | Register |
| Daily Echoes
February 7- May 2 6:00pm-9:00pm |
Thursday | Izidora Leber | Daily Echoes is a video essay class that will be accompanied by critical theory and art history lectures and readings. We will dive into the notion of the echo as a means to transmit and contextualize your perceptions and reflections of daily experiences yet critically examine the documentary. The class will culminate in a finished personal video essay. The time will be spent between lectures, readings, video editing and in class critiques. At the end of the class, we will host a public screening on SFAI’s historic campus. | $530 | Film | Register |
| Recalling Home: Painting and the Domestic Narrative
February 23- April 27 10:00am-1:00pm |
Saturday | Felicita Norris | This course will explore ideas about the domestic, “home” and family using psychology and emotion as impetus to create and resolve a final “mini-series” of paintings surrounding this theme. | $480 | Painting | Register |
| SFAI Alumni Critique Group
February 13, 2019, March 13, 2019, April 17, 2019 7:30-10:30pm |
Wednesdays | Caitlin Petersen | Immerse yourself once again in the SFAI community by attending this exclusive critique group just for SFAI alumni. This course is designed as an opportunity to grain critical feedback from practicing artist just like you in the Bay Area. | $Free for SFAI Alum | Register |
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