Marwen | Courses & Workshops

Find Your Passion

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Fall term classes will run September 13 - November 18.

Learn how to build your very own ceramic monster! Using the pinch pot and sculpting methods, we will work together to brainstorm materials and qualities to make your monsters tell their own story. Create a cool sculpture that you can display in your room, home, or anywhere else a monster might reside.

MONSTERS CERAMICS

Francisco Thornton Gonzalez

Grade: 6, 7, 8

Thu

5 PM - 7:30 PM

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Develop an eye for portrait photography! Learn how to create a photoshoot from the ground up using effective lighting, backdrops, and poses to capture decisive moments. Create remarkable scenes through editing software, such as Lightroom and Photoshop.

ADJUST YOUR FOCUS: DIGITAL PHOTO

Joselyn Corona

Grade: 6, 7, 8

Wed

5 PM - 7:30 PM

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Create paper-mâché masks using your face as a form. Build on the mask to make designs inspired by your culture and the urban environment. Then decorate the masks and express your personality with graffiti lettering.

STREET MASKS: GRAFFITI & SCULPTURE

Miguel Del Real

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

Wed

5 PM - 7:30 PM

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Bring your art to Marwen for a professional review! Learn the fundamentals of putting together a professional artist’s portfolio that can be used to apply for schools, job opportunities, and more. Connect with Admissions counselors from the SAIC, Columbia College Chicago, and The Milwaukee Institute of Art + Design (MIAD). Receive valuable feedback on your portfolio, ask questions, and prepare yourself for artistic success. This workshop is open to all grade levels!

WORKSHOP 2: MARWEN PORTFOLIO DAY

Grade: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Tue10/10/2023

5 PM - 6:30 PM

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Design and sew playful 3D stuffed fabric figures. Create animals, monsters, and characters from your own imagination that celebrate many spectrums of identity. Use fabric and basic sewing techniques, then embellish your plushies with stitching, buttons, and sequins. This course takes place virtually on Zoom.

DIY PLUSHIES (VIRTUAL)

Mikey Anderson

Grade: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Sat

10 AM - 12:30 PM

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In this introduction to the art of character design and animation, you’ll explore unique qualities of the medium by using a variety of animation techniques such as hand-drawn, stop-motion, and digital cutout animation. Learn the history and practice of animation to bring your unique character design to life.

CHARACTER DESIGN: ANIMATION

Margaret Bialis

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

Sat

10 AM - 12:30 PM

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Want to make cool bags and your own unique shoe design? Learn the process of designing your own accessories, from building a concept, sketching, and using a mood board to practicing new techniques with fabric, leather, decoupage, and design. Take your boring shoe and create a new design to stand out!

ACCESSORIZE: SHOE DESIGN

Brittany Polk

Grade: 6, 7, 8

Sat

10 AM - 12:30 PM

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Create your own custom skateboard mini-deck! Learn hands-on painting and drawing techniques and how to digitally paint using iPads and the Procreate app. Create sketches, designs, and cool illustrations like your favorite skaters, and develop your own personal design style.

MINI-DECKED OUT: SKATEBOARD DESIGN

Aileen N Castro

Grade: 6, 7, 8

Wed

5 PM - 7:30 PM

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Have you ever looked at your sketchbook and gone blank? Learn drawing techniques, zine making, typography, and block printing to incorporate into your own sketchbook. We’ll also experiment with collaborative sketchbooks as a class.

CHECK OUT MY SKETCHBOOK: ZINES

Jade Rector

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

Wed

5 PM - 7:30 PM

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Learn graffiti lettering, painting, drawing, and spray painting techniques while learning the importance of creating an identity specific to you. Explore tagging as a language to develop and create while designing a collaborative mural.

GRAFFITI PAINTING: MURALS

Elizabeth Reyes

Grade: 9, 10, 12, 11

Sat

10 AM - 12:30 PM

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Are you interested in internship and job opportunities at the Art Institute of Chicago? Learn about current opportunities as well as how to submit an outstanding internship application. Rachel Joy Echiverri Rowland, Assistant Director of the Department of Academic Engagement and Research, will share with us what it is like to work there and how you can find and apply for an internship in one of the world’s top museums! A zoom link to this event will be shared with registered participants.

WORKSHOP 3: AIC INFO SESSION (VIRTUAL)

Grade: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Tue10/17/2023

5 PM - 6:30 PM

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Develop your unique character and style of visual storytelling. It could be a space creature or a unicorn, or even a space creature unicorn! Learn how to write and panel comic books and tell your stories in pictures. Level up your drawing skills with weekly drawing games. This course takes place virtually on Zoom.

DIY COMICS + DRAWING GAMES (VIRTUAL)

Mikey Anderson

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12, 7, 6

Sat

10 AM - 12:30 PM

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Hone in on your production skills! Come with your independent movie ideas in mind and learn, step-by-step, how to produce your own short videos. Explore the fundamentals of visual storytelling and film production, including screenwriting, directing, editing, and more.

LIGHT, CAMERA, ACTION! FILMMAKING

Philip Alvy

Grade: 6, 7, 8

Thu

5 PM - 7:30 PM

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Do you enjoy collage and sculpture and want to try something new? Brighten up your home with handmade mosaic masterpieces. Learn to arrange glass and tiles to create 2D or 3D patterns and designs.

PIECE IT TOGETHER: MOSAICS

JoVonna Jackson

Grade: 6, 7, 8

Sat

1:30 PM - 4 PM

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Have you ever wanted to turn your sketches into physical, playful ceramic objects? You can visibly change your environment using clay and intuition. Learn how to draw and paint with underglaze on clay, then use hand-building techniques to create a sculpture based on your image.

FROM IMAGE TO OBJECT: CERAMIC SCULPTURE

Sonya Bogdanova

Grade: 10, 9, 11, 12

Sat

1:30 PM - 4 PM

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Learn how to translate form into paint, experiment with various oil painting mediums and techniques, and discover your own natural ways to paint. We’ll look at past and present work that includes different types of mark-making, picture-making, and more. Experiment with your style, approach, and ways to paint!

EXPERIMENTAL OIL PAINTING

Jessica Zawadowicz

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

Thu

5 PM - 7:30 PM

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Curious about careers in scenic design? Learn to make puppets, sculptural costumes, and explore what it takes to be a theater artist. Expand your sculpture toolkit with techniques like puppet mechanics, pop-up design, and more. Connect with the Chicago theater community through a back-stage field trip. Develop your artist statement, build a professional portfolio, and document your work in this Pathway portfolio course.

SCULPTURE FOR THE STAGE: PORTFOLIO DEVELOPMENT

Grace Needlman

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

Sat

10 AM - 12:30 PM

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Create a jewelry collection using 3D printing and traditional crafting methods. Learn how to use TinkerCad, Nomad Sculpt, and chainmaille patterns to create a ring, bracelet, pendant, and a pair of earrings. Mix it up and add jewelry elements such as chains, beads, and mixed media materials.

3D PRINTED JEWELRY

Nathaniel B Knize

Grade: 6, 7, 8

Thu

5 PM - 7:30 PM

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Have you ever wanted to remake your favorite photos as colorful, bold acrylic paintings? Take your painting skills to the next level by learning how to paint with different brush techniques and color mixing. Develop your style through individual and collaborative prompts that challenge you to paint from photos in new imaginative ways.

PAINTING FROM PHOTOS

Katie Romans

Grade: 6, 7, 8

Wed

5 PM - 7:30 PM

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Learn painting techniques in texture, color mixing, lighting, shape, form, depth, material setup, and brush control. Practice building your own piece of work with freedom to create your own story through painting. Listen to your creative instincts and be true to yourself, no cap!

NO CAP CREATIVES: ACRYLIC PAINTING

Lindsey E Bates

Grade: 6, 7, 8

Sat

1:30 PM - 4 PM

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Learn how to make a one-of-a-kind jacket from celebrity jacket maker and embroiderer “Stitchgawd.” Learn dying, sewing, design, as well as branding. We will spend time talking about the ethos behind fashion and how that informs the things we make. Break out new ideas, and translate them into clothing. The class will end with a stylized photoshoot of the maker’s piece!

CUSTOM JACKET DESIGN

Emma McKee

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

Sat

1:30 PM - 4 PM

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Create traditional tattoo flash sheets while learning design principles and tattoo history. Learn watercolor skills, bold outlines and color palettes, and what makes good tattoo designs. Discover how tattoos are traditionally used to express oneself and identity. By the end of class, turn your flash sheets into temporary tattoos to wear and share.

FLASH ART: TATTOO DESIGN

Aileen N Castro

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

Thu

5 PM - 7:30 PM

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Join us for a conversation with toy designer Eileen Kim. Chances are you’ve seen Eileen’s work, because she is a toy designer for Mcdonald’s Happy Meal Toys. Eileen will share her experience from art school to how she became a successful toy designer. Gain valuable insight into the skills of her trade and her design process, and design your very own toy during the art making portion of this immersive workshop.

WORKSHOP 1: DESIGNING FUN

Grade: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 11

Tue10/03/2023

5 PM - 6:30 PM

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Give thrift clothes a new life! Restructure garments and learn DIY fashion techniques to create a cool new denim bag, wallet, or whatever else your mind can dream up. Finish the course with a better understanding of your artistic perspective and learn sewing and pattern-making skills.

UPCYCLING FASHION

Elizabeth Jackson

Grade: 6, 7, 8

Wed

5 PM - 7:30 PM

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Explore computer-based mediums such as digital collage, video, GIFs, sound, and creative coding. Apply these new skills to construct your own interactive, web-based artworks using Twine (an open-source tool for telling interactive stories). By the end of this course you will feel comfortable creating your own digital artwork!

EXPLORING DIGITAL ART

Crystal Beiersdorfer

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

Sat

1:30 PM - 4 PM

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Explore the basics of black and white darkroom photography, and experience this medium through a different lens. This course is all about slowing down and unplugging by creating selfies and portraits through analog photography. Discover the power of capturing yourself and others using traditional techniques that will help you connect with your inner artist.

SELFIE-ISH: DARKROOM PORTRAITS

l o t i Walker

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

Thu

5 PM - 7:30 PM

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Transform your everyday life into fantasy! Learn how to use a sewing machine and pattern making to create outfits from your wildest dreams. Explore craft techniques like paper-mâché to create masks and wire armature to create wings and appendages.

CRAFTING COSTUMES

Eseosa Edebiri

Grade: 6, 7, 8

Sat

10 AM - 12:30 PM

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Learn how to draw comics, and even how to sell them! Explore the fundamentals of drawing using inkwork techniques and collage to put together comics and books that you can share with your friends. Create stories from scratch to develop a meaningful anthology.

THE ART OF MAKING COMICS

Tor Warren

Grade: 6, 7, 8

Sat

1:30 PM - 4 PM

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