Courses & Workshops

Create functional artwork to support your daily rituals. Learn wheel throwing and hand-building techniques to create pieces crafted intentionally to fit your hands, home, and body. All experience levels welcome.

Create jewelry using shrinky dinks and polymer clay that can turn your handmade designs into earrings, necklaces, keychains, pinbacks and more. Learn basic jewelry making skills to create your own jewelry collection.

Learn techniques to develop your figure drawings skills and practice creating realistic images. Explore perspective, value, observational, and grid drawing.

Learn how to design your own clothes! Sketch, pattern, and construct your own custom garments in this interdisciplinary fashion course as we look at designers who break the norms of the fashion industry.

Develop your own unique characters through drawing and painting! Explore the Chicago street art scene, and learn to scale and transfer drawings to canvas and board, and build your foundational acrylic-painting skills based on messages that are important to you.

Learn fiber processes and fabric embellishment techniques such as fabric dyeing, hand sewing, beading, embroidery, and punch needling. Create an art piece that will be a part of a collective installation.

Develop and design a SUPER DUPER character with their own signature looks and super powers. Learn the basics of figure drawing techniques, digital illustration, and color theory in mediums ranging from pens and pencils to Procreate.

Learn how to use clay as a foundation for light-making objects, such as lamps, candles and light sculptures. Learn handbuilding and wheel throwing techniques to make imaginative sculptures out of clay.

In the course, create imaginative images using digital photo collage. Start by collecting, cutting, and gluing images to make two-dimensional mixed-media artworks. Explore your identity through collage and talking about your personal histories.

Learn how to build functional ceramic pieces and sculptures, develop your individual style, and experiment with clay. Come prepared to play games and work in teams as methods for creating clay forms and to explore the limits of your imagination.

Develop an eye for portrait photography and learn how to capture the personality of a person. Learn software and how to create a photoshoot from the ground up using effective lighting and backdrops to capture decisive moments.

APPLICATION CLOSED: The Lab Residency is a year-long (Sep-May) program that fosters a community of 20 young artists (10th-12th grades) developing independently-driven projects with the support of a team of artist mentors. Lab residents have access to supplies, equipment, studios and art-making resources to help develop work, both solo and in collaboration with fellow residents. Throughout the year, Lab residents complete an independent creative project for their portfolios and present it in a culminating group exhibition.

Learn to photograph, edit, and recycle images and sounds to make mini experimental documentary artworks. Combine found media and your own images to create a unique style of visual storytelling celebrating yourself, culture, and community.