Courses & Workshops

Summer Term (Session I) starts June 25!

Find Your Passion

Marwen offers an average of 35 courses per term so there’s something for everyone! Our 2018 terms run in three phases: Spring (January 30 - April 14), Summer (June 25 - August 3), and Fall (September 25 - December 8). Filter the course list to find classes that meet your criteria.

Explore the world through sound! From podcasts to music videos, sound is a part of everyday life. Discover how sound is used in art, film, music, and more. Then learn sound design using recording devices and editing software to tell your own stories.

RECORDING SESSIONS: INTRO TO STORYTELLING

Davy Walker

Grade: 6, 7, 8

June 25 - July 6

10 AM - 12:30 PM

Course Description+-

Learn the art of drawing from life, using observational skills and the world around you as inspiration. Brush up on the fundamentals like proportion and value, experiment with different approaches, and create from what you see!

DRAW FROM LIFE: PORTFOLIO PREP

Nicole Mauser

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

June 25 - July 6

1:30 PM - 4 PM

Course Description+-

Pens to Pixels: Character Design and Development

Animation

Street Art: Stencil, Stamp, Spray

Mixed Media

Fashion Lab

Fashion & Fiber

Pens to Pixels: Character Design and Development

Animation

Street Art: Stencil, Stamp, Spray

Mixed Media

Create your own indoor garden by building pots and planters! Explore handbuilding and wheel throwing techniques to create your own one-of-a-kind ceramics. Choose a plant to put in your pot and learn how to grow and care for it.

URBAN GARDENS: CERAMIC VESSELS

Jennifer Kaplan

Grade: 6, 7, 8

July 9 - July 20

10 AM - 12:30 PM

Course Description+-

Make art for your portfolio, learn new drawing techniques, and create your own sketchbook! You will also explore art spaces in the city and see how practicing artists turned their creativity into careers.

SKETCH, CREATE, REPEAT: PORTFOLIO PREP

Lauren Jackson

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

July 23 - Aug 3

1:30 PM - 4 PM

Course Description+-

You don’t need a lot of money to take exciting photos! Create still life photographs using objects that cost a dollar or less. Learn to operate a digital camera, use natural and artificial light, make digital negatives, and print in the darkroom.

DOLLAR OR LESS: INTRO TO BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY

Justin T Nalley

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

June 25 - July 6

10 AM - 12:30 PM

Course Description+-

Transform yourself into magical beings using Rotoscope animation. Film a short video of yourself making a gesture then use Photoshop to draw, manipulate, and alter each frame to make lasers shoot out of your eyes or morph into a powerful tiger!

MAGIC & MYSTERY: ANIMATING YOURSELF

Jesse Avina

Grade: 6, 7, 8

July 23 - Aug 3

10 AM - 12:30 PM

Course Description+-

Learn about all the resources and support Marwen’s College, Career, and Alumni team offers by grabbing a slice of pizza and meeting them! This open discussion is available to all Marwen students.

PIZZA WITH VANESSA & LAUREN

Vanessa Farias; Lauren Jackson

Grade: N/A

& Events

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM

Course Description+-

Want to sharpen your drawing skills? Learn techniques to develop your portrait and figure drawing skills to create realistic images. Then translate your new skills onto your paintings, comic character designs, and other forms of art.

REALISM MADE SIMPLE: DRAWING FIGURES

Keaton Bell

Grade: 6, 7, 8

June 25 - July 6

1:30 PM - 4 PM

Course Description+-

Create a series of self-portraits imagining yourself as a future scientist, writer, pop icon, and more! Explore combing painting, drawing, and non-traditional materials while you merge art and pop culture to take your portraits to the next level.

BE SHAMELESS! PORTRAIT PAINTING

Carris S Adams

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

July 9 - July 20

1:30 PM - 4 PM

Course Description+-

Explore photography’s ability to capture hidden stories or reveal things that cannot be seen. Learn the basics of analog black and white photography and experiment with techniques like drawing on negatives to create unique darkroom photographs.

HIDDEN STORIES: DARKROOM PHOTOGRAPHY

Suzanne Makol

Grade: 6, 7, 8

June 25 - July 6

1:30 PM - 4 PM

Course Description+-

Ready to advance your fashion illustration skills? Gain a deeper understanding of drawing the body, textures, and materials to create your own fashion designs. Prerequisite: Must have taken 2 high school drawing or illustration courses at Marwen.

NEXT STEPS: FASHION ILLUSTRATION

DJ DeGayner

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

July 9 - July 20

1:30 PM - 4 PM

Course Description+-

Draw inspiration from the world of fashion and textiles to develop your own pattern designs, drawings, or sculptural forms. Use fabrics and garments as source material to explore new ways of making art you can use towards future fashion projects.

DRAWING FROM FABRIC: PATTERN DESIGN

Liam O’Connor

Grade: 6, 7, 8

July 9 - July 20

10 AM - 12:30 PM

Course Description+-

Spend the day with Marwen while you learn to draw and paint subjects you observe in nature, whether it’s a flower, fruit, or pod. Go on field trips to gardens and conservatories to study botanic specimens and create realistic and expressive art! *This course is all day.

FIELD STUDIES: NATURE UP CLOSE*

Lyndsay Murphree

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

July 23 - Aug 3

10 AM - 4 PM

Course Description+-

Spend the day learning to throw clay on the wheel, hand-build, and use glazes. Visit museums to get first-hand experience of artifacts from past civilizations. Use your ceramic skills to experiment with making these ancient forms your own. *This course is all day.

HIDDEN TREASURES: CERAMIC EXPLORATIONS*

Elizabeth McCarthy

Grade: 6, 7, 8

July 23 - Aug 3

10 AM - 4 PM

Course Description+-

Explore different storytelling methods for creating comics. Start with a punchline and work backwards, or write from the perspective of a banana being peeled! Each day is a new technique that, together, will create a book of wild and funny comics.

COMICS JAM!

Lilli Carre

Grade: 6, 7, 8

June 25 - July 6

10 AM - 12:30 PM

Course Description+-

Want to express yourself through technology? Learn how to let your voice shine by building your own utopian landscape. Work with 3D modeling programs like Blender, Unity, and Sublime Text to create video game environments and interactive websites.

DIGITAL MEDIA RUN-DOWN

Julia Mellen

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

July 9 - July 20

10 AM - 12:30 PM

Course Description+-

Create a character and story to address a social justice issue that is relevant to you or your community. Then use that character as a jumping off point to create a comic, make buttons and stickers, stencil a t-shirt, and sew your own super plushie!

PLUSH MONSTERS: COMICS, BUTTONS, & STICKERS

William Estrada

Grade: 6, 7, 8

June 25 - July 6

1:30 PM - 4 PM

Course Description+-

Learn the basics of intaglio printmaking — a new course at Marwen! If you like to draw or paint, use your skills to explore drypoint, aquatint, or intaglio techniques. Discover how to make multiples of your artwork that you can trade or even sell.

FLIP SIDE: INTAGLIO PRINTMAKING

Liana Faletto

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

July 9 - July 20

1:30 PM - 4 PM

Course Description+-

Learn the essentials of quick portraiture in this fast-paced, action-packed course. Discover how to sketch figures and portraits quickly to capture people’s likeness, both in the studio and on the street, and fill a sketchbook with your drawings.

SPEED DRAWING!

Keaton Bell; Alexander Goldin

Grade: 6, 7, 8

July 23 - Aug 3

1:30 PM - 4 PM

Course Description+-

Draw inspiration from nature to create unique mosaic sculptures. Travel to gardens and conservatories to gather ideas and translate them into your own imaginary plants. Learn to break and shape colorful ceramic tiles to create beautiful mosaics.

SCULPTURAL MOSAICS

Kathlene M Powers

Grade: 6, 7, 8

July 9 - July 20

10 AM - 12:30 PM

Course Description+-

Explore the city while developing your photo skills! Learn to operate a digital SLR camera, work with lighting, and edit your photos on the computer using Adobe photo editing programs.

AROUND TOWN: DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Alexis Ellers

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

July 23 - Aug 3

1:30 PM - 4 PM

Course Description+-

Ready to take your comic making skills to the next level? Go beyond character design and explore storyboarding, font, backgrounds, and layout to create a full comic zine to trade. Prerequisite: Must have taken 2 comics courses at Marwen.

NEXT STEPS: ADVANCED COMICS

Adam Fotos

Grade: 6, 7, 8

July 23 - Aug 3

10 AM - 12:30 PM

Course Description+-

Art at Work

ART AT WORK

Grade: 11, 12

Tue, Wed, Thu

10 AM - 5 PM

Course Description+-

Learn how play can lead to works of art! Work with friends or square off against them in competitions to build the tallest coil pot or make the most bowls! Play games as methods for creating clay forms and explore the limits of your imagination.

CLAY GAMES: CERAMIC EXPLORATIONS

Levi Yastrow

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

June 25 - July 6

10 AM - 12:30 PM

Course Description+-

Get ready to explore Chicago! Travel to neighborhoods outside of Marwen to capture the people and architecture of the city. Explore analog and digital techniques like making pinhole negatives and using digital cameras to make prints in the darkroom.

CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOODS: PHOTO EXPLORATIONS

Phillip Dembinski

Grade: 6, 7, 8

July 9 - July 20

10 AM - 12:30 PM

Course Description+-

Construct your own pinhole cameras from scratch using soda cans, cardboard, tape, and other materials. Play and experiment to see how light can create unexpected photographs while learning the basics of darkroom photography.

PINHOLE CAMERAS: DARKROOM PHOTOGRAPHY

Eileen Mueller

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

July 23 - Aug 3

10 AM - 12:30 PM

Course Description+-

Make your painting come to life! Create an animation that takes place on your canvas by using technology to capture the process. Use painting techniques, professional cameras, and animation software to turn your painting into an animated story.

ANIMATING PAINT

Marian Sonsyadek; Chelsea Welch

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

June 25 - July 6

1:30 PM - 4 PM

Course Description+-

Do you like choose your own adventures games? Create unusual sculptures using prompts where each choice builds off the other and leads to unexpected results. Play and experiment while learning building techniques to create freestanding structures.

ADVENTURE TIME: INTRO TO SCULPTURE

Gwendolyn Terry

Grade: 6, 7, 8

June 25 - July 6

1:30 PM - 4 PM

Course Description+-

Learn how to make armatures, molds, and moveable limbs to create puppet animation in the style of The Nightmare Before Christmas or Coraline. Create an ultra-realistic or totally fantastical version of yourself, and bring your mini-me puppet to life!

HANDBUILT ANIMATION: CHARACTER DESIGN

Andra Helton

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

July 9 - July 20

1:30 PM - 4 PM

Course Description+-

Create bold, colorful portraits! Learn digital photography, lighting techniques, and photo editing to make your photos pop. Make yourself look like a fashion star on the cover of a magazine or a singer in a music video.

COLORFUL PORTRAITS: INTRO TO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Liliana E Alfaro

Grade: 6, 7, 8

July 9 - July 20

1:30 PM - 4 PM

Course Description+-

Don’t let sewing intimidate you — become a master of the sewing machine! Learn the ins and outs of sewing while building skills that will serve you for years and projects to come. You will sew everything from clothes to tote bags and much more.

SEW MUCH FUN

Nora Renick-Rinehart

Grade: 6, 7, 8

July 9 - July 20

1:30 PM - 4 PM

Course Description+-

Ready to advance your photography skills? Gain a deeper understanding of camera controls, composition, lighting, and advanced photoshop techniques. Prerequisite: Must have taken 2 high school photo courses at Marwen.

NEXT STEPS: ADVANCED DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Phillip Dembinski

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

June 25 - July 6

1:30 PM - 4 PM

Course Description+-

Use sunlight to create stunning prints! Learn how to coat paper, wood, fabric, and other materials, in chemicals that turn blue when exposed to light. Lay objects like flowers or headphones to block the sun to create one-of-kind prints.

BLUE PRINTS: INTRO TO CYANOTYPE

Jessica Leonard

Grade: 6, 7, 8

July 23 - Aug 3

1:30 PM - 4 PM

Course Description+-

Explore the world of color and bring new dimension to your drawings. Play with cut paper to create colorful still life compositions, learn color pencil techniques, and venture into watercolor and acrylic paint to make your artwork pop!

BURST OF COLOR: DRAWING EXPLORATIONS

Melissa Cook

Grade: 6, 7, 8

June 25 - July 6

10 AM - 12:30 PM

Course Description+-

Bling out your wardrobe while speaking your mind. Learn printmaking processes to create patches with your favorite saying or to promote a social cause that’s important to you. Then add your patch to your jackets, or bookbags, and wear your art!

ACTIVIST PATCHES: INTRO TO PRINTMAKING

Nora Renick-Rinehart

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

July 9 - July 20

10 AM - 12:30 PM

Course Description+-

SEW MUCH FUN

Grade: 6, 7, 8

July 9 - July 20

1:30 PM - 4 PM

Course Description+-

Learn about all the resources and support Marwen’s College, Career, and Alumni team offers by grabbing a slice of pizza and meeting them! This open discussion is available to all Marwen students.

PIZZA WITH VANESSA & LAUREN

Vanessa Farias; Lauren Jackson

Grade: N/A

& Events

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM

Course Description+-

Gain inspiration from street art, hip hop culture, and contemporary art to develop your own graffiti style. Learn graffiti lettering, drawing, and spray painting techniques and use your refined skills to design your own skateboard deck!

DECKED OUT: INTRO TO GRAFFITI

James Jankowiak

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

June 25 - July 6

10 AM - 12:30 PM

Course Description+-

Learn techniques to paint realistic faces and dynamic portraits. Bring in pictures of friends or family or use images of your favorite role models or celebrities, then transform them through elaborate ornamentation, including using gold leaf!

GOLDEN PORTRAITS: INTRO TO OIL PAINTING

Wisdom Baty

Grade: 6, 7, 8

June 25 - July 6

10 AM - 12:30 PM

Course Description+-

Bring the people in your comics to life! Strengthen your character skills by focusing on the human figure. Learn about anatomy, the body in motion, and costume and character design by working directly from a model and building from imagination.

FIGURE SKETCHING FOR COMICS

Meredith Leich

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

July 9 - July 20

10 AM - 12:30 PM

Course Description+-

Learn about historical tools used to capture the moving image by making optical toys like thaumatropes, zoetropes, and flipbooks. Or draw on film to create cameraless animation. Discover how movement was captured and how it led to film and photo.

THE MOVING IMAGE: DARKROOM EXPLORATIONS

Kioto Aoki

Grade: 6, 7, 8

July 9 - July 20

1:30 PM - 4 PM

Course Description+-

Learn about all the resources and support Marwen’s College, Career, and Alumni team offers by grabbing a slice of pizza and meeting them! This open discussion is available to all Marwen students.

PIZZA WITH VANESSA & LAUREN

Vanessa Farias; Lauren Jackson

Grade: N/A

& Events

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM

Course Description+-

Become a student

Do you want to take a course at Marwen? Come to our next orientation.

Join In

There are almost too many courses to count. Pick the ones you want before they fill up.

College & Career

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