Spotlight on Plein Air Painting at Continuing Education

Each semester Continuing Education offers online, evening, and weekend options for each discipline - Painting, Drawing, Printmaking, Sculpture, and more. One particular favorite of many participants in the warmer months are outdoor painting and drawing classes, engaging a long tradition referred to as "Plein Air." This summer, both experienced artists and beginners venture throughout the greater Philadelphia area, bringing the easels out of the studio:

Weekday options:

Acrylic in the City

Drawing in the Urban Environment

Plein Air Painting in Valley Forge

Weekend Workshop option:

Plein Air at Ardrossan Estate Workshop

Weekend multi-week courses:

Portrait in the Park

Plein Air in the Park

One-Week Intensive:

The Landscape Sketch Intensive

Students painting on river doc
Students in Roger Chavez's Landscape Sketch Class, 2021, which visits locations along the Schuylkill River including the beautiful Laurel Hill Cemetery and Bartram’s Garden. 

 

Student and instructor with outdoor painting easel
From Joseph Sweeney's Plein Air Painting retreat in Cape May, spring 2022.

 

The Continuing Education summer course catalogue has something for everybody with painting, sculpture, drawing, outdoor, and online courses. Choose from over 50 classes across two summer sessions to fill your summer with art making.

The registration deadline is May 13 for Summer Session 1 between May 23 and July 3.

Learn more about registration, membership discounts, scholarships, and more.

Last Updated
May 9, 2022 - 5:47 PM

About PAFA

Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is the United States’ first school and museum of fine arts. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, PAFA offers a world-class collection of American art, innovative exhibitions of historic and contemporary American art, and educational opportunities in the fine arts. The PAFA Museum aims to tell America's diverse story through art, expanding who has been included in the canon of art history through its collections, exhibitions, and public programs, while classes educate artists and appreciators with a deep understanding of traditions and the ability to challenge conventions. PAFA’s esteemed alumni include Mary Cassatt, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, William Glackens, Barkley L. Hendricks, Violet Oakley, Louis Kahn, David Lynch, and Henry Ossawa Tanner.