Summer Studio Critique Program
This six-week online program is designed for visual artists and educators who desire constructive feedback on their artwork, as well as the support and interaction of an artistic community. Stimulate your personal artistic growth through individual weekly critiques from a stellar ensemble of nationally and internationally known artists, including members of PAFA’s acclaimed faculty, as well as discussion, group critiques, and virtual artist studio visits.
Application deadline: Applications are accepted with a rolling deadline on space-available basis. Space is limited to 12 participants.
Tuition: $750 non-credit, or $1,500 for either 4.0 undergraduate credits or 3.0 graduate credits.
Format: Weekly one-on-one critiques will be conducted via live Zoom videoconferencing sessions; work sharing and discussion boards, as well as critic-provided visual references or readings, will be available via Canvas, PAFA's online learning management system. Weekly critiques will be scheduled each Friday by time-slot sign-up. Lead critic Neysa Grassi will host group critiques/discussions and virtual field trips and artist studio visits. These will be scheduled to best accommodate the group's needs.
Additional benefits: Receive a 10% tuition discount on all subsequent PAFA CE Summer 2020 Classes!
Review complete Registration and Policy Information below.
2020 Critics
Neysa Grassi (Lead Critic)
Neysa Grassi is known for her gouache, mixed media, and oil paintings whose surfaces reveal the intense physicality of her creative process. Through multiple layers of paint that have been applied, manipulated, wiped out, and covered again, she creates a tactile quality that variously evinces spontaneous energy or calculated meditation. Grassi is a recipient of a Pew Fellowship and has had solo exhibitions at several museums, including the Pensacola Art Museum in Florida and PAFA, as well as numerous one-person exhibitions in galleries in Philadelphia and New York. Her work is included in the permanent collections of PAFA, the Berman Museum of Art, the Palmer Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Woodmere Art Museum. She is represented by Locks Gallery, Philadelphia. She is a critic in PAFA’s MFA program.
Jan Baltzell is a faculty member of PAFA’s Certificate and Graduate Programs. Her painterly abstractions display a master’s control of contrasting mark-making that transcends the viewer’s conventional vocabulary. Her work is included in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C. She is represented by Schmidt Dean Gallery in New Jersey.
Sharon Ewing is the Owner/Director of Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia. She holds a BA from Wellesley College, a Master’s Degree from the University of Pennsylvania, both in Art History, and an MBA from Drexel University. Gross McCleaf Gallery has been active in the Philadelphia arts community for over fifty years, advising collectors and placing artists’ work in private and corporate collections. Featuring monthly exhibitions in two main galleries, special events, artist talks, and an extensive inventory, their mission is to promote mid-career artists while building the careers of emerging talents.
Bruce Samuelson is a faculty member of PAFA’s BFA and Graduate Programs. Informed by the principles of Old Master draftsmanship, Samuelson’s drawings and paintings expand beyond traditional methods of representation to arrive at elegant meditations on the human form. He has exhibited in over thirty solo exhibitions and his work is represented in numerous public and private collections including PAFA, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Woodmere Art Museum. Samuelson is represented by J. Cacciola Galleries, New York and Stanek Gallery, Philadelphia.
Jodi Throckmorton is PAFA’s Curator of Contemporary Art. Previously she served as Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Ulrich Museum of Art at Wichita State University and the Associate Curator at the San Jose Museum of Art. She holds an MFA in Museum Studies from San Francisco State University, and a BA in Art History and French from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Throckmorton co-organized, with former PAFA Director Harry Philbrick, Dive Deep: Eric Fischl and the Process of Painting, which was on exhibit at PAFA and the San Jose Museum of Art (2012-13). Other projects include Rina Banerjee: Make Me a Summary of the World (2018); Melt/Carve/Forge: Embodied Sculptures by Cassils (2017); Fernando Orellana: His Study of Life (2016); Postdate: Photography and Inherited History in India (2015); Bruce Conner: Somebody Else's Prints (2014); Questions from the Sky: New Work by Hung Liu (2013); Ranu Mukherjee: Telling Fortunes (2012); and This Kind of Bird Flies Backward: Paintings by Joan Brown (2011).
Wilmer Wilson IV is critically recognized for performative investigations into the marginalization of, and the care for, Black bodies in everyday social relation. He is the recipient of The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage Fellowship and The American Academy in Rome Fellowship. Wilson’s work has been presented at The New Museum, New York, NY; Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, MA; Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR; American University Museum, Washington, DC; Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL; National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC; and In Flanders Fields Museum, Ieper, Belgium. He is represented by Connersmith Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Registration and Policy Information
The Summer Studio/Critique Program is offered through PAFA's Continuing Education (CE) Programs. Please note that the CE office is currently closed until further notice due to COVID-19 health concerns. Registration is available online only at this time.
Please review the following information carefully prior to registering:
- This is an uninstructed program; as such, prior art-making experience and the ability to work independently are required. Beyond this understanding, there are no specific application requirements or prerequisites for this program.
- Review the Continuing Education Procedures & Policies for important policies, including information about PAFA accreditation and transcript requests. By applying for the Summer Studio/Critique Program, you agree to abide by PAFA's Procedures and Policies.
- Withdrawals from the program must be issued in writing to continuinged@pafa.edu. Withdrawals issued prior to one week before the first day (June 28) be issued a full refund, minus a $50 administrative fee. No refunds are issued for withdrawals after June 28.
- No materials list is provided for this program. Students may work in their media of choice, appropriate for safe use in their home/personal studio.
- In addition to the student's personal selection of art-making materials, the online component requires only a computer other device with a high-speed internet connection, as well as a means of photographing artwork to upload -- a cell phone camera will suffice.
- Review CE's Registration Information for important online course information about Canvas and Zoom, including Zoom technical requirements, which will be adapted for the Studio Critique Program.
For questions, please contact Michael Kowbuz, PAFA’s Director of Continuing Education Programs at mkowbuz@pafa.edu.