Adult Classes
Whether you’re just beginning your creative journey, are looking to brush up on your skills, or are interested in pursuing serious artistic training, we invite you to discover an artistic community at The Studios at SAM. Learn from our team of experienced instructors through our selection of four-week and single-session classes.
Ceramics
Beginning Wheel Throwing
Lauren Hope Holton
Satisfy your curiosity, and experience a fun and thorough introduction to throwing on the potter’s wheel. Learn the skills necessary to throw cylinders, cups, bowls, and more in this exciting introduction to throwing fundamentals. Your instructor guides you through the process of throwing, shaping, and trimming pots on the wheel. Basic surface decoration and glazing techniques are also demonstrated. This class is designed for students with little or no experience with the potter’s wheel.
Note: All supplies are included.
Beginning Handbuilding
Samantha Harthoorn
Please call 941.309.4338 to apply your Member’s discount.
July 5, 12, 19, 26
Saturdays
9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Learn the basics of hand-building and surface decoration. You will make functional dishes, decorative tiles, and sculpture. Coil, slab and pinch construction is covered along with slip painting, sgraffito, image transfer and stenciling techniques. New demonstrations every week help guide the projects but students are free to develop their own projects too. Note: All supplies are included.
Intermediate Advanced Wheel Throwing
Lauren Hope Holton
This class is for those who can consistently throw a 6-inch cylinder or larger. Students will focus on higher-level forms and wheel techniques including vases, pitchers, teapots, plates, and casseroles. Completed pieces will be bisqued, glazed, and fired. Students should complete several wheel thrown pieces. Prerequisite: students should have taken at least 3-4 ceramics classes or have similar experience.
Ceramics Open Studio (Single sessions)
Lauren Hope Holton
Linda & Dick Dickinson Ceramics Studio
Museum Members: $45
Please call 941.309.4338 to apply your Member’s discount.
Samantha Harthoorn
Linda & Dick Dickinson Ceramics Studio
Museum Members: $45
Please call 941.309.4338 to apply your Member’s discount.
June 24
Tuesday
5:30–8:30 pm
July 1
Tuesday
5:30–8:30 pm
July 8
Tuesday
5:30–8:30 pm
July 15
Tuesday
5:30–8:30 pm
Looking for time in the ceramics studio without a multi-week commitment? In this single session class, intermediate to advanced students and practicing artists work alongside one another independently in the studio without instruction. Students are provided with clay, glazes, and kiln access.
Ceramics Open Studio (Four sessions)
Samantha Harthoorn
4 weeks
Linda & Dick Dickinson Ceramics Studio
Not-Yet Members: $200
July 5-July 26, 2025
Saturdays
1 – 4 pm
Glaze Your Own Handmade Pottery
Lauren Hope Holton
Linda & Dick Dickinson Ceramics Studio
March 3, 2025
Monday
1-3 pm
Please join us for a wonderful afternoon in the Ceramics Studio adding your personal flair to ceramics. Begin with an exciting demonstration on the pottery wheel to witness the skills with which your pottery was made! You will then have the opportunity to glaze two unique works of handmade ceramic art, made by our Ceramics Teaching Artist, Lauren Hope Holton. Choose from a variety of forms including cups, bowls, mugs, and vases. Your work with then be fired in the kiln and available for pick up the following week!
Drawing
Introduction to Drawing
Patrick Thomas Parnell
Calling all artists! Join us at SAM to learn drawing basics using pencils and charcoal. We explore line, shape, perspective, light and shading, scale and proportion. Students view drawings by different artists through history, learn the skill of careful observation, and practice drawing with a variety of mediums on paper.
Please Note: All supplies are included.
Comic Book Intensive Workshop
Patrick Thomas Parnell
Sarah F. Huisking Classroom
Not-Yet Members: $300
Please call 941.309.4338 to apply your Member’s discount.
July 7 – July 31, 2025
Monday and Thursday
5 – 8 pm
This summer at the Sarasota Art Museum, we are offering a workshop specifically designed for artists who already have experience in the visual arts but want to explore a career in comic book creation and sequential storytelling.
Whether you’re aiming for a career at Marvel or DC, looking to work with indie publishers, or dreaming of launching your own creator-owned project, this month-long workshop with Patrick Thomas Parnell can help you move toward your goals.
Patrick is a seasoned comic book illustrator with over 20 years of industry experience. His professional credits include work on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Mega Man, along with publishing more than 15 titles under his own independent label, Riot Press Productions.
He has taught at prestigious institutions such as Ringling College of Art and Design, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, and State College of Florida, with over 15 years of experience helping students chase their creative dreams.
This workshop will run for 4 weeks, with classes meeting twice a week.
If you have the talent but need help breaking into the industry — whether it’s getting in front of editors or learning how to self-publish — this workshop is for you!
Figure Drawing
Patrick Thomas Parnell
Sarah F. Huisking Classroom
Please call 941.309.4338 to apply your Member’s discount.
July 11, 2025 – August 1, 2025
Fridays
5 – 8 pm
August 8 – August 29, 2025
Fridays
5 – 8 pm
In this class, students learn to observe and draw the human figure. With our Museum Educator, Patrick Thomas Parnell, students learn to look carefully at and draw from a live, draped model each week. Line and light, shading and shadow, are discussed along with other topics. All skills levels are welcome.
Please note: All supplies are included.
Nature Drawing
Elisabeth Trostli-Rusling
Sarah F. Huisking Classroom
Please call 941.309.4338 to apply your Member’s discount.
July 8, 2025 – August 12, 2025
Tuesdays
5 – 7 pm
Colored Pencils: Inspired by Nature
Elisabeth Trostli-Rusling
Ringling College Museum Campus
This is a program designed to introduce the artist to another medium for greater ease of expression and control: Colored Pencils.
For inspiration, we will conduct brief walking tours of our immediate Museum campus, and learn to truly “see” and collect often overlooked weeds, flowers, pebbles, feathers, sticks, shells and other miscellaneous objects as sources of inspiration.
You will be introduced to Basic techniques for shading, blending and subtle pattern-making made possible with Prismacolor Colored Pencils to create a finished glorious rendering of your Nature-inspired object. All supplies provided. Beginners welcome!
Decorative Design, Pattern, and Color
Elisabeth Trostli-Rusling
Ringling College Museum Campus
Not-Yet Members: $160
Please call 941.309.4338 to apply your Member’s discount.
July 17, 2025 – August 7, 2025
Thursdays
5 – 8 pm
This course is an introduction to COLOR and PATTERN – Two basic elements of Design.
As a final project, students will create a finished “Mandala” combining decorative patterns, symmetry and color harmonies. We will use a variety of mediums including colored pencils, watercolor markers, inks, and drawing pens. All supplies provided.
Wildlife Illustration
Gwynne Rohrs
Ringling College Museum Campus
Explorations in Line and Letter Embellishment
Elisabeth Trostli-Rusling
Ringling College Museum Campus
In this class we will learn about “line” and how to embellish letters, initials, and Monograms. Explore linear and other decorative graphic elements as used in calligraphy, engraving, Medieval illuminated manuscripts, Celtic art, Islamic, Indian, Judaica and other traditions.
After learning about the basics of various types of line and the use of various tools for creating them, we will learn the history and essentials of typography, guilding, calligraphy (“beautiful writing”) and apply our artistic skills to construct original illuminated letters, and decorative letterforms and monograms. All supplies provided.
Painting
Introduction to Painting
Patrick Thomas Parnell
Please call 941.309.4338 to apply your Member’s discount.
Join us to learn about different paint mediums and discuss fundamental painting vocabulary, skills, and techniques. Focusing primarily on acrylic, we explore color theory, color/paint mixing, and the painting process. Students create multiple works on paper and canvas.
Note: All supplies are included.
Digital
Fun with Photoshop
Elisabeth Trostli-Rusling
Classroom 201
Not-Yet Members: $120
Please call 941.309.4338 to apply your Member’s discount.
July 11, 2025 – August 1, 2025
Fridays
1 – 3 pm
In this 4-class series, you will learn how to use Photoshop’s basic and powerful tools to enhance photos. You will learn about tools, layers, and special effects for editing photos and creating digital art. We will work on several fun and easy projects. Beginners welcome! All supplies provided.
Digital Painting
Elisabeth Trostli-Ruslingl
Classroom 201
Please call 941.309.4338 to apply your Member’s discount.
July 7, 2025- August 11, 2025
Mondays
4 – 6 pm
All materials included. Ages 18+
Introduction to Art using AI
Elisabeth Trostli-Rusling
Not-Yet Members: $140
Please call 941.309.4338 to apply your Member’s discount.
August 6, 2025- August 27, 2025
Wednesdays
4 – 6 pm
Painting Loose and Bold
Victoria Mayol
Mar 4, 2025 – Mar 25, 2025
Tuesdays
9:30 am – 12:30 pm
This class is all about tapping into your creative energy and painting with confidence. We’ll explore color theory, brush strokes, scale value, and the essential techniques that will help you create bold, vibrant paintings. It’s a fun and relaxed class where you’ll approach painting in a fresh original way. We’ll focus on painting birds and nature, using an exciting style, learning to paint with palette knife and exploring blocky brush strokes. Both beginners and intermediates are welcome. Note: All art supplies are included!
The Essence of Portrait
Victoria Mayol
Abstract Figurative Painting
Victoria Mayol
In this class, we’ll dive into the exciting space between figurative and abstract painting. We’ll learn about artists from both the past and present who’ve explored this balance. You’ll get hands-on experience with color theory, scale, value, and techniques like blocky painting and glazing layers. There are no mistakes here, just happy accidents! With plenty of guidance and the freedom to explore your creativity, you might be surprised by what you can create. Both beginners and intermediate are welcome. Please note: all supplies are included
Introduction to Watercolor Painting
Gwynne Rohrs
Ringling College Museum Campus
Open Studio
Independent Study
Patrick Thomas Parnell
4 weeks
The independent study offers local artists and students the opportunity to bolster their own projects under the guidance of our professional working artists and educators. Participants in this open-studio class can learn more in-depths techniques, the art historical and cultural context of their work, or just be in an environment with other artists and makers. Participants will also learn how to look at their work through a critical lens to strengthen their art practice and vision. Come join us while we converse and create together!