Welcome to Smithsonian Associates In-Person Programs

This introductory course teaches the basic skills needed for drawing. Working with a variety of materials and techniques, including charcoal and pencils, students explore the rendering of geometric forms, volume, and perspective, with an emphasis on personal gesture marks.

Begin your watercolor portrait journey stress-free as you study photographs of well-known sculptures to practice monochromatic portraits and then build up to painting a portrait of your choice.

Participants refine and expand their drawing skills through studio practice in traditional media. Sessions focus on classic subject areas such as landscape, portrait, and figure.

Whether you want to work in digital or film, this course offers a solid foundation for new photographers ready to learn the basics. Topics include camera functions, exposure, metering, working with natural and artificial light, and composition.

Whether you want to work in digital or film, this course offers a solid foundation for new photographers ready to learn the basics. Topics include camera functions, exposure, metering, working with natural and artificial light, and composition.

Printmaking using a gel plate offers many options for combining materials, tools, and techniques to achieve an array of effects on both paper and fabric. Beginning with basic acrylic paints, explore the possibilities for layering with stamps, stencils, inks, and acrylic paint markers.

After being guided through mindfulness activities that teach you to make choices in art making, delve into emphasizing process over product and play over perfection. Expect a class grounded in both creative theory and therapeutic principles that deepen your relationship with yourself as an artist and as a person.

This six-session course is an introduction to live figure drawing. Working with charcoal and graphite on paper, students become familiar with classical formats for figure drawing sessions. Through practice, demonstrations, and group discussions, students learn and gain confidence drawing human models.