All upcoming Personal Development programs

Discover the power of reflective writing guided by teaching artist and museum educator, Mary Hall Surface. Inspired by works of art by Hudson River landscape painter Jasper Francis Cropsey and poetry by Mary Oliver, explore the lessons that the season of autumn offers when we slow down, look closely, and reflect. Designed for writers of all levels, the workshop invites participants to look outward at paintings and poetry and to look inward through writing.

Discover how visual art can inspire creative writing and how writing can offer a powerful way to experience art. Join Mary Hall Surface, the founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, for a course of three online workshops that explore essential elements of writing and styles through close looking, word-sketching, and imaginative response to prompts. The sessions spotlight a diverse range of visual art chosen to inspire writers of all experience levels to deepen their process and practice. This session focuses on 16th-century Bolognese Mannerist painter Lavinia Fontana.

Discover how visual art can inspire creative writing and how writing can offer a powerful way to experience art. Join Mary Hall Surface, the founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, for a course of three online workshops that explore essential elements of writing and styles through close looking, word-sketching, and imaginative response to prompts. The sessions spotlight a diverse range of visual art chosen to inspire writers of all experience levels to deepen their process and practice. This session focuses on paintings by the American Impressionist Lilla Cabot Perry with writings by the Gilded Age author Edith Wharton.

Discover how visual art can inspire creative writing and how writing can offer a powerful way to experience art. Join Mary Hall Surface, the founding instructor of the National Gallery of Art’s popular Writing Salon, for a course of three online workshops that explore essential elements of writing and styles through close looking, word-sketching, and imaginative response to prompts. The sessions spotlight a diverse range of visual art chosen to inspire writers of all experience levels to deepen their process and practice. This session focuses on 20th-century British artist Vanessa Bell’s A Conversation and the writings of her sister, Virginia Woolf.

Steven M. Emmanuel, chair of the philosophy department at Virginia Wesleyan University, returns with a follow-up to January 2026 overview on understanding Buddhist ethics to turn theory into practical application. Emmanuel outlines how Buddhist teachings might shape the way to handle stress, conflict, work, family responsibilities, consumption, and difficult conversations. The goal is not to persuade individuals toward Buddhism, says Emmanuel, but rather to consider what may be thoughtfully and usefully drawn from Buddhist ways of understanding and responding to meet the challenges of contemporary life.