Adult Open Studio
Thursdays, 7-9pm | $25
Adult Open Studio classes are casual, social drop-in art workshops offered weekly, featuring a new project and theme connected to current exhibitions. These workshops explore the technical and conceptual side of art-making and give participants opportunities to experiment and explore new ideas and materials in the studio.
Fall/Winter Sessions
Sep 7 | Botanical Sketches
Explore our newest exhibition, Link to Nature: Early Botanical Photography 1850-1950 and be inspired by the artists within. In the studio, experiment with watercolour techniques and pencil crayons to create your own expressive series of botanical drawings on paper. Register here.
Sep 14 | Drawing with Thread
Kenzie Housego’s exhibition I <3 U marries traditional craft with AI technology to create interactive artworks exploring modern-day courting practices. Learn a few basic embroidery stitches and create your own flirty drawing or message. Register here.
Sep 21 | Vessels
Vessels support our daily rituals and are imbued with cultural meanings. Visit Between Things: Alberta Ceramics and re-think your own relationship to everyday cups, bowls and vases. Using a few hand-building techniques, create a vessel from clay. Transform its functional capacity into a decorative artwork with a few clever edits. Register here.
Sep 28 | Figure Drawing I
Using charcoal, conté and inks, sketch from a live model. Begin the session with expressive and loose renderings and finish with a longer, more sustained study, focusing on the fundamentals of tone, form and perspective. Register here.
*This class features a nude model.
Oct 5 | Wearable Sculpture
Inspired by artists in Second Skin, create wearable artwork using cardboard, plaster bandages, packing tape, fabric and more. Register here.
Oct 12 | Pop Art Panels
Visit From Warhol to Banksy for the last time and create a series of large-scale comic panels inspired by Roy Lichtenstein’s style. Use Ben Day dots and primary colours to lend your artwork a Pop-Art feel. While you create, explore the ethics of appropriation in art, is it stealing or an homage? Register here.
Oct 19 | Surface Design
Get inspired by artists in Second Skin and experiment with surface design on different substrates including paper and fabric using a variety of printmaking and drawing techniques. Register here.
Oct 26 | Mask Making
Need a last-minute costume for Refinery? Create an apocalyptic-inspired mask and wear it to the party! Register here.
Nov 2 | Figurative Drawing II
Hone your figurative drawing skills with a series of gestural ink drawings. Choose to stay in a loose, expressive style or try your hand at a sustained tonal drawing. Focus on methods such as sight measuring to achieve representational proportion. Learn about the many ways to create a figurative drawing and the various strengths in gesture and representation. Register here.
*This class features a nude model.
Nov 9 | Woodblock Prints
Learn the classic art of woodblock printmaking, study the vibrant history of the medium and analyze prints by artists such as Rembrandt, Goltzius and van Ruisdael in our exhibition The Collector’s Cosmos: The Meadkins-McClaran Print Collection. Finally, create your own woodblock prints, create compositions designed around a two-layer print. Register here.
Nov 16 | Acrylic Painting
Enjoy the artwork of featured artist Ally McIntyre before heading to the studio to experiment with acrylic paint. Learn a few basic techniques, explore its versatility and play with application before creating a painting of your own. Register here.
Nov 23 | Light and Shadow
Rembrandt, featured in The Collector’s Cosmos: The Meadkins-McClaran Print Collection, is known for using light and shadow to great effect in both his paintings and prints. Create your own dramatic sketches using light, shadow, charcoal and ink. Register here.
Nov 30 | Clay Beads
Explore the art of ceramics and wearable art in current exhibitions before creating a set of hand-built beads from model magic, fimo and/or clay. Turn your beads into a piece of one-of-a-kind jewelry. Register here.
Dec 7 | Figurative Drawing/Sculpting III
Begin to fine tune your figure drawing skills with some warmup drawings, then transition into the third dimension and use clay to sculpt the figure. Get in tune with volume and form in order to create a truly unique clay figure! Register here.
*This class features a nude model.
Dec 14 | Handmade Gifts
Join us in the studio and create a series of themed cards, gift wrap or small masterpieces to give away or keep to yourself! Register here.
NB: This class features a nude model.
Dec 21 | Winter Watercolours
Have you ever noticed the subtle beauty of light in a winter landscape? During the winter solstice, join us in the studio as we attempt to capture that elusive quality using classic watercolour painting techniques. Snap a photo before you arrive or be inspired by one of ours. Register here.