Join our creative community and discover your inner artist.

Let our teaching artists help you hone your talents.

artist at work painting on a canvas

Upcoming Art Courses

Art Workshops

Join us for Coffee and Canvas, the perfect morning sip and paint class! Enjoy coffee and donuts while our instructor guides you through each step of painting a stunning picture on canvas. This relaxed three-hour workshop is ideal for beginners, teaching you key skills like color mixing, brush handling, and composition. By the end, you’ll have a beautiful painting to take home and newfound confidence in your artistic abilities. All supplies included!
#37173, Truax-Protective Services Building, 9/21, Saturday, 9 AM-12 PM Instructor: Lee Schauer
In a laid-back atmosphere, you'll learn to create sassy, irreverent phrases through the colorful art of embroidery. Perfect for those who enjoy playful language and a touch of rebellion, this class offers a delightful escape where you can make new friends and stitch bold, humorous designs. Embrace creativity and your inner rebel in this engaging workshop. No experience necessary. All supplies included!
#37172, Truax-Protective Services Building, 10/5, Saturday, 2-7 PM Instructor: Lee Schauer
Embark on your artistic journey with our beginner-friendly 2-day workshop. Explore the enchanting world of watercolors with step-by-step guidance from our expert instructor. Learn the basics of color mixing, brush techniques, and create your own beautiful watercolor artworks. Whether you've never picked up a brush or are looking to build a solid foundation, this weekend class is perfect for beginners to immerse themselves in the art of watercolor. All supplies included!
#37296, Truax-Protective Services Building, 10/12-10/13, Saturday and Sunday, 9 AM-2 PM Instructor: Lee Schauer

General Art

Discover the art of beautiful writing in our Calligraphy class. Learn the fundamentals of elegant script, including proper techniques, tools, and styles. Perfect for beginners, this class will guide you step-by-step, enhancing your creativity as you receive individual instruction.
#35138, Commercial Ave., 9/9-10/14, Monday, 6-8 PM Instructor: Joann Carpenter
Embark on a creative journey in woodturning! Woodturning involves shaping wood on a lathe to create items such as bowls, vases, and pens. In this course you and your classmates will rotate between woodturning and tool sharpening, engaging in hands-on learning experiences. You will learn essential techniques, culminating in four unique projects. Whether a complete novice or having some experience, this course offers the foundational skills and confidence to pursue woodturning as a rewarding hobby in a safe and supportive environment.
#37226, The Bodgery (near Comm. Ave), 10/2-11/20, Wednesday, 6:30-9:30 PM Instructor: Ris Fleming
Learn to talk about art! We spend most our lives watching movies, reading books, and even trying art ourselves, but how do we talk about it in a meaningful way? How do we go to a museum or exhibition and take away more than a selfie? I do the hard part (art history) so you don't have to, join the journey from the general to the specific and let's talk about art!
#37145, Truax-Health Building, 10/9-11/13, Wednesday, 6-8 PM Instructor: Aaron Parks

Art Metals

This is a beginning level class that focuses on the fundamentals of jewelry and metalsmithing. Students will create rings while learning basic techniques such as sawing, piercing, filing, sanding, texturing, soldering, finishing, and bezel stone setting. Projects are predetermined but open to interpretation based upon a student's own design aesthetic.
#37326, Commercial Ave., 9/17-12/17, Tuesday, 9 AM-12 PM Instructor: Cate Richards
This introductory class is open to all levels and will cover the fundamentals of welding and plasma cutting as you make a pre-determined garden sculpture or seasonal décor.
#35354, Truax-Main Building, 10/15-11/19, Tuesday, 6-9 PM Instructor: Amanda Neumaier
#35338, Truax-Main Building, 11/7-12/19, Thursday, 6-9 PM Instructor: Amanda Neumaier
Create your own metal sculpture using a combination of fabrication and welding techniques. This class will expand your knowledge of welding and sculpture design as you make your own personalized art. Students must have taken "Art Welding for Beginners" or have prior welding experience.
#37164, Truax-Main Building, 10/5-11/23, Saturday, 9AM-12 PM Instructor: Dan Fox

Ceramics and Sculpture

This 15 week course is suitable for all levels; from those who are just beginning to those who want to continue their practice. This class will cover the basics of wheel throwing, surface design techniques and glazing. 50lbs of clay, glazes and firing included.
#36774, Commercial Ave., 9/3-12/10, Tuesday, 9 AM-12 PM Instructor: Scott Draves

Painting and Drawing

Embark on a floral watercolor journey! Learn to paint delicate petals, lush foliage, and intricate blooms with grace and precision. Explore various techniques like wet-on-wet blending, layering, and detail work to create stunning botanical compositions. Develop your style as you infuse life into your paintings, capturing the beauty of flowers on paper. Prior watercolor experience strongly recommended.
#36853, Truax-Protective Services Building, 9/9-9/30, Monday, 5:30-8:30 PM Instructor: Lee Schauer
Explore the beautiful world of watercolors and gain confidence in your skills. You'll receive technical information, individualized instruction, and experience engaging demonstrations. Learn essential techniques like brush handling, color theory, washes, glazes, and textural effects, and explore a variety of painting styles from realism to abstract.
#35348, Truax-Protective Services Building, 9/11-10/30, Wednesday, 9 AM-12 PM Instructor: Lee Schauer
Dive into the depths of watercolor mastery with our advanced class! Explore complex techniques like wet-on-wet blending, glazing, and color lifting to create stunning depth and luminosity in your paintings. Develop your own style under expert guidance, mastering composition and color theory for expressive, captivating artworks. You should have completed Beginning Watercolor or equivalent to take this course.
#36855, Truax-Protective Services Building, 9/11-10/30, Wednesday, 1-4 PM Instructor: Lee Schauer
Delve into the art of acrylic painting, tailored for beginners or those seeking to refresh their skills. Uncover the secrets of acrylic painting materials, color theory, form, and composition. Spark your creativity through demonstrations and hands-on painting, and develop your ability to view the world through an artistic lens.
#35426, Truax-Protective Services, 9/11-10/30, Wednesday, 5:30-8:30 PM Instructor: Lee Schauer
Unlock the full potential of acrylics in our advanced painting class! Delve into intricate layering, texture creation, and advanced color mixing techniques to bring your visions to life with depth and vibrancy. Refine your skills in composition and visual storytelling while exploring diverse styles and subjects. You must have taken Beg. Acrylic, All levels Acrylic or have equivalent experience.
#36854, Truax-Protective Services Building, 9/12-11/7, Thursday, 5:30-8:30 PM Instructor: Lee Schauer
This class will introduce basic techniques so you can create accurate drawings as you work from observation. The skills and concepts presented will provide an initial framework for your talent, build confidence in your ability, and amplify your creativity.
#35242, Truax-Main Building, 9/18-11/6, Wednesday, 6-8:30 PM Instructor: Thanasi Papapostolou
#35244, Truax-Main Building, 9/30-11/18, Monday, 6-8:30 PM Instructor: Selia Salzsieder
Drawing the human figure is considered by centuries of artists and art academies to be the indispensable foundation of the creative arts. This class will introduce the students to the basic principles of figure structure and expression. Progressing sequentially, the student learns how to “see” human form and to render it effectively. This class is a must both for beginners and for those who are seeking to further their understanding and perception of the human figure in drawing, painting, or digital animation. Students will work from a live model and instructor demonstrations. Basic drawing materials are required. Only students the age of 18 or older are allowed to enroll in figure drawing.
#35326, Truax-Main Building, 9/23-11/11, Monday, 6-9 PM Instructor: Thanasi Papapostolou
Explore the vibrant world of oil pastels, where you'll learn key techniques such as blending, layering, texturing, sgraffito, and scumbling. Perfect for both beginners and experienced artists, this course covers essential oil pastel techniques, enabling you to create striking art.
#37174, Truax-Protective Services Building, 9/26-11/7, Thursday, 1-4 PM Instructor: Lee Schauer
For beginners or continuing students refining their watercolor skills, this class will be filled with technical information, demonstrations, individual instruction, and lots of time to paint. Learn brush handling, color theory and watercolor techniques such as washes, glazes, and textural effects. Choose subject matter from photos, book references or still lifes as the class explores painting styles from realism to abstract.
#35192 Truax-Protective Services, 10/1-11/5, Tuesday, 6-9 PM Instructor: Alfredo Rodriguez
#35196 Truax-Protective Services, 11/12-12/17, Tuesday, 6-9 PM Instructor: Alfredo Rodriguez
Capture the essence of your furry friend in our watercolor pet portrait class! Over four weeks, master techniques for depicting fur texture, expressive eyes, and lifelike features. Learn color mixing for realistic tones and create personalized backgrounds that complement your pet's personality. Prior watercolor experience strongly recommended.
#36845, Truax-Protective Services Building, 10/14-9/4, Monday, 5:30-8:30 PM Instructor: Lee Schauer
See digital art in a whole new light. This class is a beginner level exploration of the tools, theory, techniques and tricks of working with digital devices and creative software to create digital artworks. Learn to produce digital paintings and conceptual art by applying traditional art skills in a virtual environment. Required: An iPad with apple pencil, or Android tablet with a stylus, OR desktop/laptop computer with a Wacom or other drawing tablet attached. The primary app we will use for the class is Procreate for iPad, but participants can also use other software including Sketchbook, Krita, Painter, or Photoshop.
#35166, Online Live, 10/16-11/9, Wednesday, 6-9 PM Instructor: Justin King
Character Design will have students developing and creating their own characters that could be used for comics, video games, or animation. This course is intended to teach students how to use character design to tell a story and how to create unique and original characters. We will discuss shape language and how color impact a character’s design and create a wide variety of characters that can fit different roles in a story. Youth Ages 14-18.
#36787, Truax-Protective Services Building, 9/16-10/21, Monday, 6-8 PM Instructor: Jessica Ellenbecker
Introduction to Traditional Drawing is a class designed to help students learn the basics of observational drawing. We will utilize mostly pencils and colored pencils and practice using the Elements of Art to improve drawing skills. Youth Ages 14-18.
#36788, Truax-Protective Services Building, 10/28-12/2, Monday, 6-8 PM Instructor: Jessica Ellenbecker

Video and Photography

Make a music video, short piece, or experimental film! In this hands-on course, you will explore digital media production in a creative context. You will develop concepts for your original pieces and receive thorough training in videography and photography, video editing in Premiere Pro, stop-motion animation, and archival sourcing. This class will provide space, tools, technical support, and creative advice as you work on your project. The course concludes with a constructive critique and a final show of your finished work. There are no required materials or supplies, but a digital camera such as a smartphone or DSLR is highly recommended.
#37183, Truax-Main Building, 10/8-11/26, Tuesday, 6-9 PM Instructor: Max Schulte
Whether you’re a business owner, marketer, content creator, or simply want to maximize your iPhone's potential for professional, high-quality images and videos, this class is for you! Discover underutilized settings and advanced file types that elevate your photos for any use. We’ll cover photography fundamentals, shooting techniques, accessories, apps, and in-phone editing. Plus, you'll engage in exercises to practice portraits, product shots, lighting, and more!
#37313, Truax-Health Building, 10/9-10/23, Wednesday, 6-8 PM Instructor: Andy Jalbert
This course is intended for those who understand the basic point-and-shoot operation of their digital cameras but who are seeking assistance in taking better pictures using composition techniques and making better use of features such as aperture, flash, shutter speed, and more.
future offerings posted here

Fiber Arts

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Gallery at Truax art exhibition

Visit the Gallery at Truax

The Gallery at Truax provides diverse experiences by exhibiting creativity, innovation, and collaboration for Madison College and its community. View the exhibition schedule, hours and location.