Pre-College Courses

Are you interested in getting ready for the art school admission process?  And do you want to learn how to explore your personal interests and push your skills?  This course is designed for students who want to apply to art college in fine arts or another undeclared major.  You will engage in a range of exercises, from observational drawing to mixed media and content-driven work.  Along the way, you’ll gain exposure to contemporary fine artists to help inspire new ideas and your art-making process!  Through individual and group feedback, you’ll learn how to edit and organize your work to compile your strongest portfolio possible.  Finally, you’ll develop the ability to talk about your own work and be ready for the college interview process.

One transferrable college credit will be awarded upon successful completion of this one-week course.

Bring your vision to life with a modern approach to independent filmmaking and evolving individual aesthetics. This hands-on, intensive course offers you the opportunity to create individual video projects utilizing classic filmmaking techniques and emerging smart phone technologies. With a combination of viewings and exercises, you'll gain an understanding of experimental video forms as well as traditional, narrative work. You’ll also learn the workflows of independent filmmaking and gain insight on film festival overviews. Guided by faculty, you'll be immersed in the process of producing video shorts, from pre-production to post-production to final export.

Two transferrable college credits will be awarded upon successful completion of this two-week course. 

Drawing facial features and composing portraits can be challenging.  This course provides you with an intimate understanding of how to conceptualize and construct a portrait, overcoming some of the hurdles in the process.  You’ll have a chance to use a variety of source material and media, gaining the ability to utilize techniques such as proportion, structure, features, likeness, and perspective from different angles.  Towards the end of the week, studio assignments will allow you to explore more personal and expressive approaches while developing successful portraits.  

One transferrable college credit will be awarded upon successful completion of this one-week course.  

This course will introduce students to animation as a narratively drawn art form.  Students will explore both traditional and technical drawing production tools that will support animation development and completion of their shorts. 

Bring your vision to life with a modern approach to independent filmmaking and evolving individual aesthetics. This hands-on, intensive course offers you the opportunity to create individual video projects utilizing classic filmmaking techniques and emerging smart phone technologies. With a combination of viewings and exercises, you'll gain an understanding of experimental video forms as well as traditional, narrative work. You’ll also learn the workflows of independent filmmaking and gain insight on film festival overviews. Guided by faculty, you'll be immersed in the process of producing video shorts, from pre-production to post-production to final export.

Two transferrable college credits will be awarded upon successful completion of this two-week course. 

This course explores the history and craft of visual narratives including comics, graphic novels, and storyboards. You’ll examine historic and contemporary examples of sequential narratives and visual storytelling. You’ll work on developing a story concept, creating dynamic characters and environments, and formatting your work. Through in-class demonstrations and hands-on studio time, you’ll explore a rich variety of techniques that will help you bring your story to life.  

One transferrable college credit will be awarded upon successful completion of this one-week course.