The core of our signature program. Small group instruction for beginning and emerging artists. This year-round class offers students a place to begin the study of art and media fundamentals. Students will develop visual, artistic, and media-handling skills, as well as, patience, mental stamina, quality control and the critical thinking necessary to progress as an artist. Students will take their first footsteps on the path to developing exceptional artistic skills starting with unlearning bad habits and learning to see like an artist. Students are taught to identify light and shadow boundary lines, incorporate primary and secondary shadows, and to understand that edge determines form, how to measure and depict proportion and scale, and work both from photo reference and observation. Students move through a range of media including charcoal, pencil, ink, acrylic paint, and colored pencil with a strong focus on skill building and media handling. Instruction of media handling including blending, feathering and layering, working back to front and broad to narrow, defining local value and color, tonal structure and color theory.

An enhanced curriculum that builds upon our signature program with color and b/w courses. Small group instruction for developing and advanced artists. This year-round class offers students a place to begin a more advanced study of art and media. The program is broken into two tracks. The Surface and Light course focuses on advanced drawing techniques and offers students the opportunity to learn how light, value, gradation, and edge combine to create effects on objects, surface characteristics, and depth. The Color and Space course focuses on advanced painting techniques and offers students the opportunity to learn color theory, and how when combined with value and edge communicates form, texture, space, and mood.

Small group instruction geared to target school or college board requirements. This course is designed to help students prepare a portfolio and application package necessary for college applications, as well as, to help students prepare submission materials for the AP Studio Art course. This course begins with defining your Artist's Statement or Problem of Inquiry, then developing a series of projects, sketchbook explorations, and exercises that align with your inquiry.

Small group guided instruction for student determined projects. This year-round class offers students a place to work on their own pieces, in their own style and voice, with the guidance of one of our instructors. Students have the option of bringing a project of their choice, selecting one with input from our instructor, or working on one from our core curriculum. Our instructors are there to help guide you along the way offering assistance, technical demonstrations, and continued discussion of voice, clarity, composition, and visual communication in a guided instructional manner.

Small group instruction by a master artist working in their specific field. This year features: The Graphic Novel & Sequential Art. Each year Soma Studio strives to bring in master artists to share their skill and experience with students. Working side by side with an artist students gain insight and expertise, learn how the industry works, and glean tips, tricks and most importantly, feedback. All workshops move through a variety of media specific to the field, and build skills in a slow, logical, scaffolded manner.

Each session this summer will be centered around an artistic theme or media and offer students the opportunity to work alongside a professional artist, have a firsthand experience of the school’s signature program, join the studio community, and make lifelong friends.