Artist Incubator Program

The Schweinfurth Art Center is launching a brand new Artist Incubator program in 2017. The program’s goal is to prepare high school students and adults for careers in the arts. The target audience includes high school students interested building their portfolio, adult artists looking to expand their knowledge and reach a higher professional level of expertise, and homeschooled students interested in acquiring these skills.

“The program is ideal for artists looking to broaden their understanding of different mediums and techniques, and perfect for young artists considering art school,” says Deirdre Aureden, Program Director at the Schweinfurth.

The Schweinfurth encourages students to begin with the foundation class series, and then choose from a range of electives to develop skills in particular areas, such as ceramics, painting, figure drawing and mixed media. In the fall, the Schweinfurth will offer a professional development series which will cover topics such as portfolio preparation, submitting exhibit entries, framing and matting techniques and writing artist statements.

The foundation classes and the electives will culminate in an exhibit at the Schweinfurth which will illustrate the progression of each student’s work. The students will participate in the process of curating their own work through a series of critiques and discussions throughout the year.

The first Artist Incubator class is an 8-week foundation series that will run on Thursday evenings, from 6-8pm, beginning February 2. It is designed to introduce students to basic fundamentals with an emphasis on understanding the principles of design. Discussions and exercises will build students’ artistic skills, vocabulary and ability to critically analyze art. Each week will focus on different mediums and techniques, including graphite fundamentals, pen and ink, watercolor basics, watercolor still life and color, charcoal basics, ceramics, charcoal portrait and collage. The lead teacher is local teacher and artist Hetty Easter, who resides in Skaneateles and is an instructor in the School of Design at Syracuse University.

For more details and to register, please visit the Schweinfurth website at myartcenter.org, or call them at 315-255- 1553. The Schweinfurth Art Center is a multi-art center that offers a range of exhibits, classes and programs for all ages throughout the year. The Art Center is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 am – 5 pm and Sunday 1 – 5 pm. The Artist Incubator program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.