Summer Workshop Guide: The Buzz List
January 22, 2026
Posted In: Workshops
Tags: 2026 Summer Workshop Guide
As we prepare to kick off our 60th summer of art-making at Anderson Ranch, the energy on campus is already palpable. Since 1966, when ceramicist Paul Soldner envisioned a “Center of the Hand” and Cherie Hiser brought forth the “Center of the Eye,” our Rocky Mountain campus has celebrated the act of making. Together, these founding visions created a destination where creativity knows no bounds.
At 60 years strong, we are only growing wiser, and our 2026 lineup is the proof. This year’s program offers a curated blend of tradition and radical innovation. From high-tech fabrication in our furniture studios to experimental, lens-based practices in photography, this season’s workshops are designed to challenge your process and expand your community.
Whether you are a professional artist looking to refine a specific technique or an art lover ready to get your hands dirty, this guide highlights our “Buzz List”—the workshops everyone is talking about.
Included in this guide:
- CNC as a Designer’s Tool
- Exploring Image-Making Through Lived Experience
- Painterly Quilts
- Prototyping in Clay: A Hand Building Design Intensive
- Woodblock: Carving and Printing at a Large Scale
- Creative Reuse
Furniture Design & Woodworking: Merging Technology and Tradition
The furniture studio at Anderson Ranch has always been a place where craftsmanship meets creativity. For 2026, we are pushing the envelope by integrating advanced digital tools with traditional woodworking sensibilities.
Making a Traditional Japanese Puzzle Box
Dates: June 8 – 12
Faculty: Kagen Sound
Unlock the secrets of a centuries-old craft with master puzzle box maker Kagen Sound. This unique workshop explores the Japanese art of making secret opening boxes, where logic and artistry intersect.
Participants will learn to create a box infrastructure, cut sliding wooden plates that move in a precise sequence, and assemble the final piece. The course focuses on hand-tool use, assisted by miniature router table set-ups for detailed joinery. It’s a fantastic opportunity for woodworkers of all levels to dive into the world of handcrafted mechanisms and create their own custom puzzle box.
Kagen Sound, Cafe Wall Box, Wood, 2019
Photography & New Media: Beyond the Image
Our photography and new media workshops have evolved significantly since the days of “Center of the Eye.” Today, they represent a cutting-edge intersection of lens-based practices, digital media, and conceptual exploration.
Exploring Image-Making Through Lived Experience + Power Dynamics
Dates: June 15 – 19
Faculty: Carmen Winant
This workshop challenges the very nature of photography. Led by Carmen Winant, this course moves beyond technical aperture settings to explore the ethics and politics of the image.
Through collaborative exercises, play, experimentation, and critical reflection, participants will ask not just what an image looks like, but what it can do. This is an essential workshop for contemporary photographers and new media artists who want to deepen the conceptual framework of their practice and understand the power dynamics inherent in the act of looking.
Painting: Texture and Transformation
Painting at the Ranch often spills over the edges of the canvas. This year’s buzzworthy painting workshop blurs the lines between textile art and traditional painting, offering a fresh approach to surface design.
Painterly Quilts
Dates: June 29 – July 3
Faculty: Chloe Wilwerding
Forget everything you know about traditional quilting. This workshop invites you to treat fabric as your paint and the needle as your brush.
Instructor Chloe Wilwerding will guide you through techniques like cyanotype, embroidery, and stamping—essentially “painting” with fabric. By using personal and found materials, you will transform everyday objects into bold, textured art that is uniquely yours. It is an ideal class for painters wanting to add dimension to their work or fiber artists looking to incorporate painterly concepts.
Chloe Wilwerding, Straight Ahead
Printmaking: Collaboration and Scale
Printmaking is inherently communal, a quality we celebrate in our Patton Print Shop. This year, we are scaling up, offering artists the physical space and technical support to go big.
Woodblock: Carving and Printing at a Large Scale
Dates: July 27 – 31
Faculty: Yashua Klos
This isn’t just a workshop; it’s a full-body experience. Led by the inspiring Yashua Klos, this popular offering combines the fundamentals of woodblock printmaking with innovative collage techniques.
Students consistently rave about the collaborative vibe and Klos’s unique ability to unite people through this dynamic process. Working at a large scale requires physical engagement and often, a helping hand, fostering a studio environment where creativity thrives. It’s a rare chance to grow your skills, connect with fellow printmakers, and create art that is as layered and compelling as the stories you want to tell.
Yashua Klos, There’s Never Enough City to Hold You
Sculpture: Innovation through Sustainability
Our sculpture workshops act as a hub for figurative, abstract, and experimental approaches. With access to extensive facilities for wood, metal, and mixed media, the Sculpture Barn is where discarded objects find a second, profound life.
Creative Reuse
Dates: August 3 – 7
Faculty: Jean Shin
In an era of excess, how do we make art responsibly? Led by the renowned Jean Shin, this workshop transforms discarded materials into powerful art.
You will explore how salvaging and repurposing objects can infuse your work with cultural depth and ecological awareness. Shin is celebrated for her innovative approach to sustainability, and she will guide you through the conceptual and physical process of turning “trash” into treasure. This workshop is perfect for artists interested in installation, mixed media, and the environmental impact of their practice.
Jean Shin, Museum Body, Cut fabric (donated clothes from Amon Carter), 2024
Museum of American Art and Museum of Modern Art employees),
thread, adhesive, and Tyvek, 2024, 2023, Installation
Ceramics: The Center of the Hand
Ceramics is where our story began, and it remains the heartbeat of the Ranch. Our 2026 offerings continue the legacy of Peter Voulkos and Paul Soldner, emphasizing both the vessel and the sculptural possibility of clay.
Intensive Coil Building: Moon Jar
Dates: September 7 – 11
Faculty: Joanne Seongweon Lee
Experience the meditative process of coiling delicate vessels in porcelain. In this one-week workshop, instructor Joanne Seongweon Lee teaches how to effectively roll thin coils and build them into complex forms, including the elegant Moon Jar.
Participants will gain confidence and refine their skills through dedicated practice. While the focus is on process, you will leave with new, refined techniques to continue exploring in your home studio, along with both finished and bisqued work. This course is ideal for anyone with some previous experience with clay who is looking to elevate their hand-building practice.
Joanne Seongweon Lee, Moon Jar
Find Your Workshop
The workshops listed above are just a glimpse of what 2026 has to offer. Spaces in these “Buzz List” courses fill up quickly, so we encourage you to explore the full catalog and secure your spot in the studio. Explore all summer workshops.
Not sure where to begin? Our friendly artistic staff are here to help guide your creative path. Email us at [email protected], and we’ll match you with the perfect workshop.