Drawing from the Subconscious

This three-year advanced mentorship program encourages students to push their studio practice. Working at a rigorous pace, engaging in critical dialogue with the group and with the instructors in individual critique, artists refine and expand their investigations. Wide-ranging topics include concept and approach to contemporary art practice as well as technical and material explorations. Students are expected to work independently with the support of their class peers and instructors, raising the ambition of their own studio goals. Although primarily a painting workshop, participation by installation artists and other artists working across media is encouraged. The goal of the series is for students to gain community, develop insight into their work and, through discussion, challenge themselves to reflect on their artistic intentions. 2025 is the first year of this three-year intensive program. In the subsequent two years of the program, the cohort meets in-person at Anderson Ranch from August 10th - 14th, 2026 and August 16th - 20th, 2027. Over the course of the program, there are group and one-on-one meetings via Zoom in March and October of each year. The final meeting is via Zoom in October 2027. Tuition listed is the program cost per year.  TO APPLY: Applications for enrollment are accepted on a rolling basis. To apply, please fill out the 2025 Advanced Mentored Studies Online Application Form. This is a rolling application with a priority deadline of Monday, February 3rd.

Using various collage and painting techniques, students engage in exploratory exercises to develop unique frameworks for gameplay as a method of creation. Through inspirational slideshows featuring contemporary and historical artists, material demonstrations and response to the unique location of Anderson Ranch, participants dive into rigorous play and experimentation with color, form, and various collage and painting techniques. These include stencil work, cut paper sketching, acrylic paint transfers, drawing media, and gel mediums suitable for collage on stretched canvas. Personalized strategies and responses encourage improvisation, chance, and spontaneity, opening new pathways within the student’s creative process. Paint-friendly collage material and other activity-specific materials are provided.

Artists at all stages of their careers often wish they could have more guidance when approaching galleries, making sales, navigating and choosing exhibitions in which to participate, and even writing off sales and donations. This nuts-and-bolts workshop gets to the core of these questions, while at the same time mentoring artists to consider their goals within the art world and find the tools to achieve them. Every artist has a different trajectory, but there are many common struggles and questions along the way, several of which form the content of this course designed to inform, energize, and empower. This workshop takes place in the painting building but invites artists of all disciplines to apply.