If you’re fortunate enough to have some down time this summer, and are looking for creative ways to cope with COVID-19 closures, think about giving summer art classes a try. Several metro Phoenix art centers are offering online or in-person classes, where you can learn to work with macramé, ceramics, watercolors, and more.

Carrie Curran Art Studios is doing virtual watercolor classes led by instructors working live, which cost $30 to $35 per painter. Participants can buy watercolor art kits ahead of time for $35, then do curbside pickup at the studio. Summer offerings include Forest Night Sky, Llama Llama, Mosaic Desert Sunset, Monet Lily Pond, Night Sky Elephant, Cactus Botanicals, and more.

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Fused glass piece by artist and MAC instructor Troy Moody.

Mesa Arts Center

Mesa Arts Center is offering three virtual art studio experiences, including online art classes that range from $65 to $95. Class topics include watercolor painting, sketching, fused glass, figurative sculpture, large-scale metal sculpture, fantasy creatures, and more. For veterans and service members, the center has two free online art classes.

The center also sells Art to Go Boxes for $25, which include materials and instructions for two family-friendly projects. The MAC art studio has clay and porcelain for purchase, and takes appointments for on-site glass and clay firing services.

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Painting by Edna Dapo, who teaches classes for Phoenix Center for the Arts.

Lynn Trimble

Phoenix Center for the Arts is offering online classes in several creative areas, including visual arts. Summer options include painting landscapes, drawing human and animal portraits, figure drawing, the language of color, and more. Classes are taught by metro Phoenix artists, including Edna Dapo and Koryn Woodward Wasson. Many of the multiweek visual art classes cost $158 or more. Other classes include beginning ukulele and flash fiction.

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Learn macrame basics with Sunshine Craft Co.

Amy Guerrero

Sunshine Craft Co has turned several of its in-studio crafting projects into at-home kits. The studio also offers online workshops, with materials you can pick up at the studio or have shipped to you ahead of time. Other offerings include free Facebook Live project demonstrations and free virtual community events.

Online summer classes will include weaving, macramé, making beaded plant hangers, starting a homemade business, and more. The virtual community event lineup includes coloring nights, mini weaves, and collage. Facebook Live topics will include beaded bracelets and printmaking card techniques. Many online classes or workshops cost between $5 and $50.

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Danielle Wood will be teaching summer classes for Shemer Art Center.

Lynn Trimble

Shemer Art Center is holding in-person and online classes, as well as evening and weekend workshops, this summer. Prices vary, so you could pay $30 for a single workshop or $280 for an eight-session class. Summer offerings will include mixed-media collage, printmaking, watercolor techniques, drawing basics, wearable cement jewelry, ceramics, and more.

Scottsdale Artists' School is offering in-person art classes, which range from a single-day class called The Monochrome Portrait, which costs $95 before fees, to a multiday class called Design in Painting, which costs $575. Other summer options include figurative painting, palette knife landscapes, watercolor portraits, painting reflections and glass, and more.

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