UGA Community Art School summer courses open

The UGA Community Art School features courses for adults seeking to learn new skills, hone techniques, and expand their artistic expression. Taught by UGA faculty, the classes maximize individual instruction and experiential learning in the legendary studios of the Lamar Dodd School of Art.

After launching this spring with 16 students in Associate Professor Benjamin Britton’s Drawing Other Humans figure drawing course, the UGA Community Art School is expanding to a roster of three courses this summer in a variety of media — with more to come in fall and in spring 2026!

Spend the summer learning from distinguished instructors. Classes range from interior design to figure drawing to ceramics. Expand your artistic abilities while also expanding the Athens arts community! Read below for details on courses, times, and registration links.

Register here (Summer 2025 Registration closed on June 2, 2025. Check back soon for our Fall 2025 registration page!)

Summer 2025 Session

Design Your Space: An Introduction to Interior Design with Catherine Trugman

Summer 2025, Tuesdays, 6 – 8:30 pm

June 3 – August 5; no classes during the week of the July 4 holiday. 10 weeks.

Join UGA’s “Design Your Space” and explore the world of interior design through a hands-on, creative journey. In this course, you will learn the fundamental principles of interior design, including space planning, color theory, materials, and design communication methods. Guided by Catherine Trugman (NCIDQ, CKBD, LEED AP), an Interior Design faculty member at UGA, you’ll gain the skills to create thoughtfully designed spaces that reflect both functionality and beauty. Throughout the course, you’ll apply these concepts to design your own project, which will be showcased at a community art show at the end of the session. Whether you’re looking to enhance your own space or simply explore your creative side, this course will provide the tools and inspiration to transform your design ideas into reality.

Drawing Other Humans with Sara Hess

Summer 2025, Tuesdays, 6 – 8:30 pm

June 3 – August 5; no classes during the week of the July 4 holiday. 10 weeks.

Drawing Other Humans is an introduction to life drawing for a class of 12-16 adults of all ages. Students will build their drawing skills by working from a traditional yet challenging subject, the clothed and unclothed life model. There will be demonstrations and plenty of individual instruction time. Learn to create plastic form in pictorial space using charcoal, graphite, and ink and brush.

Hand Building Ceramics with Maria Dondero

Summer 2025, Wednesdays, 6 – 9 pm

June 4 – July 23; no classes during the week of the July 4 holiday. 7 weeks.

Open to all levels, students in this course will cover the 3 basic styles of hand building ceramics: pinch, slab, and coil construction. Taught by Instructor Maria Dondero, the class will discuss historical practices and uses while creating one-of-a-kind sculptural & functional clay projects.

Meet the Instructors

Maria Dondero, Instructor of Ceramics

Maria Dondero received her MFA in Ceramics in 2008 from the University of Georgia. She has taught at Universities throughout the South East and for the Cortona, Italy program for UGA. In 2016, she opened Southern Star Studio, a Ceramics Studio Collective in Athens, GA where she rents out space, hosts community classes & events and has a gallery of work by local Artists. In 2022, she co founded Tuscan Clay Lab, a community pottery studio in Cortona Italy where she teaches and takes private groups to study the history of Italian Ceramics and make pots.

Sara Hess, Instructor of Drawing & Painting

Sara Hess is an artist and teacher in Athens, GA. She is a studio art instructor at Lamar Dodd School of Art and co-founder of Two Parts Press, an Athens-based printmaking studio and artist collaboration. Her interdisciplinary studio practice utilizes painting, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, woodworking, glassmaking, and installation. Through her work and relationship to images, materials, and people, she endeavors to listen deeply. Sara earned an MFA from The Ohio State University, where she was awarded a University Fellowship, and a BFA from the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art. She has exhibited work regionally and nationally at whitespace in Atlanta GA, Stove Works in Chattanooga TN, Urban Arts Space in Columbus OH, Erie Art Museum in Erie PA, and Print Center New York. Previous residencies include In Cahoots in Petaluma CA, Chautauqua Visual Arts in Chautauqua NY, and Officina Stamperia del Notaio in Tusa, Sicily.

Catherine Trugman, Lecturer of Interior Design

Catherine Trugman has more than two decades of professional interior design experience, including residential design, workplace design, retail design, hospitality design, and healthcare design. An alumni of UGA’s undergraduate Interior Design program, Catherine also holds an MFA from Georgia State University and has been teaching Interior Design at the university level for ten years. A full-time faculty member in UGA’s accredited Interior Design program, Ms. Trugman’s certifications include NCIDQ, LEED AP, and CKBD.