The UGA Community Art School features ten-week courses1 for adult students 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. 

Register for Summer 2025 session courses here!

Contact CommunityArtSchool@uga.edu with any questions.

1A few courses have modified schedules. Take note of individual course timeline.

CLASSES

 
Summer 2025 Session

June 2 - August 5; no classes during the week of the July 4 holiday. 10 weeks, unless otherwise stated.1

1Hand Building Ceramics with Maria Dondero will take place June 4 - July 23; no classes during the week of the July 4 holiday.

Register here!

 

Fall 2025 Session

September 8 - November 10. Final course details subject to change. 10 weeks, unless otherwise stated.

Registration opens late May

 

Spring 2026 Session

January 26 - March 30. Final course details subject to change. 10 weeks, unless otherwise stated.

Registration opens fall

Summer 2025 Session

 

Interior Design class at Broad Street Studios, April 2024. Courtesy of Sidney Chansamone.

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.

Register here!

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.

 

Figure drawing sample

Drawing Other Humans with Sara Hess

Summer 2025, Tuesdays, 6 - 8:30 pm

Register here!

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.

Ceramics demo with Maria Dondero, Cortona 2024.
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.

Register here!

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.

Fall 2025 Session

 

Drawing Other Humans with Benjamin Britton

Fall 2025, Tuesdays, 6 - 8:30 pm

September 8 - November 10. Final course details subject to change. 10 weeks.

Registration opens late May

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.

 

Jewelry class, Spring 2024. Photo courtesy of Sidney Chansamone.
Jewelry and Metalwork with Barbara Mann

Fall 2025, TBD

September 8 - November 10. Final course details subject to change. 10 weeks.

Registration opens late May

This class is open to all levels. Beginning students will learn basic metalsmithing techniques such as sawing, filing, forming, texturing, polishing and soldering. Working with copper, brass and silver students will create one-of-a-kind, small-scale objects or pieces of jewelry. Intermediate and advanced students will be guided on individual projects. The process of lost wax casting and wax working will be presented and students will have the option to create a cast object. The silver for the casting will be an additional fee for each student dependent on the weight of the casting. For a small item, such as a ring, the cost would be in the $30-$40 range. Students will be provided a tool box with the necessary hand tools and metals for the duration of the class.

Melissa Harshman teaching relief printing, Spring 2024. Photograph Courtesy of Sidney Chansamone.

Monotypes: The Painterly Print with Melissa Harshman

Fall 2025, Wednesdays, 6 - 8:30 pm

September 8 - November 10. Final course details subject to change. 10 weeks.

Registration opens late May

This class will explore a variety of monotype processes to create unique prints. We will use both oil-based inks and water-based inks, depending on the type of print made. Processes include additive monotypes, reductive monotypes, trace monotypes, stencils, and pressure prints. Participants will leave the class with a full portfolio of unique prints.

Spring 2026 Session

 

Color Reduction Woodblock Printmaking

Fall 2025, Thursdays, 6 - 8:30 pm

September 8 - November 10. Final course details subject to change. 10 weeks.

Registration opens late May

This course will explore the art of color reduction woodblock printmaking techniques. We will explore every aspect of relief printing, including wood, paper and tool selection. Students will be tasked with: -generating imagery which is compatible with the color reduction process -being prepared with all necessary materials for each class period -taking notes during demonstrations and asking the instructor questions -adhering to the standard and culture of the printmaking studio -applying the lessons and information provided for the creation of new printed artworks

Mickey Oscar Boyd at Thomas Street Art Complex, 2023. Photograph courtesy of Sidney Chansamone.
Metalwork and Fabrication with Mickey Oscar Boyd

Spring 2026, Wednesdays, 5:30 - 8 pm

January 26 - March 30. Final course details subject to change. 10 weeks.

Registration opens fall

This is a hands-on course exploring a variety of materials and techniques for the development of sculptural ideas with an emphasis on metal fabrication. Students will construct work using hand tools, power tools, welding equipment and a variety of other techniques in a professional workshop environment. The class will be concentrated on construction techniques and the development of each student's personal work, primarily using steel, but will also incorporate other metals and materials. With demonstrations addressing shop procedures and students will gain the knowledge of proper equipment operation and safety in the metal shop.

 

Still Life for a Better Life with Diane Edison

Spring 2026, Saturdays, 11:30 am - 2 pm

January 26 - March 30. Final course details subject to change. 10 weeks.

Registration opens fall

Still Life for a Better Life – Introduction to Oil Painting. See color more deeply by painting still life. Learn basic paint handling, application, and creation of pictorial space. This class is appropriate to beginners or those with some painting experience. Enjoy a weekend with Still Life for a Better Life!

For more information, contact CommunityArtSchool@uga.edu

FEES AND REGISTRATION

Each course in the Summer 2025 session costs $450. Adults of all ages welcome. 

Fees cover classes and supplies. Refund will be provided up until two weeks before the first day of class. Proceeds from the UGA Community Art School support the studio art program at the Lamar Dodd School of Art.

Please review our policies before completing registration.

 

INSTRUCTORS

 
Summer 2025 Session
Maria Dondero headshot
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 headshot

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 Headshot

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.

 
Fall 2025 Session
Ben Britton, Associate Professor of Art

Benjamin Britton headshot

Associate Professor of Art Benjamin Britton is a painter who was born in 1976 and grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He received his BFA from the School of Visual Arts, NY in 1999 and his MFA in painting from UCLA in 2008. His work has been shown primarily in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Atlanta. His paintings are in the collections of the High Museum, the Ballinglen Museum of Fine Art, and the West Collection. Britton’s work has been reviewed in Art in America and the LA Times, among others. Britton has had solo shows at Marcia Wood Gallery in Atlanta, Ruth Bachofner Gallery in Santa Monica, and Frederieke Taylor Gallery in New York, among others. He is a recipient of the Chiaro Award in painting, an Artist-in-Residence at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito, CA, a recipient of an Artist Fellowship from the Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Ballycastle, Ireland, and a J.B. Blunk Residency from the Lucid Art Foundation in Inverness, CA. He teaches painting at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA.

Melissa Harshman, Professor of Art

Melissa Harshman received her MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1992. She has taught at the Lamar Dodd School of Art since 1993. She was awarded a University of Georgia Senior Faculty Research Grant in 2019 titled “Explorations in Papermaking”. She was one of the inaugural Art Lab Fellowship recipients from the University of Georgia for 2022/23 focusing on papermaking wall installations. Exhibitions include a “When Print Meets Paper” and “Sustainability in Chaos: NAHP 2023 Juried Exhibition” both at the Robert C. Williams Papermaking Museum in Atlanta, GA, “Paper and Print: Mixing It Up”, a solo exhibition at PaperWorkers Local Gallery in Birmingham, AL, as well as "New Altitudes” the juried NAHP members exhibition shown at the University of Denver. Upcoming exhibitions include “Cut/Fold/Press” at the Craft Alliance in St. Louis, MO. She was on the panel titled “Considering the Environment of Print and Paper” at the Mid-America Print Council Conference in Manhattan, KS in 2024. She displayed work at the Impact 12 International Printmaking Conference in Bristol, England in September of 2022. She completed the Denbo Fellowship at Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center in Hyattsville, MD focusing on handmade paper as well as the Fall Concentration in papermaking at Penland School of Crafts in 2023. Her work can be seen at melissaharshman.com.

Barbara Mann, Instructor of Jewelry & Metalworks

Barbara Mann has 50 years of experience as a metal and jewelry artist and educator. She holds an MFA and BFA from the University of Georgia where she taught for many years in the Lamar Dodd School of Art and with the Continuing Education Program. She has taught in Italy, Costa Rica, and at many schools, arts centers, and museums. She has an extensive exhibition record and is in several museum collections, exhibition catalogs, contemporary jewelry and metalwork books, and art magazines. As a studio artist, she has created artwork for a wide range of clients such as universities, state governments, airlines, the Olympics, banks, civic organizations, and private collectors. Recently she has completed a collection of work in fulfillment of a Georgia Sea Grant and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) grant focused on the marine carbon cycle. For details, see BarbaraMannStudio.com

 
Spring 2026 Session
Mickey Oscar Boyd headshot
Mickey Oscar Boyd, Academic Professional Associate

Mickey Boyd is a sculptor and printmaker based in Athens, Georgia. Originally from central Colorado, his practice is grounded in formative experiences working in his father's shop and appreciating the big sky of his family's home. He uses his history of working in the trades and construction as a sculptural language for interpreting the consequences of the developmental model of the built environment in the United States. He earned his MFA in Studio Art at the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia in 2023 and holds a BFA in Sculpture and Printmaking from Metropolitan State University of Denver, in Denver, Colorado.

Diane Edison, Professor Emerita of Art

Professor Emerita Diane Edison received her MFA from the University of Pennsylvania in 1986 and her BFA from The School of Visual Arts, NYC NY 1976. Edison’s visual investigations have centered on portraiture, with an emphasis on the autobiographical. Edison creates her work using color pencil on black paper. Her images are thematically narrative in presentation and psychological in nature. Edison received her first teaching post in 1990, has been a member of the faculty at the Lamar Dodd School of Art since 1992 and was promoted to full Professor in 1999. She served as Associate Director of the School from 1997–1999. In 2002 Professor Edison was elected to a four-year term on the 25-member board of the College Art Association. In 2005 she was elected to the executive, Finance and Budget Committee of the CAA serving as Vice President for Committees, chairing the Nominating Committee. In 2008 her college textbook, Dynamic Color Painting for the Beginner was published by Harry Abrams in New York City and simultaneously with Laurence King Ltd in the United Kingdom. The Spanish language edition was printed in 2009 and the Chinese language 2015. Professor Edison has been represented by The George Adams Gallery in NYC NY since 1995. Her New York exhibitions have also included the Forum Gallery, the DC Moore Gallery and the Tatischef Gallery. Edison’s work has been exhibited internationally at the American Embassies of Moscow Russia, N’Djamena, Chad, and her collaborative work with the artist Mel Chin and the GALA Committee was shown at the museum of contemporary Art in LA and the KwangJu Biennale in South Korea. Ms Edison’s exhibitions have been reviewed by The New York Times, The New Yorker magazine, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Philadelphia Enquirer, Art News and the St. Louis Dispatch. Reproductions of her artwork were featured twice in Artists Magazine. Additionally Professor Edison is published in Who’s Who in American Art, Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the world.