Bristol Art Museum Announces Winter and Spring 2026 Classes and Workshops

BRISTOL, Rhode Island — The Bristol Art Museum announces a diverse lineup of winter and spring 2026 classes and workshops designed for artists of all experience levels. From watercolor, oil, and acrylic painting to illustration, fiber arts, and alternative photographic processes, these in-person offerings provide opportunities for both beginners and experienced artists to develop skills, explore new media, and connect with a creative community.

All classes will be held at the Museum, 10 Wardwell Street, and feature instruction by accomplished regional artists. Museum members receive discounted registration, and advance enrollment is required. For additional information or questions, visit the Museum’s website or email classes@bristolartmuseum.org.

Watercolor for Beginners (& up) with Lana Quann, The Wandering Brush: Watercolor Animals
Thursday, January 15, 2026 | 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
$50 Members / $55 Non-members
In this beginner course, participants will review and practice techniques for painting animals with watercolor. The class covers selecting references, transferring images to paper, and building layers from soft fur to more complex textures, as well as shaping faces through shading and creating expressive, glimmering eyes. Background choices will also be explored.

Those interested in this class may register here.

Watercolor for Beginners (& up) with Lana Quann, The Wandering Brush: Pigment Ratios
Thursday, January 22, 2026 | 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
$50 Members / $55 Non-members
Master the water to pigment ratios in watercolor painting. The biggest challenge in watercolor is knowing and using the proper mixture of watercolor paint and water. This class teaches an easy "tea, milk, honey" process to build confidence and a better understanding of the medium. The class will include mixing and applying varied thicknesses of paints onto hot and cold press paper. It will start with simple shapes to watch how the paint reacts on paper, then transition to a more complex painting of when each application should be used. Brush work is also a focus of this workshop.
Those interested in this class may register here.

Oil and Acrylic Painting with Bill McLane
Fridays, February 20, 27, March 6, and 13 | 1 to 3 p.m.
Fees: $140 Members/ $180 Non-Members
In this course, students will focus on creating a sense of place. They will learn to simplify their paintings by editing and enhancing colors, shapes, and forms. Students will also learn more about two kinds of perspective, atmospheric and linear, and how to apply them to gain a three-dimensional space in their paintings.

Those interested in this class may register here.

Illustrated Storybooks with Emily Johnson
Saturdays, January 31, February 7, 14, and 21, 2026 | 1 to 4 p.m.
Fees: $140 Members/ $180 Non-Members
Have an idea for a children’s book that has been waiting to take shape? This action-packed four-week class guides participants through memory mining and brainstorming story ideas, writing a rough draft, and illustrating their stories. The course explores which ideas work best for children’s books, how text and illustration work together on the page, and the creation of a book dummy with three finished, illustrated pages. Projects may be completed using either digital or traditional media. Participants should bring traditional art supplies of their choice, including paper, pencils, and coloring mediums.

Those interested in this class may register here.

Wool Needle Felting with Patricia Ward
Friday, February 6, 2026 | 12:30 to 4 p.m.
Fees: $55 Members / $75 Non-Members
Fees: $30 Fee Payable to Instructor on Day of Workshop
Learn the basic principles of wool needle felting in this introductory workshop. No prior experience is necessary. Each participant will be provided with all of the required materials, including helpful resources for purchasing wool roving for further projects. To learn the basic techniques of felting, participants will begin by making a wool tree with a natural birch base. Once the first project is completed, participants will create two mushrooms atop a mossy mound nestled in a terra cotta clay pot. All participants will take home their two completed projects and all the necessary materials to embark on their own creative journey.

Materials included within supply fee are: 8 x 10 x 2 dense foam felting pad, 2 wooden holders for needles; smaller one holds 1 needle, larger one can hold from 1-8 needles, 2 finger protectors, 30 felting needles in 3 assorted sizes, including needle bottles, small scissor snippers, case to hold needle felting tools, birch base and stem for felted tree, terra cotta clay pot for felted mushrooms, and wool roving.

Those interested in this class may register here.

Pysanky - Slavic Decorated Easter Eggs with Hanka Robertson
Saturday, March 21, 2026 | 1 to 3 p.m.
Fees: $55 Members / $65 Non-Members

Pysanky (pee-san-key) are decorated eggs created by using a wax resist (similar to batik) method with traditional folk motifs and designs. In this workshop, students will learn how to draw on a whole plain white chicken egg with a special pen (kistka) and melted wax, then dye the egg with special dyes. The drawing and dyeing are repeated several times as each layer of the design is applied until the egg is finished, at which time the egg is blown out, the wax removed, and a ribbon is threaded through. All supplies are provided. Students will receive an egg to work on and a kistka to use. They will share the dyes and other supplies. They will also receive a short history of Pysanky, instructions with an explanation of the process, motifs and pictures for design inspiration, an explanation of caring for the completed egg, and a container in which to take the egg home.

The teacher, Hanka Robertson, was born in Slovenia and, as a child, learned to make Pysanky from her mother, who was born and grew up in the former Czechoslovaki, where making Pysanky every Easter time was a tradition. The workshop lasts 2 hours and starts promptly at the scheduled time. Children aged 8 and over are welcome, but children under the age of 13 must be accompanied by a participating adult.

Those interested in this class may register here.

Magic Colors & Flowers: Silk Painting Workshop with Lidia Mikhaylova
Saturday, April 25, 2026 | 1 to 4 p.m.
Fees: $85 Members / $95 Non-Members

Do you want to explore your creative side? Do you want to experiment with colors without fear of making a mistake? Come join me in this easy, magical, and relaxing adventure into the world of freedom and creativity, after which you will get a masterpiece created by your own hands.

We aren’t going to learn how to paint or try complex techniques but observe how the paint lives and reacts on the fabric, directing it wherever our imagination wants the paint to go. During this master class, you will tap into your creativity and grow your unique Flower, a symbol of feminine beauty and divine blessing.

Those interested in this class may register here.

Introduction to Cyanotype with Kim Arthurs
Saturday, May 2, 2026 | 1 to 2:30 p.m.
Fees: $35 Members / $45 Non-Members

Join Providence-based artist Kim Arthurs (@moonersmakes) in a hands-on Intro to Cyanotype workshop. A cyanotype is a historical, alternative photographic blueprint process that uses ultraviolet light-sensitive iron salts, and produces a negative of an object or image through contact-printing, typically using sunlight as the source of exposure, and developing the image in water. In this workshop, students will learn the history and science of the cyanotype, and make their own 5"x7" (x2) cyanotype print. The first 5"x7" print will be pre-treated with cyanotype solution by Kim, and ready to be printed in this workshop. The second 5"x7" print will be blank, and treated with cyanotype solution by the student during the workshop for them to make a second print on their own at home after this workshop. Students will have access to an assortment of locally foraged botanicals to choose from for their cyanotype print, and are also welcome to bring their own botanicals/materials to create their composition. Students will first create their composition on pre-treated 5"x7" paper, then print their cyanotype using ultraviolet light, wash their print, and let it dry. Once dry, the cyanotype print is complete and archived. Next, students will learn how to treat their own paper with cyanotype solution. Students will then have a new 5"x7" cyanotype that is ready to be printed with whenever they are ready to make their second print at home, after this workshop.

Those interested in this class may register here.

Advanced Cyanotype with Kim Arthurs
Saturday, May 9, 2026 | 1 to 4 p.m.
Fees: $45 Members / $65 Non-Members

Join Providence-based artist, Kim Arthurs, for an Advanced Cyanotype workshop! A cyanotype is a historical, alternative photographic blueprint process that uses ultraviolet light-sensitive iron salts, and produces a negative of an object or image through contact-printing, typically using sunlight as the source of exposure, and developing the image in water.

In this workshop, students will expand their knowledge and understanding on the cyanotype process by learning new techniques with the art of cyanotype. Students will first create and print their own 8"x10" Wet Cyanotype for 2.5 hours. During this extended printing process, students will prep and create a double exposure cyanotype using their own pre-made cyanotype print, and will have an hour at the end of class to add mixed media to their own Cyanotypes brought from home. Participants are asked to bring a lunch or snack since this class is on the longer side, with opportunity for downtime (3 hours). Students are also asked to bring one pre-made cyanotype print of their own for double exposure, and 1-5 pre-made cyanotype prints of their own for adding mixed media to. Students are welcome to bring their own crafting/collage/mixed media materials and objects to print with, but the instructor will also provide these materials.

Intro to Cyanotype is encouraged but not required for this workshop.

Those interested in this class may register here.