Summer Visual Art Academy

visual art academy student sculpting with clay

Summer Visual  Art Academy is an intensive visual arts program for students from grades 6鈥�12. Our faculty of professional Alaskan visual artists will teach classes in Cartooning, Ceramics, Craft of Sewing, Digital Design, Drawing and Design, Metalsmithing, Painting/Mixed Media, Photography, and Printmaking.

Costs are $650.00 for full time students (students take four classes per day) or $375.00 for half-time students (students take two classes per day). Each class is 105 minutes long, five days a week (Monday - Friday) for two weeks.

Classes begin at 8:30 am and are over at 4:30 pm. Students will select their preferred areas of interest and will be assigned to classes prior to the beginning of the academy.

Students who wish to focus more time in any area (i.e., metalsmithing) may request full mornings or afternoons in that area. Beginning and advanced levels will be offered for each course. Register early for best selection of classes.  

Visual Art Academy will be held June 5-16, 2023. We are asking faculty, staff and students to stay home if they are sick or if they have been exposed to a person who has tested positive for Covid-19.

Please direct any questions you have regarding the program to: uaf-vaa@alaska.edu

Registration for 2023 VAA is now open. Register

If your child attended VAA last year, you will be sent a registration link when it opens. Otherwise, please check back here in April for a new registration link. 

If your child attended VAA in the past a profile already exists. All you need to do is update that information. Otherwise, please follow the process for registration as follows:

  1. Create a profile for your child
  2. Click Registration and Register for a New Session
  3. Select the grade the child will enter next fall and click Continue
  4. Choose one of the available options 
    •    VAA Full-Day (8:30 am - 4:30 pm)
    •    VAA Half-Day AM (8:30 am - 12:10 pm)
    •    VAA Half-Day PM (12:50 pm - 4:30 pm)
  5. Continue with the registration

IMPORTANT: The VAA questionnaire under the Health Profile contains the class preferences, which are needed to schedule students for their classes. PLEASE fill that out ASAP.

All information in that section needs to be filled out as well.

Courses

  • Cartooning
    Sequential drawing and character design for animation and visual storytelling.
  • Ceramics
    Students create hand-thrown and hand-built clay artworks and pottery.
  • Craft of Sewing
    Sewing basics and beyond, a brief intro to fashion and design.
  • Digital Design
    This course is an interdisciplinary Makerspace, using digital tools for virtual reality, 3D printing, laser engraving, and design.
  • Drawing and Design
    Fundamental techniques of drawing and design using traditional and new materials.
  • Metalsmithing
    Using metalsmithing techniques, students create objects and jewelry in copper, brass and silver.
  • Painting/Mixed Media
    Students learn traditional and contemporary painting techniques while working on composition studies and mixed media projects.
  • Photography
    An exciting class that teaches the foundations of photography using cell phone cameras.
  • Printmaking
    Students create relief and other works using traditional printing presses.

Forms