Flowering: Art History & Arrangement

with Maddie Reyna

June 7, 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

Tuition: $100

Materials Fee: $30

Create a living sculpture with florals while considering foundational historical floral styles including Dutch Baroque, Ikebana, and contemporary movements. Participants will experiment with vessel armature techniques such as wire mesh, pin frog, and tape grid. Local flowers from White Barn Flower Farm in Holland, Michigan, will be provided to each participant, and after demonstration, arranging, and group discussion, they will take their ephemeral arrangement home. For a full-day making experience, during which you will make a painting of your floral arrangement, sign up for the second part of this workshop, Still Life Painting led by James Brandess!

Plan to bring: A vessel, garden shears, garden gloves, a box to transport your arrangement.

Maddie Reyna is an American painter who began arranging flowers as a way to have live subjects for her work. That practice has come to stand alone as she applies considerations of color, form, and composition to three-dimensional organic matter. She has a Masters in Painting and Drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, studied at The Flower School of New York, designs flower arrangements for brides and other party throwers in Chicago, and is the Academic Program Director for Ox-Bow School of Art.

Sketching in Steel

with Nick Fagan

June 14, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Tuition: $200

Materials Fee: $30

Learn the basics of welding, bending, and cutting metal in Ox-Bow’s metals studio. We will translate a simple drawing of your own design into steel. Technical demonstrations will include hot and cold bending, modular construction, welding, and surface- finishing strategies. You will quickly gain the know-how to safely use equipment in the Metals Studio! This course is suitable for all levels of experience. Leave with a great sculpture and heightened confidence after one day in the shop. 

Plan to bring: Wear cotton long sleeves and pants, closed toed shoes or boots, and tie back long hair. Safety gear, steel, and other metals will be provided.

Nick Fagan is a multimedia artist based in Cape Cod. He is the Manager of the Metals Studio at Ox-Bow School of Art. His studios have been based in Virginia and Michigan for the past four years. He has exhibited work in a number of galleries and shows across the United States, most recently the Egg Collective in New York, Massey Klein Gallery in New York, Tops Gallery in Memphis, Tennessee, as well as the Seattle Art Fair with FFT, and Future Art Fair with ADA Gallery. He has been awarded fellowships and residencies from the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, the MASS MoCA Studio Program and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. His work has been featured or reviewed in a number of publications, including Burnaway, NPR, Divergents Magazine, New American Paintings, and The Rib. Awards include a Kennedy VSA Artists with Disabilities Award, and Foundation of Contemporary Art Grant. He received his MFA in sculpture from Ohio State University in 2017.

MIG Welding for Artists

with Mark Schentzel

June 28, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Tuition: $200

Materials Fee: $20

Learn the basics of MIG welding in Ox-Bow's metals studio to use in creative projects including sculptural and wall based work of small or large scale. We will start with a safety and metals shop orientation and review MIG welding equipment and other tools and materials necessary for processing weldments. No previous experience in welding or metal working is needed. Demonstrations will emphasize making structurally sound welds and understanding different weldment positions and joints. This course is designed to provide you with a valuable new skillset to take to the studio or job force.

Plan to bring: Wear cotton long sleeves and pants, closed toed shoes or boots, and tie back long hair. Safety gear will be provided.

Mark Schentzel (he/ him) holds a BFA in Sculpture and Functional Art from Kendall College of Art and Design. He received the program’s Sculpture Excellence Award. Mark appreciates the craft school experience and has attended workshops at Ox Bow School for the Arts, Penland School of Craft, and Peters Valley Craft Education Center. He has over 25 years of welding and custom metal fabrication experience and is co-founder of EA-Craftworks in Grand Rapids, Michigan; a custom metal shop providing unique metal works in Michigan and surrounding areas. Mark has taught welding workshops for the past 10 years and is currently diversifying to explore additional instructional opportunities in the areas of sculpture, welding, and metal fabrication. Mark's large-scale public sculptures in Michigan and the Midwest carry notions of surrealism through process, material identity, sustainability considerations, and infrastructure issues.

Glass Paperweights and Terrariums

with Rachel Brace

July 5, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Tuition: $200

Materials Fee: $30

During this one day class, you'll learn how to navigate the hot shop and manipulate hot molten glass. The morning will focus on creating a glass paperweight, using different traditional techniques, and exploring color applications. In the afternoon we will build on our new skills and glass adventures by learning to blow bubbles in glass to create terrariums. We will finish out our terrariums with found materials such as driftwood. 

Plan to bring: a piece of driftwood and/or other organic materials for your terrarium, close toed shoes, natural material clothes.

Centrifugal Glass Casting

with Eli Zilke

August 2, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Tuition: $200

Materials Fee: $30

In this exciting one-day workshop in Ox-Bow's glass studio, students will use a series of sand molds assisted by a potter's wheel and embellished by found objects to make bowl shaped sculptural collages out of glass. As a team, we will ladle molten glass into the molds and use the potter’s wheel to pull the glass up the molds using centrifugal force. Students can expect to make 3-4 glass bowls throughout the day. 

Plan to bring: Students are encouraged to bring their own small textural found objects for the impressions but there will also be plenty provided for class use.

Eli Zilke started blowing glass in 2005 at the age of 12 after being accepted into the “Fired Up” afterschool program at Water Street Glassworks. From 2005 until 2013, Zilke studied closely under glass artist/educator Jerry Catania. In 2013, Zilke co-founded “Hot Shop Valpo” a production design studio in Northwest Indiana. From 2013-2018, Zilke worked for HSV as the head glassblower/designer, during this tenure the studio installed several large scale public installations in hospitals, banks, universities, and public spaces as well as had production lines in several galleries throughout the Midwest. In 2018, Zilke returned to Water Street Glassworks as the core instructor and studio manager and currently holds the “studio lead” position.

Garden & Landscape Art

with Mark Schentzel

August 9, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Tuition: $200

Materials Fee: $30

Learn the basics of steel welding and other metal fabrication processes in Ox-Bow's metals studio in order to design and create a stunning outdoor sculpture. We will talk aesthetics, structure, and consider the function and longevity of your designs. Fabricate your sculpture using the studio's scrap bin, or bring your own steel.  No previous metals experience is required.

Plan to bring: Wear cotton long sleeves and pants, closed toed shoes or boots, and tie back long hair. Safety gear will be provided.

Mark Schentzel (he/ him) holds a BFA in Sculpture and Functional Art from Kendall College of Art and Design. He received the program’s Sculpture Excellence Award. Mark appreciates the craft school experience and has attended workshops at Ox Bow School for the Arts, Penland School of Craft, and Peters Valley Craft Education Center. He has over 25 years of welding and custom metal fabrication experience and is co-founder of EA-Craftworks in Grand Rapids, Michigan; a custom metal shop providing unique metal works in Michigan and surrounding areas. Mark has taught welding workshops for the past 10 years and is currently diversifying to explore additional instructional opportunities in the areas of sculpture, welding, and metal fabrication. Mark's large-scale public sculptures in Michigan and the Midwest carry notions of surrealism through process, material identity, sustainability considerations, and infrastructure issues.

Flowering: Art History & Arrangement

with Maddie Reyna

August 23, 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

Tuition: $100

Materials Fee: $30

Create a living sculpture with florals while considering foundational historical floral styles including Dutch Baroque, Ikebana, and contemporary movements. Participants will experiment with vessel armature techniques such as wire mesh, pin frog, and tape grid. Local flowers from White Barn Flower Farm in Holland, Michigan, will be provided to each participant, and after demonstration, arranging, and group discussion, they will take their ephemeral arrangement home. For a full-day making experience, during which you will make a painting of your floral arrangement, sign up for the second part of this workshop, Still Life Painting led by James Brandess!

Plan to bring: A vessel, garden shears, garden gloves, a box to transport your arrangement.

Maddie Reyna is an American painter who began arranging flowers as a way to have live subjects for her work. That practice has come to stand alone as she applies considerations of color, form, and composition to three-dimensional organic matter. She has a Masters in Painting and Drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, studied at The Flower School of New York, designs flower arrangements for brides and other party throwers in Chicago, and is the Academic Program Director for Ox-Bow School of Art.

Autumnal Arrangements

with Maddie Reyna

September 27, 10:00–1:00 p.m.

Tuition: $100

Materials Fee: $30

Create a festive centerpiece with autumnal florals and other organic materials while considering foundational historical floral styles including Dutch Baroque, Ikebana, and contemporary movements. Participants will experiment with vessel armature techniques such as wire mesh, pin frog, and tape grid. Local flowers from White Barn Flower Farm in Holland, Michigan, will be provided to each participant, and after demonstration, arranging, and group discussion, they will take their ephemeral arrangement home.

Plan to bring: A vessel, garden shears, garden gloves, a box to transport your arrangement.

Maddie Reyna is an American painter who began arranging flowers as a way to have live subjects for her work. That practice has come to stand alone as she applies considerations of color, form, and composition to three-dimensional organic matter. She has a Masters in Painting and Drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, studied at The Flower School of New York, designs flower arrangements for brides and other party throwers in Chicago, and is the Education Director for Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency.

Introduction to Basket Weaving

with Dee Clements

September 27, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Tuition: $200

Materials Fee: $30

In this six-hour session, you'll learn to create a small, round woven basket from start to finish, including how to begin the base, build the side walls, use two basic weaving techniques, and finish with a border or rim. No prior experience is necessary and each participant will be able to bring their basket and reed home.

Plan to bring: All materials are provided.

Dee Clements (she/her) is a process-based artist with interests in materials, craft, and ethnography. She holds an MFA in 3D Design from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a BFA in Fiber and Materials Studies and Sculpture from the School of The Art Institute of Chicago. She has shown her sculptural basketry work in galleries and art fairs internationally, and in 2025, she started The Weaving Workshop in Chicago, an artist-run workshop school that provides quality art education and creative skill development in basketry, off-loom weaving, and fiber crafts.