Educational Policies

Workshop & Class Policies

To register for workshops & classes at the Providence Art Club, please contact Education Coordinator Saman Sajasi at saman@providenceartclub.org.

If you are not a member, and you are interested in membership, please contact Julia Johnstone in Membership Services to find out how to become a member.

Workshop & Class Enrollment

Workshop & Class size is limited and enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis. Providence Art Club members will have the first opportunity to enroll, after which enrollment will be opened to the general public. If enrollment maximum is reached, you may add your name to a wait list. The Art Club strives to provide the highest quality art classes in various media.

• All courses and workshops must be offered to Club members at least two weeks in advance of being offered to non-members (assuming space still exists).

• Members will be billed for each class they register for.

• Portrait and Figure Class students will be charged an additional model fee.

• If space allows, spouses/partners of members will be given preference over other non-members and will pay a $50 surcharge on the member cost of the course or workshop. (class fee, model fee, and materials fee still apply).

Cancellation Policy

In the event you are unable to attend a workshop you have registered for, please contact Saman Sajasi. The Providence Art Club may find it necessary to cancel a workshop due to low enrollment or other scheduling conflicts. If this occurs, registered members will be contacted and refunded the full course fee.

• A course failing to meet an enrollment threshold will be cancelled at least one week before it is scheduled to begin.

The Club will provide as much advance notice as possible to instructors and students of a course at risk and will work with the instructor to promote the offering.

• Members in any cancelled courses will not be charged on their Club account.

• Non-member student fees collected for any cancelled course will be fully refunded.

Student Withdrawal Policy

In the event you need to withdraw from a course you have registered for, please contact Saman Sajasi. 

• Members may withdraw from a course up to two weeks before a course begins with no penalty by notifying the Education Coordinator in writing. Members and non-members withdrawing within two-weeks of the start or after the start will be charged for the full course.

Club members who must withdraw from a course within two weeks of its start or while it is in progress (due to compelling personal reasons) may appeal for a refund by explaining the circumstances in writing or in person to the Education Coordinator.

• The Club will not prorate any classes missed by students.

• The Club will not prorate any classes cancelled by an instructor but will make every effort to arrange for a make-up.

• Non-members must pay in full before the start date of a course.

Non-Member Access and Pricing

If you are not a member, and you are interested in membership, please contact Julia Johnstone in Membership Services to find out how to become a member.

• Non-members may take only two regular-term/daytime courses (10 or 5 weeks), after which they will need to join the Club to participate in similar courses in the future.

• Past members of the Club may enroll in no more than two courses as non-members after which they must rejoin the Club. Past members seeking to teach at the Club will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

• Regular-term (10-week)/daytime courses may have no more than 33% of their
enrollment filled by non-members. Regular-term (5-week)/daytime courses may have no more than 50% of their enrollment filled by non-members.

• Non-members will not be similarly restricted for evening and Sunday classes or workshops. They may take as many of these (at non-member rates) as they wish. Their names will be forwarded to the Membership Committee for outreach.

Class Orientation & Guidelines

The education committee organizes weekly art classes from September to June in pastels, oil, watercolor, charcoal, and printmaking. Classes are billed through your Club account. A notice of these classes is sent via email and posted on our website. These classes held in the Art Club studios are available to all members of the Providence Art Club at a modest fee and are utilized by professional artists and novices alike. The minimum number of students for any class to run is 8. The Education Committee will be changing out, varying classes, and instructors on the schedule from quarter to quarter to best meet the needs of the members.

Class Guidelines

1) All work must be original. No copies, direct or partial, will be allowed in exhibitions. In consideration of the copyright infringement laws, please use only those photographs that you or another student personally have taken as reference for work to be created. In addition, work produced from an instructor’s demonstration, or otherwise under direct instruction, will not be eligible for exhibition with the exception of the annual student exhibit. If after being installed, work is found to be not eligible, it will be removed. If you have any concerns regarding eligibility, please discuss with the Gallery Manager. Common sense should prevail. Using one’s own photos for reference avoids copyright issues and usually results in more original and personal work.

2) Reference photographs (with model and instructor consent) may be taken of a model in costume and also during a portrait painting/drawing class only. Photographing the model during a life drawing/painting class is not permissible. Work created from published photographs may not be submitted for exhibition.

3) In consideration of everyone - please be mindful of the time that your class begins. If you must miss more than one class, please notify your instructor. Please be mindful of classes that have a size limit and probable waiting list when signing up if you know in advance that you are going to miss more than 2 classes. Please consider taking the class at a later date.

4) Due to the full schedule of classes, it is important that all items including artwork and personal belongings be removed in a timely fashion prior to the next class beginning. It can be very disruptive to the next class and instructor for those not in the class to come back into the studio.

5) At the end of a class, please survey the surrounding area and make sure you take home any toxic trash materials and place other trash into the appropriate receptacle. The Providence Art Club will not be held responsible for items left behind.

6) Toxins and Pigment/Solvent Trash: only gamasol and other non- toxic mediums/solvents may be used in the classroom.

Vegetable or baby oil are good for cleanup--- NO TURPS PLEASE. Refer to posted information in the studio regarding solvents. Under no circumstances are any solvents to be poured down the studio sink or brushes with oil paint or oil printmaking inks to be cleaned in the sink. Students must take home and dispose of any materials used in cleanup that contain toxic pigments or solvents of any type. The club does not have a system in place to dispose of toxic art materials. Many pigments even certain watercolor colors are made from hazardous ingredients… please be mindful of the proper safe handling of any potential hazardous material. Bring small plastic bags for collection of your toxic trash as you work and take home for disposal.

7) Under no circumstances are members or their guests to criticize, reprimand, or chastise Club employees either in public or privately. Any suggestions, observations, or criticisms concerning Club personnel should be brought to the attention of the General Manager.

8) If you have a problem, criticisms, or observation about any class or instructor, please contact one of the co-chairs of the Education Committee so any concerns can be addressed through the proper channels.

9) Cancellation policy: (Weather, etc) Call the Club’s answering machine to see if a cancellation message has been posted. An email will be sent to all members if the Club is closed due to inclement weather.

If you have any questions about these guidelines, please contact the co-chairs of the Education Committee – Scott Simmons or Nickerson Miles. Thank you.

Studio Etiquette Guidelines

Masiello Studio Guidelines:

THIS STUDIO SPACE BELONGS TO EACH MEMBER OF THE ART CLUB. STRIVE TO LEAVE THE STUDIO SPACE IN CLEANER, BETTER SHAPE THAN YOU FOUND IT. IF EACH PERSON USING THE STUDIO FOLLOWS THESE GUIDELINES, THE STUDIO WILL CONTINUE TO BE A WELCOMING, THRIVING SPACE FOR YEARS TO COME.

 

Cleanliness -­‐

Regardless of how you found the equipment, leave your space, easel, and paint table spotless. This may mean cleaning your area and equipment several times to remove all inks, paints, pastel residue or oily films on surfaces. There will be bottles of cleaning products and paper towels provided by the club at the sink area. Please use these or products you bring from home to clean the equipment you have used.

Painters: if you place a piece of foil wrap over the easel support bar under your canvas – this will protect that part of the easel from getting covered with paint making cleanup easier, faster. If you use a trick such as that will help keep the equipment clean for the next class, please share.

"PACK IT IN, PACK IT OUT” Policy --

This means whatever paint or solvent you’ve brought into the studio, when you clean up at the end of working – you will take home with any paint soiled rag or paper products.The reasons for this policy: products containing residue from paints and solvents if disposed of at the club:

1. This opens the club up to much stricter and expensive guidelines from various state and federal agencies.

2. The potential for plumbing issues and unpleasant odors from any of these residues clogging the pipes. Consider 40-­‐60 or more artists each week washing residue down the sink to understand the scope of this issue.

ALL RAG OR PAPER TOWEL PRODUCTS WITH ANY PAINT OR SOLVENT ON THEM MUST BE TAKEN HOME. You WILL NOT CLEAN your oil paint brushes in the club sink but wrap in plastic wrap or bags to clean at home. The club will try to keep a supply of plastic wrap and bags available for use in the studio. Please consider contributing clean small plastic bags (ones from grocery & other stores) to the supply.

If using acrylic paint – you will get as much paint off your brushes onto towels or rags as possible then and only then finish cleaning in a container of water. If your cleanup water is not full of slurry, then you may pour down the studio sink. When your paint water is full of pigment slurry, then take your water container home and dispose of there.

Order --

Please at the end of class, return any equipment (chair, tray table, and lightweight easel) to the storage closet if you are physically able. Please also return these to their designated areas in the closet.

Replace --

When you see something that needs replacing or resupplying or you feel just plain needed, please consider contributing this to our studio.

Thoughtfulness --

Please be thoughtful when handling the equipment. If you do not know how to handle a piece of equipment, wait and ask for assistance from staff, instructor, or a knowledgeable fellow artist. If you find or break a piece of equipment, please let your instructor or a club staff person know, so it can be fixed or replaced.

Please be aware of what you can do in the studio to help maintain it. Seb, Roy, our maintenance, and service staffs are amazing, but not super-human. Each of us needs to do our part to keep the studio spaces clean and thriving.

Figure Drawing Code of Conduct

Professionalism is expected of all students at all times in their behavior toward figure models.

• DO NOT invade the model's personal space. This includes sitting on the model stand any time the model is on it, five feet away is a good starting point. Always ask for permission to work in close proximity to the model stand if required for observational detail. Avoid prolonged eye contact with the model.

• DO NOT touch the model, NO exceptions.

• DO NOT photograph the model and do not ask the model if you can take a picture. The use of cameras (including cell phone cameras and PDA’s) and photography is NOT permitted in studios using draped or undraped figure models, unless the figure model has granted written permission in advance. Ask your instructor if the model allows photos.

• DO NOT chat with the model when he/she is modeling. Conversation is distracting for the model and your fellow artists. Students should be ready to work when the figure model takes the pose that has been determined by the instructor. It is impolite to continue talking or to not work while the figure model is on the stand posing.

• DO NOT make comments about the model's body. Students should refrain from making comments regarding the body type, features or the personality of the figure model that could be interpreted as derogatory or racially condescending.

• DO NOT address the figure model directly regarding the pose that the instructor has determined. When students suspect that a figure model has not correctly resumed the pose or shifted out of the pose, they should inform the instructor. It is recommended that students first verify that it is not their perspective of the pose that has changed such as a shift in their view of the figure model. If the instructor asks for feedback from students about correction of a pose, students should address the figure model in a professional manner.

• DO NOT ask the model personal questions such as their last name, where they live, etc. and do not ask them out on a date.

• DO NOT allow non-artists to wander through the room. Unauthorized visitors are not permitted in studios when an undraped figure model is posing.

• DO discuss concerns related to the figure modeling session with the Instructor privately. Such concerns might include the figure model’s inability to hold a pose, excessive breaks taken by the figure model, or students being rude or not working while the figure model is posing.

• DO make sure the model is warm and as comfortable as possible.

• DO maintain friendly and polite interactions with figure models while on break. Figure models may want to look at student work to assist them in their posing.

• DO thank your model profusely for participating in the art making process.

COVID-19 Policies