July 12 - 30, 2027
Monday - Friday
9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
From Poetry to Painting is an intensive summer college art program for high school students that invites you to explore your artistic potential on a college campus, surrounded by peers who share your passion for visual expression. You'll engage in a college-level curriculum led by artists who have an active practice and exhibit their work. You will paint, draw, design, and experiment in a state-of-the-art studio space, developing your artistic voice and preparing work that can accompany college applications.
This is primarily a drawing and painting course. Through critiques, workshops, collaborative projects, and mentorship, you'll sharpen your technical skills, conceptual thinking, and visual confidence in a setting designed for ambitious creators. And upon successful completion, you'll walk away with three college credits!
A hallmark of a Sarah Lawrence is the ability to learn multiple disciplines at the same time. So, you will also take a poetry workshop each week, taught by an expert from the Writing Institute or MFA Writing program. These workshops are generative and ekphrastic – they will include reading and discussion centered around image through the lens of poetry, and you’ll write your own poems. You will develop an ability to analyze poetry and reflect on art in poetic form – and use your poetry as the inspiration for your visual art!
Whether you’re preparing for college applications, looking for something out of the ordinary, or simply eager to grow as an artist, this program provides the structure, challenge, and inspiration you need to take your work — and your artistic goals — to the next level.
You will also take a trip into New York City and explore the galleries and learn about the current art scene, led by one of Sarah Lawrence faculty, who is also a practicing artist.
Students in From Poetry to Painting will:
- Earn three (3) transferable college credits
- Gain hands-on experience that is impossible to get in high school
- Prepare for college by experiencing a rigorous college-level course in an exciting artistic environment
- Take an interdisciplinary course and discover how other disciplines can inform their art
- Create portfolio-ready work
- Meet like-minded students and be part of an artistic community that will support the development of stronger work
- Receive personalized feedback (maximum 13 students per instructor)
- Develop critical thinking skills as they learn to critique their own work and the work of others and develop their unique creative voice
- Visit art galleries and learn about the art scene in New York City
- Present their work in an exhibition on the last day of class, which friends and family can visit
It is important to note that this is not an art camp. It is a three-week, daily studio class where the bar is set high and where everyone is expected to have a serious commitment to art making both in and after class (for homework). This rigorous environment makes it exciting for everyone participating to learn together.
