Art courses offered at Penn State Fayette
Patrick Daugherty, area artist and educator, will teach two six-week art courses, Painting in Oils and Acrylics and Drawing from Life Course, at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus. Painting In Oils and Acrylics will begin April 27 and end June 1. The Drawing from Life Course will start on April 28 and end on June 2. Daugherty said he believes the area has many talented artists, or at least potential artists.
“It’s true. It has been my experience that the Fayette County area has an abundance of talented, creative people,” Daugherty said. “The only obstacle for many is finding the time to develop their talents.”
To provide some time for budding artists, a new schedule of six-week art classes will start in late April. Daugherty is once again offering a painting class and a drawing class.
“I was very happy by the response to the last group of art classes I offered though the Continuing Education Department at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus,” he said.
The instructor said that it is always gratifying to see his students making progress in developing their drawing and painting skills. In 19th century America, learning to draw was considered an important part of getting an education. The ability to understand and conceptualize space, an important part of drawing, was considered applicable to any task using hand-eye coordination. These drawing skills helped one to be a better carpenter, mechanic or surgeon. A six-week Friday afternoon painting in oils and acrylics course starts April 27. The Saturday afternoon six-week drawing course starts April 28. Both courses have three-hour sessions from noon to 3 p.m.
Courses are open to beginners and experienced artists. Painting beginners will receive a step-by-step program of painting exercises to develop basic skills and to understand color. The drawing course offers a variety of styles and materials and is designed for all levels. The instructor earned his master of fine arts degree in painting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He as taught art at Penn State Fayette, Touchstone Center for Crafts and Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and is the curator of the Frank L. Melega Art Museum. In May, he will be teaching a weekend figure-drawing workshop at Touchstone Center for Crafts. E-mail Daugherty at patrick@patrickdaugherty.com, calling 724-245-6120 or visiting his Web site at patrickdaugherty.com. To register, call 724-430-4211.