Barbara Sullivan (left) works with a student in her fresco workshop, July 2021
Intensive Summer Workshops
Each summer, Monson Arts programs a variety of short intensive workshops in our studios which provide an ideal environment to focus on learning and creative work. Taught by instructors renown in their field, these classes are designed to give participants unhindered time where they don’t have to think about anything other than making. Monson Arts provides all meals and the option of housing right in town within walking distance to all of our facilities. The studios are open 24 hours. Participants also have private access to the lake, boating, and a lakeside firepit.
A typical workshop includes 8-12 participants and we are able to host two workshops at a time in our facilities. Sessions begin with dinner on arrival night and conclude before lunch on the final day. Workshops are open to anyone 18 or older and working at any level from beginners to advanced professionals. Enrollment is on a first-come first-served basis.
Painting workshop with Alan Bray, 2018
2026 Summer Workshops
Our lineup of Summer Workshops for 2026 offers many exciting opportunities to work alongside professional artists, writers, and media producers while engaging directly with the North Woods. We are offering four week long workshops and hosting the Conference of Poetry and Learning with Dawn Potter.
The cost to take a workshop includes tuition, room & board, (materials fees may be additional). We offer on-campus housing in a private (single) or double (shared with one other person) room. Room availability is limited and filled on a first-come, first-served basis. If you do not need housing, you may register as a day student at a reduced rate. Whether staying on campus or off, all meals are included and prepared by the Quarry Fine Dining restaurant, a recent James Beard Award winner!
Fees for materials and supplies will vary for each studio and can range from $25-$100.
Registration will be open through April 30th, or until filled. Courses run with a minimum of 8 participants and a maximum of 12.
TUITION, ROOM & BOARD
Varies for each program due to length.
If you are unable to register below because a workshop is full, please contact our office about being on the waitlist. We will let you if space becomes available.
Summer 2026 Workshops
-
Borestone Mountain Partnership
June 21 – 24 (at Borestone)
Would you like to deepen your creative engagement with the Maine woods? This special three-day retreat will immerse participants in the older forests and crystalline ponds of Borestone Mountain. With nature journaling as our foundation, this retreat is open to artists, writers, and creatives. This workshop is offered in partnership with Maine Audubon.
-
Collagraph Workshop with Goody Pixley
$400.00June 21 – June 27
In this collagraph workshop we will explore the art of making prints with found materials and acrylic mediums. Collagraph (collaged plate making) live in the expressive space between the fun materials exploration of Monotype and the moody editioning potential of Etching, and dry point (batching multiples of the same print).
-
Dreamscape Soundscape: A sound design workshop
$400.00June 21 – June 27 (SALT Session)
In this weeklong workshop, students will record and sound design their own dreams, turning their interior experiences stories into immersive audio pieces. They will use field recordings, audio synthesis, foley, and recorded music for their dreamscapes. By the end of the week, students will have designed and scored a short audio documentary from scratch.
-
Conference on Poetry and Learning 2026
$800.00July 5 – July 12, 2026
The Conference on Poetry & Learning invites educators, teaching artists, and other poetry advocates to work intensely with their colleagues and a faculty of distinguished poets who are experts in both teaching poetry and creating community.
-
Mosaics in the Indirect Method with Cynthia Fisher
$400.00July 27 – Aug 1
My 25 years of experience in the mosaic medium have all been working in the Indirect Method. The workshop will introduce working on sticky mesh for first-timers and more practice for mosaic artists with some understanding of this method. Additionally all mosaic issues/questions about anything mosaic will be happily addressed.
-
Writing Ourselves through Thoreau with Rochelle Johnson
$400.00July 27 – Aug 1
A Workshop in Place-Based Creative Nonfiction/Memoir
In this week-long workshop in creative nonfiction/memoir, we make writing our work, considering how attentiveness to landscape inspires and informs our expression of who we are, what we believe, and how we have been shaped by place, people, and story.
Latest News > Workshops at Monson Arts
Summer Workshop Catalog
Our one-week intensive summer workshops provide an ideal environment to focus on learning and studio work. Register online for one of eight workshop offerings in 2019.
2019 Residency and Workshop Schedule
We have just finalized our schedule for 2019 with some exciting new opportunities for residencies and workshops. Save the dates now and stay tuned for more details about specific programs in the coming months.
Immersive Audio Workshop, September 2-5
A new workshop offered over Labor Day weekend is now open for enrollment. This three-day intensive will explore new ways of defining and creating immersive storytelling through technology, events, editing, sound design, and reporting techniques.
Slow Art with Alan Bray, July 22-26
Sign up today for our inaugural workshop and spend 4 days drawing and painting in Monson this summer!