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.
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
2025 Summer Workshops
Our lineup of Summer Workshops for 2025 offers many exciting opportunities to work alongside professional artists, writers, and media producers while engaging directly with the North Woods. We will be offering 4-6 day courses in writing and visual arts. For the second year, we will be hosting the Conference of Poetry and Learning with Dawn Potter.
The cost to take a workshop includes tuition, room & board, and materials fees. 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. Fees for materials and supplies will vary for each studio and can range from $25-$100.
Programs will be added throughout the winter.
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.
More workshops will be added soon!
Summer 2025 Workshops
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Dreamscape Soundscape: A sound design workshop
$250.00July 27 – Aug 2 (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.
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Thinking About Landscape
$500.00June 22 – 28, 2025
This workshop will be open to all painters and draftsmen at all levels of experience. We will work with any water based media you prefer as well as drawing. My primary medium is casein tempera but any water based medium is fine. The emphasis will be on the process of determining how an idea can ripen and change as it matures and evolves into an actual work of art.
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Nature Journaling at Borestone Mountain
June 22 – 25 (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.
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Maine North Woods Film Workshop
$500.00July 24 – July 27
Maine Woods Film Participants will collectively make a film over the course of three days in the Maine Woods: shooting, editing, and projecting 16mm film on location. We will learn how to make a film emulsion in the field, use handmade processes, and develop film with the cycles of the new moon. We will also discuss how writers and other artists with connections to the area have conceived of nature, and the possibilities for alternative ways of viewing and expanding landscape a century and a half after Thoureau’s writing of The Maine Woods.
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Conference on Poetry and Learning
$800.00July 5 – July 12
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.
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!