Design
Design can make the world better. Whether it's as a graphic designer, game designer, user experience designer, illustrator, or animator, your work can make the complex understandable. Your work can create beauty, delve into ugliness, inspire people, calm, or confront them.
Letterpress Print Party
Dan Shafer
Dan D. Shafer is a graphic designer, artist, and educator living and working in Seattle. He owns Dandy Co., a graphic design studio specializing in book design, installation, and environmental design (as well as event promotion and branding). The studio's clients include Kronos Quartet, American Cancer Society, Salish Lodge, Herman Miller, and Pratt Fine Arts Center.
Shafer is also the creative director at Chin Music Press. His self-initiated social practice installations explore the nebulous territory that exists between traditional definitions of "art" and "design," and investigate how people interact with objects in their everyday lives.
Come explore the extensive collection of lead and wood type, ornaments and cuts in the Cornish letterpress studio. Beginners and enthusiasts alike will benefit from a day in the studio focused on the basics of typesetting and hand-printing, with plenty of time to create a small personal project or two. Get inky and experiment with our collection of
Laser Cutting for Letterpress
Dan Shafer
Dan D. Shafer is a graphic designer, artist, and educator living and working in Seattle. He owns Dandy Co., a graphic design studio specializing in book design, installation, and environmental design (as well as event promotion and branding). The studio's clients include Kronos Quartet, American Cancer Society, Salish Lodge, Herman Miller, and Pratt Fine Arts Center.
Shafer is also the creative director at Chin Music Press. His self-initiated social practice installations explore the nebulous territory that exists between traditional definitions of "art" and "design," and investigate how people interact with objects in their everyday lives.
Are you curious about how to integrate laser cutting into letterpress printing? In this workshop students will cut your own designs using a laser cutter and print multiple copies of your image. Combine it with wood type or other decorative elements from the Cornish letterpress type collection for a fun simple postcard, flyer, or series of
Creative Metalworking
Sarah Lavin
I am energized by the spirited exchange of expression and ideas. I am a metal worker, sculptor and installation artist. I have always worked with my hands; gardening, farming, fabricating. I took my first metal working class at Pratt Fine Art Center nearly 25 years ago and went on to get a certificate in Welding/Fabrication at South Seattle Community College specializing in non-ferrous metals and blacksmithing.
I have been a metalworker in various industrial and artistic capacities ever since: I ran public art programs in SE Seattle high school and middle schools, as well as worked alongside established artists and builders. I have recently returned to Pratt teaching forging and welding for adults, families and and teens. I also teach at Burkehead Art Center and Coyote Central. I maintain a shop/art practice on our family farm amongst the goats in Woodinville, Wa.
Along with demonstrations, students will receive individual instruction to help them develop their own creative voice. The course will cover the basic building blocks of what makes a work successful alongside the fundamentals of metalworking. Through multiple diverse demonstrations, students will be guided through making a small sculpture
Beginning Welding
Sarah Lavin
I am energized by the spirited exchange of expression and ideas. I am a metal worker, sculptor and installation artist. I have always worked with my hands; gardening, farming, fabricating. I took my first metal working class at Pratt Fine Art Center nearly 25 years ago and went on to get a certificate in Welding/Fabrication at South Seattle Community College specializing in non-ferrous metals and blacksmithing.
I have been a metalworker in various industrial and artistic capacities ever since: I ran public art programs in SE Seattle high school and middle schools, as well as worked alongside established artists and builders. I have recently returned to Pratt teaching forging and welding for adults, families and and teens. I also teach at Burkehead Art Center and Coyote Central. I maintain a shop/art practice on our family farm amongst the goats in Woodinville, Wa.
In this class, students will focus on the fundamentals of welding and steel fabrication for creating functional pieces and sculpture. Students will be introduced to the fundamentals of MIG and oxyacetylene, plasma cutting, and explore steels plasticity with various shaping and bending tools. Students will learn to cut, shear, drill and weld safety
Explorations in Papermaking
Brad Taylor
Bradley Taylor is a Seattle based artist, and printmaker. He is currently working at Cornish College of the Arts as the Printmaking Studio Technician. Proficient in all forms of printmaking Bradley specializes in woodblock prints. His work has been shown in numerous galleries in the Seattle area. He has also work collaboratively with many notable Seattle Artists.
In the course students will dive into different processes and techniques for making paper. Beginning with recycled paper and ending with traditional Washi paper, this class will introduce students to multiple approaches to the ancient artform of papermaking. Cornish’s printmaking studio houses a rare Washi Papermaking tool - the only one in Seattle
Introduction to Patterns & Printmaking
Brad Taylor
Bradley Taylor is a Seattle based artist, and printmaker. He is currently working at Cornish College of the Arts as the Printmaking Studio Technician. Proficient in all forms of printmaking Bradley specializes in woodblock prints. His work has been shown in numerous galleries in the Seattle area. He has also work collaboratively with many notable Seattle Artists.
This course will introduce design strategies for creating patterns and then realize those patterns in a variety of print media. Printmaking methods covered in this course include linoleum relief, mono print, and screen print.Basic Printmaking TechniquesIntroduction to methods such as relief printing, intaglio, lithography, and screen printing
Public Art Career Development
Tory Franklin
Tory Franklin is a visual artist working with diverse media unified by pattern, print, and narrative. Since 2010, Franklin has focused on public installations inspired by folktales that are accompanied by screen-printed books, posters, and other ephemera. Her work has been exhibited at MAD Art, Bellevue City Hall, Storefronts Seattle, Storefronts Auburn, Spaceworks Tacoma, the Renton Arts Commission, Arts-A-Glow festival, Portland Winter Light Festival, the VERA Project, and 826 Seattle. She has received a Seattle Office of Arts & Culture City Artists project grant, a 4Culture project grant, and an Artist Trust GAP grant for these projects. In 2015, Franklin created her first permanent window piece with her sister, Eroyn Franklin, for Harborview Medical Center, and is currently working on SoundTransit’s Star Lake light rail station in Kent slated to open in 2024.
This lecture-style course is designed for people interested in transitioning to public art projects. We will cover how to expand your portfolio with temporary public works as well as assembling RFQ’s (Request for Qualifications) for permanent pieces. Discussions focus on applying for projects, what to expect when making it to a finalist
Comics and Graphic Memoir
Ellen Forney
Ellen Forney is the author of the bestselling graphic memoir, Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, & Me, and its companion book, Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My Bipolar Life. Marbles has been translated into six foreign languages and was the selection for common book programs at the University of Washington Health Sciences schools and UC Davis. She curated an exhibition for the National Library of Medicine on Graphic Medicine, comics about health, and has given talks and lectures internationally at universities, conferences, and institutions, including a recent TED talk. As a visual artist, she created two large-scale murals for Seattle’s Capitol Hill light rail station. She has taught comics at Cornish College of the Arts since 2002 and is currently working on a middle-grade book on making autobiographical comics.
Your life is full of stories, from daily observations to epic adventures, and the visual literary medium of comics is a versatile, dynamic way to tell them. In this beginning/intermediate studio class, students will learn basic comics storytelling concepts and techniques, and craft several comics of different lengths to be collected in a final
Portfolio Development for College Applications
Winnie Westergard
Winifred Westergard is a Seattle based fine art and commercial photographer with degrees from the University of Washington and Cornish College of the Arts in Creative Writing, Journalism and Art. Her art making foundation is rooted in the early processes of photography, fully embracing the slow processes of 19th century photography. She is a visual creator with a strong base on human emotion and storytelling. She has managed the photography studio at Cornish College of the Arts since 1999 and has taught Photography and Portfolio Development through Summer@Cornish since 2003.
This is a 4-session workshop designed for high school juniors and seniors interested in applying for visual arts undergraduate studies. With the support of Cornish Faculty, Admissions counselors and the Cornish Writing Center, students will complete this course with a finished, refined digital portfolio of their artwork, a relevant Statement of
Resin Figurine Creation
Nikki Rice
Born and raised in Seattle, Nikki moved to California to attend college, receiving a BFA in Film Production in 2002 from Chapman University. For the next 6 years she worked various office jobs in the film industry while also earning a Masters Degree in Secondary Education. In 2006 Nikki decided to shift her career to Special Effects Make-Up working at Creature FX studios and from there segueing into the stop motion world, beginning in 2008 with Shadow Machine on the Adult Swim hit show, Robot Chicken: Season 3. Nikki has worked as a puppet fabricator, lead fabricator and department head on numbers stop motion television shows, commercials and films, helping create iconic stop motion characters for such shows/films as Happy Honda Days (Socal regional commercial campaign for the last 12 years), Ask the Story Bots, Buddy Thunderstruck, Anomolisa and Ted Lasso to name a few. In 2022, the next adventure brought Nikki back home to Seattle to be closer to family and to hang out her own shingle as Puppets Northwest, offering a one stop shop for puppets of all kinds, SFX, 3D modeling/printing and educational outreach of all of the above.
Can’t find the perfect Funko Pop or statuette collectable? In this class, students will design, sculpt, mold and cast your very own resin figurine. Students will take an idea from clay sculpt to paint, while learning to make a silicone box mold and resin casting. By the final session, students will go home with a fully finished resin figurine
Hand Puppet Fabrication
Nikki Rice
Born and raised in Seattle, Nikki moved to California to attend college, receiving a BFA in Film Production in 2002 from Chapman University. For the next 6 years she worked various office jobs in the film industry while also earning a Masters Degree in Secondary Education. In 2006 Nikki decided to shift her career to Special Effects Make-Up working at Creature FX studios and from there segueing into the stop motion world, beginning in 2008 with Shadow Machine on the Adult Swim hit show, Robot Chicken: Season 3. Nikki has worked as a puppet fabricator, lead fabricator and department head on numbers stop motion television shows, commercials and films, helping create iconic stop motion characters for such shows/films as Happy Honda Days (Socal regional commercial campaign for the last 12 years), Ask the Story Bots, Buddy Thunderstruck, Anomolisa and Ted Lasso to name a few. In 2022, the next adventure brought Nikki back home to Seattle to be closer to family and to hang out her own shingle as Puppets Northwest, offering a one stop shop for puppets of all kinds, SFX, 3D modeling/printing and educational outreach of all of the above.
Can’t get more hands on than making your very own hand puppet. In this class you will design and fabricate a hand puppet character, building out of such materials as foam, felt and feathers to name a few. FUN! You will learn mouth plate design, the use of rods for arm/extremity movements and the famous “Muppet Hand Stitch” to sew up the seams of
Stop Motion Puppet Fabrication
Nikki Rice
Born and raised in Seattle, Nikki moved to California to attend college, receiving a BFA in Film Production in 2002 from Chapman University. For the next 6 years she worked various office jobs in the film industry while also earning a Masters Degree in Secondary Education. In 2006 Nikki decided to shift her career to Special Effects Make-Up working at Creature FX studios and from there segueing into the stop motion world, beginning in 2008 with Shadow Machine on the Adult Swim hit show, Robot Chicken: Season 3. Nikki has worked as a puppet fabricator, lead fabricator and department head on numbers stop motion television shows, commercials and films, helping create iconic stop motion characters for such shows/films as Happy Honda Days (Socal regional commercial campaign for the last 12 years), Ask the Story Bots, Buddy Thunderstruck, Anomolisa and Ted Lasso to name a few. In 2022, the next adventure brought Nikki back home to Seattle to be closer to family and to hang out her own shingle as Puppets Northwest, offering a one stop shop for puppets of all kinds, SFX, 3D modeling/printing and educational outreach of all of the above.
Take your first steps into the world of stop motion in this class where you will design, armature and build-up a puppet capable of full stop motion animation. You will learn the use of different materials that go into the creation of puppets, including wire, foam, liquid latex, epoxy resin and acrylic paint, etc. We will also discuss the varying
Build-A-Bass
Brian Miller
Brian is a musician who has worked with Jonny Copeland, Bobby Radcliffe, Bunny Domino and others. He was a founding member of BBQ Bob and the Spare Ribs and produced their first recording. He came to woodworking by experimenting with a more ergonomic design for basses to alleviate periodic bouts of tendonitis.
He learned the basics of woodworking from master carpenter Joe Guida (Guida Woodworks, Flagstaff, AZ,) during the course of building his first prototype. Since then, he improved his skill by trial and error and getting advice from the master wood workers at IsGood WoodWorks and Ballard Woodworking. In 2020, he started Miller Basses and produces about three uniquely designed basses each year.
Build-A-Bass or Guitar!Are you interested in channeling your creativity to make an electric bass or guitar? In this class, students will learn how to design and build an instrument from the ground up. The course will cover:DesignWood and hardware selectionNeck constructionBody constructionFretting and Adding MarkersBody shapingNeck
Drawing with Pen & Ink
Maja Sereda
Maja Sereda is an environmental artist, teacher and coach. Born in Poland, Maja has dedicated her life to transcribing and sharing her experiences in nature. Working with pen, graphite, color pencils, charcoal and mixed media, her highly detailed drawings explore the myriad connections between human beings and the natural world. Her drawings have been shown throughout the US, Europe, and South Africa.
After studying graphic design at University of Pretoria and working as an art director in advertising agencies, both in South Africa and Ireland, Maja became an award-winning book illustrator. She has illustrated more than 20 books with many major publishers including Penguin Random House, Maskew Miller Longman, Oskar Editeur, Tafelberg & Lapa Publishers. Amongst others, she won the Crystal Kite award in 2011 and the Katrine Harries Award for best illustration for 2010. In 2012, she was also invited to illustrate a book with a French author, Yves Pinguilly titled La Grande Fleur (The Big Flower), followed by an invitation to Salon du Livre fair in Paris, France and La Reunion, where she showcased her books and led art workshops for children.
Now based in Seattle, Maja is a teaching artist and coach. With the outbreak of COVID, she began teaching drawing classes online. By investing deeply in her students’ work through highly individualized feedback, research and demonstrations, she nurtures an online community of over 250 artists.
With a deep passion for nature, drawing and community, Maja operates Guardians of the Jungle, a creative project which aims to save endangered wildlife and protect precarious ecosystems.
Yearning to pick up a pen and/or ballpoint pen, but have found yourself a little intimidated by the fact that it doesn’t erase? Then this is the course for you!Learn basic steps, demonstrate a variety of pen techniques and be encouraged to make your creative experience smoother. In this course, students will mainly learn how to draw with technical
Illustrator's Sketchbook
Maja Sereda
Maja Sereda is an environmental artist, teacher and coach. Born in Poland, Maja has dedicated her life to transcribing and sharing her experiences in nature. Working with pen, graphite, color pencils, charcoal and mixed media, her highly detailed drawings explore the myriad connections between human beings and the natural world. Her drawings have been shown throughout the US, Europe, and South Africa.
After studying graphic design at University of Pretoria and working as an art director in advertising agencies, both in South Africa and Ireland, Maja became an award-winning book illustrator. She has illustrated more than 20 books with many major publishers including Penguin Random House, Maskew Miller Longman, Oskar Editeur, Tafelberg & Lapa Publishers. Amongst others, she won the Crystal Kite award in 2011 and the Katrine Harries Award for best illustration for 2010. In 2012, she was also invited to illustrate a book with a French author, Yves Pinguilly titled La Grande Fleur (The Big Flower), followed by an invitation to Salon du Livre fair in Paris, France and La Reunion, where she showcased her books and led art workshops for children.
Now based in Seattle, Maja is a teaching artist and coach. With the outbreak of COVID, she began teaching drawing classes online. By investing deeply in her students’ work through highly individualized feedback, research and demonstrations, she nurtures an online community of over 250 artists.
With a deep passion for nature, drawing and community, Maja operates Guardians of the Jungle, a creative project which aims to save endangered wildlife and protect precarious ecosystems.
Sketching, illustrating and painting in a sketchbook is a wonderful way to open doors to your imagination, get to know yourself better and at the same time, release the stories hidden within you. It allows you to shake off any perfectionist ideals and create from the heart with a light hand and sprinkles of humor. In this course, students will
Abstract Painting Intensive
Soo Hong
Soo Hong is a visual artist whose work explores issues surrounding cultural identity. Having lived and exhibited in places around the world, including, London, Shanghai, her native South Korea, and now the U.S., her experience of varying cultural norms and expectations has precipitated her observational practice. Her paintings represent an unbound freedom of expression released of any formal adherence to a determined identity.
Her work has been shown in galleries around the world, and she has been awarded grants from D&AD (London), GAP (Seattle), Bellevue Arts Program (Bellevue) and was a finalist for the Neddy Awards (Seattle). She had her solo shows in Seattle at Linda Hodges Gallery and AMcE Creative Arts gallery. Her work is part of the permanent collections at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the city of Bellevue, and the city of Portland. She created public art installations for Redmond Lights, Odessa Children's Hospital (Seattle), and The Vera Project (Seattle).
Grow past your artistic boundaries with Abstract Painting Intensive! This course provides an opportunity to bring projects in for feedback in a creative environment. Students will receive instructor feedback, as well as work with peers to discuss works on a personal level. Students will have discussions on your creative direction and discuss
Creating with Clay
Lana Sundberg
After graduating from the University of Washington with a B.F.A. in painting, Lana moved to New York City to begin her career as an artist and a teacher. After 5 years of teaching and showing her work there, she returned to Seattle to resume her work and start her own studio school as well as exhibiting her own paintings, mosaics, sculptures and drawings.
She currently teaches private classes and for Arts Corps and Path with Art and creates and exhibits her visual art in painting, drawing, sculpture, clay, paper and multi-media.
Create with clay and learn about the many ways to explore either a new art medium or expand on previous skills! Through hand building, students will learn the three methods: pinch, coil and slab to create a variety offunctional and sculptural objects. For inspiration, students will learn about ceramics from a variety of African, Native
TouchDesigner: Live Visuals for Live Performances
Paul Lebel
From a young age, I've been captivated by light and its power to transform the world around me. At seven years old, I begged for a camera, eager to capture the magic of my small world through photography. This insatiable curiosity has fueled my journey as a visual storyteller, leading me across the globe to film and edit stories for brands worldwide. Through these experiences, I've grown as a person, and I remain just as curious and excited to explore new stories and mediums.
My artistic practice as A Box In The Sea extends into multimedia, print, and sound art. In my sound lab, I experiment with soundscapes and scores, translating them into visuals and rendering them into pen and ink. This process of creating and transforming sound into art is a continuous cycle of discovery, and it's a journey I feel lucky to be on.
In this introductory class, students will dive into the world of TouchDesigner, a powerful visual platform for creating stunning real-time projections and immersive experiences. Focusing on the application of TouchDesigner in live performances, students will learn the fundamentals of real-time video manipulation, 2 and 3D graphics and audio
Portfolio Development for UX, Graphic Design & Illustration
Robynne Raye
Robynne Raye is a co-founder of the Seattle-based Modern Dog Design Co, an internationally acclaimed design and illustration studio that opened in 1987. Her client list includes Showtime, The New York Times, Coca-Cola, Nordstrom, HarperCollins, Warner Bros. Records, Hillary Clinton, and K2 Snowboards. Her posters have been exhibited internationally, and are collected in the archives of major libraries and museums worldwide, including the Library of Congress, Bibliothèque National de France, Museum Fur Kunst und Gewerbe, the Smithsonian Institute’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Guan Shanyue Art Museum, and the Louvre’s Musee Des Arts Decoratifs, among others.
For over thirty years, Raye has lectured extensively about design issues and led workshops around the world. In 2013, Graphic Design USA Magazine listed her as one of the "50 Most Influential Designers Working Today.” She is the co-author of Modern Dog, 20 Years of Poster Art and Inside the World of Board Graphics: Skate, Surf, Snow, and author of 1000 Dog Portraits.
Take your design skills beyond the computer, and design with faculty and peer review time built into a course that can help you grow passed your current portfolio. This course, led by a respected designer and professor, helps creatives refine their portfolios for job seeking or project improvement. The class meets bi-weekly over eight weeks, and
Planters for Patios
Learn to build with friends an family! Student in this workshop will build and embellish a small planter for patios and decks, with the intention of starting and growing appropriate vegetable and herbs. Many vegetables, such as lettuce and kale, radishes, and even beans, can be grown successfully in smaller planters. Many herbs can also be
Wooden Box Design & Build
In this course, students will design and construct a small wooden box. This could be a desktop box, storage for game pieces, a lined valet box for watches & jewelry, storage for fountain pens & accessories, or simply an art piece.The boxes can be open, or have a hinged or sliding lid. The interior can be divided, and can be flocked with a
Lamp Design & Build
Design, build, and wire a sculptural, plug-in electrical lamp. Possibilities include table top or wall mounted lamps, and floor lamps, The lamps are made of wood, and can incorporate natural branches and log sections. These are traditional line-voltage lamps, so electrical cord, plugs, sockets, and switches are used, and class instruction includes
VR Animated Interiors
Elevate your interior architecture skills! This cutting-edge program is designed for interior architects and designers eager to harness the power of virtual reality to create immersive, animated interior environments. Students will learn to use advanced VR tools and software to visualize and animate interior spaces, bringing their design concepts
Figma: Zero to Hero Prototyping
Sage Casias-Abplanalp
Sage is a multi-disciplined designer and educator based in the Greater Seattle Area. Throughout her career Sage has worked in a variety of roles including as an independent contractor and an in-house designer. Her projects span print and web for a wide range of clientele; from locally owned clinics to internationally recognized audio dealers. No matter what the project is, Sage’s work is guided by principles of user-centered design, a commitment to accessibility, and a passion for creating. She considers herself a lifelong student and continually strives to learn new skills and refine her craft.
Become a prototyping hero! This course is broken into two sections with the first half focusing on technical skill development and the second tailored to practical application. In section one, students will learn the Figma interface through weekly demos and exercises and then transition to a multi-week website project in section two. Students will
Adobe Illustrator for cut technologies
Tory Franklin
Tory Franklin is a visual artist working with diverse media unified by pattern, print, and narrative. Since 2010, Franklin has focused on public installations inspired by folktales that are accompanied by screen-printed books, posters, and other ephemera. Her work has been exhibited at MAD Art, Bellevue City Hall, Storefronts Seattle, Storefronts Auburn, Spaceworks Tacoma, the Renton Arts Commission, Arts-A-Glow festival, Portland Winter Light Festival, the VERA Project, and 826 Seattle. She has received a Seattle Office of Arts & Culture City Artists project grant, a 4Culture project grant, and an Artist Trust GAP grant for these projects. In 2015, Franklin created her first permanent window piece with her sister, Eroyn Franklin, for Harborview Medical Center, and is currently working on SoundTransit’s Star Lake light rail station in Kent slated to open in 2024.
This course is designed for beginners as well as seasoned designers. Learn how to use Adobe Illustrator to create cut-ready vector graphics suitable for a variety of technologies such as vinyl plotters, laser cutters, and CNC routing. You will learn how to design, scale, expand, cut, prepare and install cut vinyl designs with the cornish print
Portfolio Development for College Applications
Winnie Westergard
Winifred Westergard is a Seattle based fine art and commercial photographer with degrees from the University of Washington and Cornish College of the Arts in Creative Writing, Journalism and Art. Her art making foundation is rooted in the early processes of photography, fully embracing the slow processes of 19th century photography. She is a visual creator with a strong base on human emotion and storytelling. She has managed the photography studio at Cornish College of the Arts since 1999 and has taught Photography and Portfolio Development through Summer@Cornish since 2003.
In this 4-session workshop, high school juniors and seniors interested in applying for art and design undergraduate studies will photograph work suitable for their digital portfolio, draft a letter of intent and statement of purpose, and participate in mock interviews. Students must have a collection of work that is ready for review and curation to
Teaching Artists
Robynne Raye
Kevin Drake
Dan Shafer
Kyungjin Kim (KJ)
Brian Miller
Zoe Crago
Sage Casias-Abplanalp
Cornish is committed to making our courses available for anyone who demonstrates financial need and interest through discounts and financial assistance. Seniors 55+ receive a 15% discount with proof of age. Students of any age or military may request financial assistance. For senior, military, or student financial aid, please fill out the form prior to registration.