Educators Retreat
Not Just For Art Teachers!
Open to anyone but designed for K-12 educators and those studying to be educators (any subject or grade).
The Educators’ Retreat provides a week for professional development that will enhance an educator’s own creativity while offering rich content that can translate to the classroom. Choose from a variety of studios and delve into the processes as you explore these techniques and share your findings with other educators/artists. Return to your classrooms revitalized with fresh ideas and unique resources.
Act 48 Credits are available for PA educators, sponsored by PAEA (Pennsylvania Art Education Association). (Touchstone is happy to work with education associations from other states to make any special requirements attainable). Several scholarship opportunities exist – please check our scholarship page for details.
Now accepting applications for Educators’ Retreat from teachers in Cambria, Somerset, and Bedford Counties.
Hurry, Apply Before June 1st!
100% Tuition Scholarships for teachers in Cambria, Somerset, and Bedford Counties: The purpose of this scholarship is to help K-12 Educators participate in this week of programming. Thanks to the support of the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies, five 100% tuition scholarships are available for teachers in Cambria, Somerset, and Bedford counties.
- Download Scholarship Application
- Choose ‘Educator Retreat’ workshops as your preference.
- Submit applications to Travis Winters, programs manager, at twinters@touchstonecrafts.org by June 1st.
AUG 5–9 | EDUCATORS’ RETREAT | 5-Day (MON-FRI)
Murals in Clay
Instructor: Chuck Purviance
All Levels
$550 Member | $580 Non-Member
$60-$90 Materials and Studio Fees
Learn the ins-and-outs of creating murals in clay with both large and small groups either in classrooms or the surrounding community. Chuck will lead you through his own process and you will acquire the skills and knowledge to be able to lead your own mural project in your own community! You will complete an individual mural as well as work together with the rest of the class throughout the week to create a mural that will be installed on Touchstone’s campus. This workshop will include a low-fire glaze firing.
Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Chuck Purviance graduated from Edinboro University in 2013. He then became a resident artist at Brockway Center for the Arts and Technology (BCAT) in Brockway, Pennsylvania, where he worked with community murals for the following four years. In 2015, Chuck was asked to stay on at BCAT as the teaching artist and studio coordinator of the ceramic department. He oversaw and maintained the studio and resident artists, mentored teens in the afterschool programs, and taught at the local community college. Chuck is currently a second-year MFA candidate at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas, exploring new ideas while creating and evolving a body of work.
Instructor website: chuckpurviance.com
Instagram: @chuckpurviance
AUG 5–9 | EDUCATORS’ RETREAT | 5-day (MON-FRI)
Light the Fire with Lampworking Techniques
Instructor: Joy Knepp
Beginner-Intermediate
$550 Member | $580 Non-Member
$140-$200 Materials and Studio Fees
Light the torch of possibilities using lampworking techniques in glass as you are guided through a variety of methods for shaping glass into beads and small sculptures. See the magic of chemistry as we experiment with reduction glass and color combinations. Learn how layers of clear glass will transform and magnify images into implosion beads and encased designs. See how recycled bottle glass can be made into beads as well as how to make beads or head pins on the ends of copper wire. At the end of the week you will have a treasure trove of beads as well as a new toolbox of ideas to share with your students!
Joy has been working with glass for more than 15 years and is a retired art educator. She received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Art and Education from Penn State University and has taught techniques in glass at Touchstone for years. Joy has studied at Touchstone, Pittsburgh Glass Center, and GoggleWorks in Reading, PA. Her work is widely exhibited, and she is a member of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers, Three Rivers Glass Beadmakers, PA Art Education Association, and Craftsmen’s Guild of Pittsburgh.
Instructor website: joybeadzglass.etsy.com
Instagram: @joyknepp
AUG 5–9 | EDUCATORS’ RETREAT | 5-Day (MON-FRI)
Precious Metal Clay: From Bead to Box
Instructor: Lora Hart
Beginner-Intermediate
$550 Member | $580 Non-Member
$165-$195 Materials and Studio Fees
Metal Clay is a relatively new technology that transforms powder metallurgy from an industrial use to a creative art form. Without the use of heavy machinery or muscle strain, you’ll learn how to manipulate this malleable material to form a variety of elements. You’ll start with base clay (copper or bronze) to learn the basics and then switch to silver to make a variety of hollow bead forms. The final two days of class will be spent altering those forms to create a three-dimensional box or bottle with a functioning lid.
Lora Hart was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and moved to historic Richmond, Virginia in 2012. Lora was the artistic advisor and one of twenty senior instructors for PMC Connection and has been working with and teaching metal clay for 18 years. An artist inspired by historic imagery, Lora’s work has been featured in books, magazines, and calendars, and her jewelry is sold in galleries and online. As a designer, educator, and creativity coach, her passion for the art and business of jewelry making has taken her across the United States to help other makers explore their own passions, develop their craft, and expand their skills.
Instructor website: lorahart.com
Instagram: @lorahartjewels
AUG 5–9 | EDUCATORS’ RETREAT | 5-Day (MON-FRI)
Creative Journaling
Instructor: Roger Hyndman
All Levels
$550 Member | $580 Non-Member
$15-$45 Materials and Studio Fees
Come and learn the many benefits of keeping an artistic journal and how to utilize this tool of original drawings and paintings to create one–of-a-kind works of art. Throughout this workshop, you will explore a variety of creative materials such as ink, pencils, charcoal, Cray-Pas, pastels, paint, and mixed media through the process of journaling. Changing sources of space, composition techniques such as perspective, focal point, balance, color, value, movement, size, and shape will be covered as you take your creative journey in journaling.
Roger has conducted workshops for artists, arts councils, arts organizations, professional organizations, educators, and engaged in artist residencies. He has partnered with the VIEW, Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts, Yates County Art Center, SUNY New Paltz and numerous other organizations, colleges, and universities. As an exhibiting artist, Roger has organized and coordinated travel across the US, Italy, Sicily, Scotland, and France.
Instructor website: solarprintmaking.com
AUG 5–9 | EDUCATORS’ RETREAT | 5-Day (MON-FRI)
Forged Fashion
Instructor: Ellen Durkan
All Levels
$550 Member | $580 Non-Member
$35-$65 Materials and Studio Fees
Step outside your comfort zone and try something new – forge something wearable! Throughout the week you will focus on forging and fabricating organic symmetrical forms that fit on the body. Make your individual designs come to life! Forge something to adorn your arm, neck, or chest…or just be inspired by the shapes that you forge and figure it out as you go. You can even add leather using various rivet and grommet attachments. Don’t worry, you won’t be hot fitting anything!
Ellen is an artist blacksmith who creates forged fashion and displays her work in performance runway shows and galleries. She started working in metal in graduate school and was quickly seduced by it. Ellen’s work combines forming and forging techniques to create work that fits the body. Ellen teaches at a college in Delaware and is the owner of Iron Maiden Forge. Her background in drawing and design influences the forms she creates in metal.
Instructor website: ellendurkan.com
Instagram: @ironmaidenforge
Additional processing fee is not reflected in the prices above and ranges from $0-$50 depending on the length of the workshop.
Please register at least 15 days ahead of the start of any workshop so that we can count you in! Touchstone makes the determination of whether a workshop will run 14 days in advance of all workshops’ scheduled start date, primarily based on the number of participants registered at that time.
To view a full listing of the Terms and Conditions as part of your enrollment, click here.
Touchstone Center for Crafts prohibits discrimination in employment, educational programs, and activities on the basis of race, national origin, color, creed, religion, sex, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or association preference. Touchstone Center for Crafts also affirms its commitment to providing equal opportunities and equal access to its facilities and programming.
