Teen Week
2020 Workshop Season Update, In light of the uncertainty stemming from the novel Coronavirus pandemic, Touchstone Center for Crafts has made the difficult decision to cancel all scheduled programming for our 2020 season. We look forward to welcoming you back to campus again when it is safe to do so! For facts surrounding this decision and to read the announcement from our Executive Director and Board President, Click here.
We aim to keep our themed weeks such as ‘teen week’, ‘educators’ retreat’, and ‘nature week’ going in a virtual format of some sort. What that will look like exactly remains to be seen.
2020 #TouchstoneTeenWeek – July 19—24 
Participants (Ages 14-17) will have access to our fully equipped studio spaces while they live on campus. Evenings are open for demonstrations, group activities or work in the studio. Students are housed in single-sex dormitories or cabins. The dining hall is central to campus where delicious home-cooked meals are served with fresh local ingredients. All students take a turn helping out in the kitchen and keeping the campus clean.
Teen Week Scholarships Available
100% Tuition, Room, & Board: Touchstone works with individual schools to provide students with these scholarships. Individual teens are welcome to apply directly through Touchstone and will also be considered.
ALL TEENS INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN TEEN WEEK MUST FILL OUT A TEEN WEEK APPLICATION REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU ARE APPLYING FOR SCHOLARSHIP CONSIDERATION. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Download Teen Week Application
2020 Schedule
JUL 19-24 | TEEN WEEK | 6-DAY (SUN-FRI) 
Blacksmithing for Teens
Instructor: Anna Koplik
All Levels (Ages 14-17)
$585 Member | $615 Non-Member
$75 Materials and Studio Fees
Download Teen Week Application*
Join other teens learning the basics of forging beautiful steel objects in a fun, enthusiastic, and inclusive environment! Throughout the week Anna will guide you through proper techniques of swinging a hammer at the anvil and working a coal forge, while covering forging techniques such as tapering, twisting, bending, and spreading steel. These basic skills and techniques will allow you to complete a variety of projects and create your own unique works of art and functional objects. Be prepared to get dirty and have fun!
Anna has a passion for teaching blacksmithing and showing beginner smiths the many different possibilities the medium has to offer. Her personal work focuses mainly on tool and utensil making, combining functionality with a refined, delicate aesthetic. Anna attended Pratt Institute (BFA in Jewelry) and has worked at Peters Valley School of Craft, Atlas Forge, Touchstone Center for Crafts, Spirit Ironworks, Inc., and Center for Metal Arts. She has taught blacksmithing at a variety of craft schools including Peters Valley and Touchstone.
Instagram: @arkoplik
JUL 19-24 | TEEN WEEK | 6-DAY (SUN-FRI) 
Creating a Clay Mural: Duality
Instructor: Chuck Purviance
All Levels (Ages 14-17)
$585 Member | $615 Non-Member
$75 Materials and Studio Fees
Download Teen Week Application*
This workshop will consist of splitting time between two projects. By day, you will learn tile making and low relief sculpture through the traditional tile making processes. Working together with the other students, you will design and create a large scale mural to be permanently installed on Touchstone’s campus! By night, the studio will become a neon infused music bash with learning the ins and outs of making pottery on the wheel, sculpture, or handbuild personal forms for you to take home.
Chuck is an MFA candidate at Wichita State University, KS. Originally from Pittsburgh, Chuck connected with area school districts in Brockway, Pennsylvania working with k-12 students in ceramics with pottery, sculpture, and ceramic mural works. His community murals can be seen throughout central PA, Uniontown PA, and Wichita, KS. Chuck has also been turned into two memes last summer at teen week and hopes to double that this coming summer.
Instructor website: chuckpurviance.com
Instagram: @chuckpurviance
JUL 19-24 | TEEN WEEK | 6-DAY (SUN-FRI) 
The Colorful World of Glass Beads
Instructor: Joy Knepp
All Levels (Ages 14-17)
$585 Member | $615 Non-Member
$75 Materials and Studio Fees
Download Teen Week Application*
Explore the world of glass bead making and see why it can be so addictive. From the time you light the torch and melt the glass, you will be guided through a variety of techniques for creating many different shapes, sizes and designs for your beads. You will learn to decorate your beads with stringers and dots and will use tools to manipulate the shapes and designs with raking, twisting and altering the surface of the glass. We will experiment with different effects that can be achieved in glass such as adding metals, dichroic glass, and metallic frits.
Joy has been working as a glass artist for more than 15 years and is a retired art educator. She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Art and Education from Pennsylvania State University and also studied at Pittsburgh Glass Center, Goggleworks in Reading, PA and various workshops sponsored by the International Society of Glass beadmakers. Her work has been exhibited and sold in galleries throughout the U.S. Joy is a member of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers, the Three Rivers Glass Beadmakers, PA Art Education Association and the Craftsmen’s Guild of Pittsburgh.
Instructor website: joybeadzglass.etsy.com
Instagram: @joyknepp
JUL 19-24 | TEEN WEEK | 6-DAY (SUN-FRI)
Jewelry for Teens
Instructor: Felicia Szorad
All Levels (Ages 14-17)
$585 Member | $615 Non-Member
$75 Materials and Studio Fees
Download Teen Week Application*
Stretch your creativity and develop personal imagery and individualized projects while learning new skills! Felicia will guide you through exploring various methods of jewelry making, concentrating on a different set of processes each day. You will begin the week learning how to saw, texture, and form metal sheet and wire into pendants, earrings, or bracelets. Next, you will learn how to create rings using both cold joining and soldering techniques. You will finish out the week learning the wondrous possibilities of enameling – the process of fusing ground, colored glass to copper sheet in a kiln or with a torch to produce vibrant colorful surfaces. Come create your own wearable art!
Felicia is a professor and area head of the Jewelry and Metalsmithing program at Eastern Kentucky University, with additional teaching/workshop experience at a variety of craft centers and university art programs. Her creative work is exhibited nationally and has been published in Metalsmith, The Art of Enameling, and 500 Enameled Objects. Recipient of grants from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, the Kentucky Arts Council, and the Chenven Foundation, as well as a recipient of an Al Smith Fellowship and The Art of Goodwill Residency.
Instructor website: feliciaszorad.com
Instagram: @feliciaszorad
JUL 19-24 | TEEN WEEK | 6-DAY (SUN-FRI) 
Perspective, Portraits, and Personal Expression
Instructor: Travis Townsend
All Levels (Ages 14-17)
$585 Member | $615 Non-Member
$75 Materials and Studio Fees
Download Teen Week Application*
Enhance your drawing skills and explore the creative process! Primarily using graphite, charcoal, and ink, you will dive into dramatic observational drawing. Regardless of your experience level you will learn and/or deepen your understanding of 1, 2, and 3 point linear perspective, learn to draw realistic self-portraits with dramatic value, develop a personal narrative, and work collaboratively on a large class drawing. Time will be spent drawing both indoors and outdoors, in group and individual discussions, and constructive critiques – all in a fun and supportive environment with personal artistic growth being the focus.
Travis draws, builds, rebuilds, paints, and tinkers upon wood and mixed media sculptures and drawings in his Lexington, Kentucky studio. He studied at Kutztown University and Virginia Commonwealth University and has presented solo exhibitions at The Parachute Factory, Washington State University, Manifest Gallery, Doppler PDX, Southwest School of Art, Weston Gallery, and the New Arts Program. His work has been included in numerous group exhibitions and appeared in the publications New American Paintings, and the Manifest International Drawing Annual.
Instructor website: travistownsendart.com
Instagram: @travistownsendart
JUL 19-24 | TEEN WEEK |6-DAY (SUN-FRI) 
Puppet Slam!
Instructor: Cheryl Capezzuti
All Levels (Ages 14-17)
$585 Member | $615 Non-Member
$75 Materials and Studio Fees
Download Teen Week Application*
Explore the vast art of puppetry and design and build original puppets in a variety of styles. Puppetmaker Cheryl Capezzuti will work with you based on your interest and help you develop your own unique puppet characters. Choose to make a series of smaller hand puppets, intricately designed shadow puppets, create a pattern for an original, machine-sewn puppet or go big and make a giant papier-mache, parade-sized work. Each artist will be introduced to many different construction techniques and then make their own creative decisions about their final puppetry work. The class will end with a Puppet Slam, a showcase of short puppet shows. Come learn the art of creating puppets from a master!
Cheryl has been making puppets of all sizes for years in Pittsburgh. She is best known for her giants: Full-body, backpack-style puppets up to 15′ tall, which are the centerpiece of downtown Pittsburgh’s New Year’s Eve parade. She has been commissioned by theater companies all over the region to make puppets of all kinds and has a small theater company that produces short works and traveling puppet shows.
Image courtesy of Larry Rippel
Instructor website: www.studiocapezzuti.com
Participants will:
- Attend a five-day interactive workshop
- Extend their creative potential
- Work with other students from around the region
- Experience art in an immersive environment inspired by nature
Why Participate?
- Meet other students from the region and work with world-class instructors to improve your art.
- Touchstone offers an Immersive experience, where you will live your craft for a week.
- Student to instructor ratio is a maximum of 12 to 1.
- Receive career guidance in areas such as creating a portfolio, applying to college and other topics from guest speakers.
- Participants broaden their thinking in relation to their craft.
Students spending a week on Touchstone’s grounds benefit from the natural and artistic aspects of campus life…
- “I increased my understanding of the variety of ways that people continue to make art and/or craft works throughout their lifetimes (professional artist, semiprofessional artist, etc.).”
- “I learned a variety of techniques in working with this medium that will inform my artistic development in the future.”
- “My selected workshop at Touchstone enhanced what I have learned and/or experienced at my high school.”
Instructors
Touchstone’s Studio Instructors are accomplished artists and educators from around the country. They bring both technical expertise and real-world experience to the studio.
The 2019 Touchstone Teen Week Instructors include Anna Koplik, Hannah Pierce, Mike Mangiafico, Maia Leppo, Phil Ashworth, and Roger Hyndman. See instructor biographies and workshop descriptions below.
The Details
Due to the generosity of our supporters, several full and partial scholarships are available.
Materials & Studio fees are $75 and are to be paid in full at check-in or prior to the first day of the workshops.
There is a $25 processing fee to be paid in full at check-in or prior to the first day of the workshops.
Teen Week Scholarships
100% Tuition, Room, & Board: Touchstone works with individual schools to provide students with these scholarships. Individual teens are welcome to apply directly through Touchstone and will also be considered. Applications due May 1st.
Submit applications to Travis Winters, programs manager, at twinters@touchstonecrafts.org or by mail:
Touchstone Center for Crafts
ATTN: Programs Manager
1049 Wharton Furnace Road
Farmington, PA 15437
For questions regarding scholarships or the application process, contact Travis Winters at twinters@touchstonecrafts.org or 724-329-1370.
*Teen Week applications will be available for download on January 1st and must be submitted by May 1st for consideration. ALL TEENS INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN TEEN WEEK MUST FILL OUT A TEEN WEEK APPLICATION REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU ARE APPLYING FOR SCHOLARSHIP CONSIDERATION. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Visit our Scholarship page for more details.
To receive a printed catalog in the mail:
Sign Up Today!
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.