Teen Week
2021 Workshop Season Update: Touchstone is pleased to be able to offer a modified 2021 workshop season. Based on best practices related to Covid-19, workshops will run at a reduced capacity of 6 participants, all multi-occupancy lodging has been converted to single-occupancy, and mask and social distancing protocols will be strictly enforced. Our updated cancellation policy* can be found HERE and our Covid-19 Policies and Procedures* can be found HERE. *Subject to change.
2021 #TouchstoneTeenWeek – July 18-23
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.
Click to Download Teen Week Application**
*Deadline for submitting applications has been extended to May 1st
**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.
2021 Schedule
JUL 18-23 | TEEN WEEK | 6-DAY (SUN-FRI) 
Blacksmithing for Teens
Instructor: Anna Koplik
All Levels (Ages 14-17)
$615 Tuition
$75 Materials and Studio Fees
Download Materials List
Click to 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 18-23 | TEEN WEEK | 6-DAY (SUN-FRI) 
Creating a Clay Mural: Duality
Instructor: Chuck Purviance
All Levels (Ages 14-17)
$615 Non-Member
$75 Materials and Studio Fees
Download Materials List
Click to 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 18-23 | TEEN WEEK | 6-DAY (SUN-FRI) 
Making Your Mark
Instructor: Phil Ashworth
All Levels (Ages 14-17)
$615 Non-Member
$75 Materials and Studio Fees
Download Materials List
Click to Download Teen Week Application**
In Making Your Mark we will be learning the fundamental techniques of drawing to establish a strong foundation and then build off that, diving into more involved projects. We’ll be focusing on studying perspective, contour, light and dark values, different mark making techniques and how all these can help you create unique, dynamic images. From carefully studying and working from still-life, landscape, and portrait-drawing, we’ll take the knowledge we’ve obtained from these exercises and explore the avenues we can go down to further develop our own personal voices in the images we create.
After graduating from The Rhode Island School of Design in 2008 with a BFA in illustration, Phil Ashworth made his way to Brooklyn, NY to chase his big city dreams. Since then his work has appeared on books, magazines, posters, skateboards, apparel and in various gallery shows throughout the US. His illustrations have been recognized by American Illustration, 3X3, the Society of Illustrators Los Angeles and have also been featured in The New York Times Fashion & Style, NPR’s Studio 360, and Bloomberg Businessweek. He is available for commissions and movie marathons.
Instructor website: philashworth.com
Instagram: @philashworthstudio
JUL 18-23 | TEEN WEEK | 6-DAY (SUN-FRI)
A Colorful World of Glass Beads
Instructor: Joy Knepp
All Levels (Ages 14-17)
$615 Tuition
$75 Materials and Studio Fees
Download Materials List
Click to 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 Knepp has been working as a glass artist for more than 15 years and is a retired art educator from the Shanksville-Stonycreek School District. Her education includes Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Art and Education from Pennsylvania State University. She has studied and taught techniques in Glass at Touchstone Center for Crafts, Farmington, PA. She has 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 in the region. She is a member of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers, the Three Rivers Glass Beadmakers, PA Art Education Association and Craftsmen’s Guild of Pittsburgh.
Instructor website: http://joybeadzglass.etsy.com
Instagram: @joyknepp
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.
Click to Download Teen Week Application**
For questions regarding scholarships or the application process, contact Travis Winters at twinters@touchstonecrafts.org or 724-329-1370.
*Deadline for submitting applications has been extended to May 1st
**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.
Workshops are filled on a first-come-first-served basis. Many fill quickly. 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.
A processing fee of $15 will be added to 1-5 day workshops.
Nonrefundable COVID-19 Fee: A $10 (1- & 2-day workshops), $15 (3-day workshops), and $20 (5-day workshops) COVID-19 fee will be charged per participant, per workshop during the 2021 season to help offset the extraordinary additional and increased expenses to Touchstone for cleaning, sanitizing, PPE, disposables, and other costs directly related to ensuring health, safety, and social distancing requirements as outlined by the World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. This fee is nonrefundable.
To view a full listing of the Terms and Conditions as part of your enrollment, download the 2021 Student Guide.
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.