The Windgate Summer Studio for Art Educators offers high quality arts-based professional development led by art professionals in the beautiful Windgate Center for Art and Design on the UA Little Rock campus. Our instructors are professional artists who also teach in the School of Art and Design.

Summer 2026 Sessions

Join us at WSSAE 2026 for one of two sessions, either June 1-5 or June 15-19. The studio sessions are deep-dive workshops tailored for K-12 art educators that run from 9-4pm Monday through Friday. Participants may choose one studio session to participate in for which they can earn up to 30 hours of professional development credit. The 2026 studio session descriptions are listed below. 

The Windgate Summer Studio for Art Educators is fully funded by a generous grant from the Windgate Foundation and the sessions are free to attend. All supplies for the studio sessions will be provided. We also have free on-campus housing available for those who need it.

The 2026 application can be accessed here.

Session 1: June 1-5, 2026

Needle Felting: Tiny Produce, Soft Sculpture (SESSION IS FULL!)

Led by Lydia Martin

In this one-week workshop, students will explore the playful and tactile world of needle felting through the creation of a small soft sculpture inspired by fruits and vegetables. Participants will learn essential needle felting techniques, including shaping and sculpting forms, building volume, surface detailing, and safe tool handling.

Using wool roving and barbed felting needles, students will transform loose fibers into dense, sculptural forms while developing an understanding of structure, texture, and form. By the end of the week, each participant will walk away with at least one completed needle-felted fruit or vegetable sculpture and the foundational skills needed to continue exploring soft sculpture and fiber-based art.

Screen Print Factory (SESSION IS FULL!)

Led by David Warren

Learn how to create a screenprint in the UA Little Rock School of Art and Design’s printmaking studio with David Warren. Participants will learn how to create a stencil design, mix ink colors, and print a screenprint. By the end of this workshop, participants will have completed a two or three-color print on paper and fabric, and gained an understanding of the screenprint process.

Drawing in the Expanded Field

Led by Clark Valentine

In this workshop, participants will dismantle the notion that drawing is tethered to graphite and paper. By looking through the lens of the expanded field, educators will explore how space, light, and unconventional materials can function within a traditional figure-ground relationship. We will analyze the ephemeral walks of Richard Long, the spatial interventions of Richard Tuttle and Sarah Sze, and the silhouette-driven narratives of Kara Walker to redefine what constitutes a “mark.” Participants will leave with a scaffolded lesson plan designed to push students past technical anxiety and toward conceptual experimentation, challenging them to discover “mark-making” in everything from shadows to industrial debris.

Session 2: June 15-19, 20126

Spoon Carving (SESSION IS FULL!)

Led by Keenan Rowe

Come Learn the basics of spoon carving. Build skills and learn about the tools needed to create beautiful, functional, handmade spoons and other utensils. This class will focus on accessible tools so that participants can continue their spoon carving journey into the future.

Made to Fit: Jewelry for the Body (SESSION IS FULL!)

Led by Lydia Martin

In just one week, explore the magic of the jewelry and metalsmithing studio through the creation of a custom-fit ring. In this hands-on workshop, students will carve wax models to design and shape their own rings, which will be transformed into metal using sandcasting techniques. Participants will also learn the fundamentals of cast-in-place stone setting, allowing gemstones to be embedded directly into the casting process. By the end of the week, students will leave with a finished ring and a foundation in wax carving, sandcasting, cast-in-place stone setting, and professional finishing techniques. 

Handbuilding: Small Table Setting (SESSION IS FULL!)

Led by Elizabeth Smith

Introduction to basic handbuilding techniques with a focus on designing and building a small table setting to include a cup, dessert plate and small centerpiece item. The emphasis will be on making a unified set through both form and surface treatment.  If time allows we will surface the objects with slips and glaze and once fire them.

*Art History: At the Turn of the Century

Led by Dr. Lynne Larsen

In this Art History session, we will discuss art and architecture from the 1870s-1920s. We’ll learn about the Pre-Raphaelites, the Symbolists, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism as well as the styles of Art Nouveau, Art Deco, the Bauhaus school, and the Arts and Crafts Movement.

*All attendees of both Session 1 and 2  will participate in a daily 45 minute art lecture as part of the summer studio schedule. If you register to attend one of the studio sessions above, you will also attend Dr. Larsen’s Art at the Turn of the Century. Dr. Larsen has taught these sessions for the past two summers, and this component of the program has received rave reviews.