Class Schedule & Enrollment
Winter 2026
Winter Class Semester: Weeks of January 19 through March 8, 2026
General Enrollment: starts November17, 2025 at 10:00am
Jump to medium/Discipline Descriptions:
Children’s Classes
Teen Classes
Adult Classes
More About Children’s Classes
Kids learn through play, and at the Firehouse Art Center, they play through creative exploration. Led by experienced faculty trained in teaching and tailoring curricula to specific age groups, our children’s classes are designed for young learners ages 2-14. Classes provide a robust early foundation in artistic mediums and techniques, giving kids the confidence to keep creating. Young artists experiment with an array of methods and materials, including printmaking, painting, drawing, and sculpting. Each class centers on a unique theme, connecting what the students learn in the studio to master artists, classical works, historical context, and cultural traditions.
The Firehouse is committed to a strong emphasis on primary art education. From our Art After School (AAS) courses to our Children’s Summer Art Program (CSAP), our children’s art education programming follows a structured curriculum based on Oklahoma Academic Standards for Fine Arts: Visual Arts guidelines.
The Importance of Early Art Education
Early art education has a powerful effect on the social and emotional development of children. Kids engaged in arts activities form stronger self-regulation, empathy, peer interaction skills, and a healthier sense of self. Arts education is closely linked to more positive academic outcomes, greater cognitive growth and creativity, and an enhanced ability to solve complex problems - benefits that go well beyond the classroom.
More About Teen Art Classes
Teens thrive when they’re given room to explore who they are, what they care about, and how they want to express it, and at the Firehouse Art Center, we create that space with intention. Our Teen Classes are designed for artists ages 13-18 in middle and high school who are ready to deepen their skills, develop their artistic voice, and gain confidence in their creative choices. From ceramics, printmaking, mixed-media and more, students work with instructors who guide them through foundational concepts in composition, form, color, material, and technique. Just as importantly, these classes connect teens with a supportive community of peers—an environment where emerging young artists can experiment freely, learn collaboratively, and discover an artistic process true to them.
The Impact of Art Education on Teens
Art education during the teen years plays a transformative role in emotional, social, and cognitive development. Creative practice offers a healthy outlet for adolescents who are managing the challenges of navigating identity, independence, personal expression, and the growing complexity of school, relationships, and responsibilities. Through art, teens learn to process emotion, build resilience, and express thoughts and experiences that may be difficult to articulate verbally. Structured studio practice also strengthens critical-thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving skills, abilities that translate directly into academic confidence and long-term personal growth.
Adult Art Classes
The Firehouse Art Center offers a vibrant and welcoming place to learn, create, and grow. Adults can explore a wide range of mediums including ceramics, painting and drawing, fiber arts, glass, jewelry and metalsmithing, photography, and printmaking.
Firehouse faculty bring a high level of experience and training to every class, focusing on hands-on instruction tailored to the needs, goals, and interests of each student. Our small class sizes emphasize community and allow instructors to give individualized instruction to students.
Classes focus on creative expression and technical mastery, reflecting our longstanding commitment to creative arts education.
The Value of Art Education for Adults
Arts contribute positively to individual health, well-being, and creativity, and unify communities through common activities. Studies consistently show that engagement in the arts enhances problem-solving skills, strengthens focus, and supports overall mental and emotional well-being. For many adults, returning to or discovering the arts invites a renewed sense of curiosity, play, and personal fulfillment that enriches both daily life and long-term personal development.
The Firehouse’s adult programs are designed to cultivate not only artistic skill but also community. We empower adults to expand their skills, strengthen their creative voice, and build lasting confidence in their artistic journey.
Adult Classes by Medium/Discipline
Whether you’re looking to try a new medium, return to an old passion, or nurturing a long-term artistic practice, you’ll find the right entry point to excel at the Firehouse. Every medium is taught by experienced faculty who guide you through foundational skills, meaningful historical context, and personalized project development so you can follow your curiosity and connect with a community of fellow creators.
Medium/Discipline Options
Ceramics and Clay
Our ceramics program spans wheel-throwing, hand-building, glazing, and sculpture work. Beginners learn the full pottery lifecycle, from centering clay on the wheel and pulling walls to trimming feet and applying glaze. Intermediate and advanced students widen their focus to include stacked forms, closed vessels, complex handles and spouts, and experimental glazes. Students work in our dedicated ceramics studio with professional potters who emphasize both craftsmanship and creative voice within a community environment.
Students enrolled in ceramic courses are able to access the space outside of class times during Studio Hours, posted each semester.
If you’re looking to push your technical limits while polishing your individual aesthetic, explore one of our ceramics workshops, where you can experiment with new surface techniques, advanced wheel work, or specialty glazing methods designed to elevate your practice.
Painting and Drawing
In our painting and drawing classes, you’ll explore watercolor, acrylics, oils, and mixed media with an emphasis on technical mastery and expressive development. At the foundational level, students focus on composition, color mixing, and medium handling, such as acrylic landscapes, cover underpaintings, drybrush techniques, and glazing. Whether you're sketching from life, layering oils, or mixing media, you’ll build both technical tool-kits and creative confidence.
Looking to sharpen your style or try a new medium? Pair your class with a focused painting or drawing workshop to deepen technique, expand your artistic vocabulary, and keep your creative momentum growing.
Printmaking
Printmaking provides an introduction to relief printing, screenprinting, monotype, and experimental techniques. Explore linocut, wood block relief, monoprinting, cyanotype, screenprinting, and more across a variety of courses. You’ll work with professional printing presses under the instruction of skilled printmakers who guide the full process, from image conception, registration, inking, to editioning. You’ll walk away with original printed works, increased control of process, and a deeper understanding of print media as a contemporary art form.
To broaden your printmaking toolkit even further, join a printmaking workshop. You’ll have the opportunity to explore additional processes, specialty materials, and new printing methods that sharpen technique and strengthen your portfolio.
Glass Arts
Our glass classes cover kiln formed fused glass techniques. All levels are welcome: new students are introduced to fusible glass, kiln slumping, and safety protocols, and advanced classes let you refine color palettes, create larger slabs or vessels, and define a personal voice in glass. Led by experienced instructors in our glass studio, you’ll access specialized equipment and enjoy hands-on instruction.
Jewelry and Metalsmithing
Our Jewelrymaking studio introduces students of all skill levels to the art of metal jewelry fabrication. Beginners gain experience in sawing, forming, soldering, texturing, and torch-work, crafting pendants or earrings with instructor support. Intermediate and advanced sections expand into complex structures, artisan‐level finishes, and custom projects under the guidance of expert metalsmiths. Materials are provided and classes include workbench time, demonstrations, and individualized instructor feedback.
Fiber and Textiles
Explore embroidery, wool felting, sewing, and more. Instructors help you not only build strong technique but also focus on personal goals. You’ll join a community of makers working with cloth, thread, and wool in meaningful ways.
For more ways to enrich your creative direction, explore a fiber or textile workshop, where you can experiment with new materials, advanced stitches, or sculptural approaches.
Photography
Photography at the Firehouse welcomes all camera types—DSLR, mirrorless, or smartphone—and focuses on composition, lighting, editing, and mixed-media outcomes. Learn camera basics, image theory, and field composition (with outings on-site and around Norman), while finding your photographic voice. Expert instructors will offer professional critique and guide you as you build a portfolio of compelling images.
If you’d like to expand your creative eye or sharpen your editing, our photography workshops provide hands-on practice in lighting, composition, and technical skills in environments across Oklahoma.
Healing Studio
Healing art classes at the Firehouse bring creativity and wellness together, offering adults with varying degrees of cognitive, physical, and learning disabilities meaningful ways to explore emotional expression, personal renewal, and the connective power of community. Students work through a range of expressive mediums—individually and in groups—supported by instructors experienced in adaptive accessibility and community practice. These classes invite participants to use creativity for reflection, connection, and confidence-building.
Every year, the Firehouse Gallery hosts an exhibition featuring the work of Healing Studio participants, an experience that has become incredibly important for the validation of the students, both as artists and as valued members of our community. This is the program’s biggest source of community support, with gallery attendees providing encouragement and recognition to the artists, while experiencing art as a fundamental expression of health and diversity.
The Firehouse also extends this work through Healing Outreach, bringing art instruction directly to individuals in assisted living centers. These sessions ensure that community members who may have limited mobility or access to creative opportunities can still experience the emotional, cognitive, and social benefits of art-making.
Curriculum & Impact
The Firehouse Art Center offers in-house visual art education annually to over 1,200 children, teens, and adults. Over 40 classes are offered by our talented faculty each semester in a variety of mediums, for all artistic aptitudes and skill levels. Classes focus on developing self-expression, building technical skills, and studying art history and the works of master artists, with particular attention given to the individual needs and interests of each student.
The Firehouse's children's art education programming additionally follows the Firehouse's Creating with the Masters and Oklahoma Academic Standards for Fine Arts: Visual Arts guidelines. During the past decade, the Firehouse's strong approach towards primary education curriculum has been recognized with the Governor's Award for Arts in Education and the Norman Arts Council's Fowler Arts Education Award.