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Sarratt Studio Arts

Ten Week Class Schedule

 

Sarratt Art Studio Classes are available to Vanderbilt Students (Undergrad through PhD) and Vanderbilt University Faculty/Staff. We are pleased to announce that the art studio program is available to Vanderbilt University Medical Center employees and the Nashville Community.

How to Purchase Seats for Art Classes: 

* Go to Vanderbilt Events 

*To Log In:  Vanderbilt Community  – Select the link that says ‘Click here to log in with your VUnetID’ to see available discounts! 

  • This step is very important. The Vanderbilt Community will not be able to see any art classes available until they log in with their VUnetID 
  • VUMC Employees – Use VUMCART in the Promo Code at the left.
  • Nashville Community – Use NASHART in the Promo Code Box at the left
  • Select the ‘Sarratt Art Studios’ tab across the top of the page to see all available classes 
  • Select ‘Buy’ on the class you would like to purchase, and proceed to checkout using desired payment method After purchase, the buyer will receive an email from noreply@boxoffice.vanderbilt.edu with confirmation of order with an order number sent to their Vanderbilt email address 

Any questions or concerns with purchasing can be directed to sarrattboxoffice@vanderbilt.edu. 

How to Request a Refund: 

All refund requests, regardless of payment type, must be sent to sarrattboxoffice@vanderbilt.edu. Please include your name, order number, and payment method when requesting a refund.  

 Please review our refund and transfer policies on the “how to register” Page as there are changes to refund procedures.

 

SPRING 2026 ART SCHEDULE 

Registration for the Vanderbilt Community will open on Friday, November 21, 2025 at 9:00am. Registration for VU Medical Center and the Nashville Community will open on Friday November 28, 2025 at 9:00am. Classes begin the week of January 26, 2026 meeting once a week for 10 weeks. The Studios are closed for Spring Break March 7 – 15, 2026
**PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE**
**SARRATT ART STUDIO CLASSES ARE BEGINNING LEVEL, UNLESS MARKED AS INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED.  STUDENTS OF ALL EXPERIENCES ARE WELCOME TO JOIN A BEGINNING LEVEL CLASS**

 

10 WEEK COURSES

Tuition – $225.00  Includes Supplies For A 10 Week Course**  

CLAY

wheel thrown bowl by David Heustess

One of the most popular art mediums, we are pleased to offer a program that includes wheel throwing and hand building/scuplture techniques in clay. Sarratt Art Studios has a low fire clay studio with clay, glazes, a slab roller, extruder, pottery wheels, work tables, shelving for student work and electric kilns. The clay class you’ve always wanted to try and we are a great place for that first experience or to continue your explorations in this medium. All clay classes meet in Sarratt 129.

Monday * Beginning Pottery on the Wheel 6:00 – 8:00pm with Kim Defreece
Tuesday * Beginning Pottery on the Wheel 11:00am – 1:00pm with John Sellberg
Tuesday * Intermediate/Advanced Pottery 3:00 – 5:00pm with John Sellberg
Tuesday * Beginning Pottery on the Wheel 6:00 – 8:00pm with Jin Chen
Wednesday *Beginning Pottery on the Wheel 6:00 – 8:00pm with Lantana Grub
Thursday *Beginning Pottery on the Wheel 3:00 – 5:00pm with Abigail Plunk

 

 

DRAWING AND PAINTING

Drawing and painting are the foundation courses to studying and exploring art. Through pencil, ink, paints and even collage students explore creating lines, working 3 dimensionally, and exploring different ways “to see” objects and the world around us. Time in a drawing and painting class is also a great creative outlet from a busy world and builds on other mediums in art. Drawing and Painting classes meet in Sarratt 128.

 

watercolor by Dave Wilson

Tuesday *Beginning Watercolor 6:00 – 8:00pm with Dave Wilson
Thursday * Beginning Drawing 6:00 – 8:00pm with Dave Wilson

JEWELRY

Jewelry is decorative items worn for personal adornment, often made from precious metals and stones.  Jewelers create items such as rings, pendants, chains, brooches, bracelets and earrings.  Students in this class will work primarily with copper to learn the skills and to explore their own design aesthetic. Techniques range from “cold techniques” which include sawing, texturing and riveting to “hot techniques” which involves using a torch to join pieces of metal together. Jewelry classes meet in Sarratt Room 128.

Wednesday * Introduction to Jewelry Design 11:00am – 1:00pm with Nancie Roark
Wednesday * Introduction to Jewelry Design 6:00 – 8:00pm with Nancie Roark

BOOK ARTS

Travel the world through paper and time in this immersive bookbinding workshop. Designed for all skill levels, this class explores a variety of historical and cultural bookbinding techniques from across the globe. Projects include the modern Midori Traveler’s Journal from Japan, traditional Japanese Stab Binding, Coptic stitch from early Christian Egypt, Chinese Thread Book (Zhen Xian Bao), the dynamic Turkish Map Fold, elegant French Link binding, the versatile Longstitch from Europe, and the innovative Australian Reverse Piano Hinge. Book Arts classes meet in Sarratt 128.

Monday *Around the World in Books: A Global Tour of Bookbinding Traditions   6:00 – 8:00pm with Sandy DeWald

 

PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography is the art of capturing images using light and a camera. The word “photography” comes from the Greek words photo (light) and graph (to draw). Our photography darkrooms are set up with equipment and chemistry to explore the world of black and white photography. We are also able to explore cyanotype photography well know for it’s blue color and is one of the first photo techniques developed. Other materials and mixed media can be explored by students as well. Students in photography classes provide their own cameras. A basic Holga camera can purchased from various sources for around $40. Each student will receive: one roll of 120 b/w film, chemistry and use of equipment for darkroom and cyanotype processes, and photo paper for during class time. This class meets in Sarratt 123 and is limited to 6 people. 

.

Thursday *Holga Photography and Basic Darkroom Techniques       6:00 – 8:00pm with Hope Murphy

FIBER ARTS

Fiber arts is the crafting and manipulating of textiles and fabrics into the artists’ vision. Knitting, weaving, tufting, punch needling, quilting, sewing, and so many other forms fall under this subcategory. It is cross-disciplinary in historical and cultural techniques: the textile dyeing practice, batik, originating in Indonesia, the Indian block printing application, the significant usage of quilting within the Amish community. The medium spans centuries as the evidence of textile art dates back to prehistoric times, in almost every civilization. These classes will meet in Sarratt 123 and are limited to 6 people..

Tuesday * An Introduction to Fiber Arts Studio 3:00 – 5:00pm with David Heustess

Explore the world of fiber arts in this new course that introduces you to a variety of new techniques and materials. This class is designed so that every two weeks students are exploring and creating from mediums. Fiber arts incorporates a lot of techniques and these are examples of what may be explored during the semester:  tapestry, dyeing fabric, embroidery, book arts and crochet.

 

an example of Wedge Weave Tapestry by David Heustess

Thursday *Introduction to Tapestry Weaving 3:00 – 5:00pm with David Heustess.

Students in Introduction to Tapestry Weaving will work on small frame looms that are provided along with yarns for warp and weft. Starting with the basics of weaving and working through creating shapes – squares, triangles, and circles – students will explore creating their own designs and using cartoons to create unique small expressions in tapestry. Tapestry is an ancient weaving technique that is enjoying a revival and a new approach by today’s fiber artists working in this medium.

 

a shibori sampler

 *Secrets of Shibori and Indigo Dye – this course is offered summer and fall semesters

Shibori is a Japanese term used to describe the method of compressing fabric to resist the dye to create designs and patterns. Indigo is a dye that builds layers of blue on to the fabric and is a wonderful companion technique to shibori. These techniques are used all over the world with the first known shibori/indigo dyed fabric coming from Peru. The Japanese term is used since they were able to elevate the techniques to create elaborate designs for kimono and other Japanese garments. Both are considered ancient techniques but today’s fiber artist is finding new ways to create expressive and poignant works with these mediums.

Cancellation Policy

Sarratt Art Studios may cancel a course if there are not enough students registered. We will notify you in advance to offer a different class choice or issue a refund.

Refunds/Transfers

*Transfer requests must be made by email 5 business days prior to the start of a course. Transfers can only be honored if space is available in another course.

*Refund requests must be made within 5 business days prior to the start of the course. No refund will be issued after the start of the course for any reason. Choose carefully when you are signing up for a course and make sure you don’t have a conflict with the date or time. There are no refunds for Creation Stations but you may gift one to a friend.