Adult Classes & Workshops
Sawtooth offers hands-on classes and workshops for adults of all skill levels — from one-day intensives to multi-week studio courses spanning ceramics, textiles, metalwork, painting, and more. Whether you're picking up a brush for the first time or deepening an existing practice, there's a place for you here.
Winston-Salem’s Creative Hub
Founded in 1945, Sawtooth School for Visual Art is a nonprofit community art school serving generations of artists and creative people in Winston-Salem, NC. We offer over 1,000 classes and workshops annually across 11 different mediums for all ages, skill levels, and backgrounds. We have established ourselves as a creative hub in the region, helping artists develop their skills and enabling the general public to explore their creative potential.
In addition to our historic downtown campus—a converted textile factory brimming with natural light from abundant skylights—we operate two dedicated studios at the Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness near Wake Forest University. We also promote creativity through community outreach endeavors for all ages, such as our Art + Wellness program, which has been running for over ten years and serves patients, survivors, and caregivers facing critical illness.
Classes We Offer
Ceramics
Throw, build, and fire in our fully-equipped downtown studios — with 19 potters' wheels, multiple kilns, and a wood-fired pavilion, there's a place here for every stage of your ceramics journey.
Glass
Discover the beauty of working with glass through fusing, lampworking, stained glass mosaics and more. Explore a wide range of techniques using specialized tools and equipment in a creative studio environment.
Textiles
Honoring the building's textile heritage, our fiber studio offers classes in weaving, dyeing, felting, spinning, and beyond for makers of all backgrounds and experience levels.
Drawing + Painting
From oil painting and watercolor to life drawing and calligraphy, our light-filled historic studios offer a rich range of classes for artists at every level.
Books + Printmaking
Get hands-on with monoprint, letterpress, screenprinting, etching, and more — including Open Studio hours and Community Print Nights on our beloved Vandercook press, "The Empress."
Wood
From green woodworking to furniture construction and turning, our welcoming woodworking studio is a place to learn, experiment, and create alongside a community of curious makers.
Photography
Whether you're shooting digitally or developing film in one of the last darkroom programs in the state, our working-photographer instructors will help you find and refine your visual voice.
Digital Arts
Explore the creative frontier where art meets technology — learn to craft digital paintings, animations, and illustrations using the latest software and tools.
Metals + Lapidary
From jewelry fabrication and lost wax casting to stone-setting and enameling, our metals studio is where technical skill meets creative exploration.
Taste of Art Fridays
Join our Taste of Art courses to create colorful pottery, wooden cutting boards, copper bracelets, macrame plant hangers, and more—all in a few hours with no experience needed! These are perfect for date nights or family gatherings, welcoming everyone into the studio regardless of skill level. We believe in your creative potential and strive to make these workshops accessible and approachable for all!
Class Formats
Single-Session Workshops
Our single-session workshops are the perfect place for complete beginners to explore their creative potential.
1-3 Day Workshops
Discover a new, unique technique or experiment with a completely different approach, and enhance your skills in our short-term workshops.
Multi-Week Classes
These classes typically meet on the same day and time each week during a season-long session, with options in the morning, afternoon, and evening.
Support Our Work
Your donation helps fund scholarships, expand programming, and keep our studios open to everyone. Every gift keeps creativity alive in Winston-Salem.