Art Classes in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, in the city of Boston, is a neighborhood that is extremely supportive of the arts. Independent galleries, photography studios, and shops selling hand made jewelry, furniture, glassware, crafts and other arts are abundant along Centre and South streets, which run through the heart of the neighborhood. The “Jamaica Plain Open Studios” events are enormously popular- galleries, studios, and even the homes of artists are thrown open to the public annually and a large percentage of the community comes out to support their local artists and experience their art. This liberal, diverse, somewhat upscale bohemian meets working class hipster area is proud of its artists, and likes to show them off at events throughout the year.
So it’s surprising that there is not a plethora of art schools, independent classes and community centers offering instruction.
Fortunately, there is one very fine school in Jamaica Plain, which has been an institution in the Boston neighborhood for centuries. The Eliot School of Fine and Applied Arts on Eliot Street offers a comprehensive curriculum for the artist who wants to hone certain aspects of his or her skills or the beginner with a yen.
The Eliot School is located in the heard of Jamaica Plain, just behind “The Monument” where South and Centre Streets meet, and appropriately is across the street from the Footlight Club, which is America’s oldest community theater. The Eliot School was founded in 1676, and is one of the “oldest continuously running educational institutions in the country”. (The Eliot Street School website) The current site was built in 1832, and “provides students with classroom space, a fully-equipped wood shop, a sewing room, and landscaped grounds”. (The Eliot Street School website) The school can be easily accessed by the MBTA Orange Line (Forest Hills station) or the 39 bus.
Offering a diverse catalog of classes, the Eliot School of Fine and Applied Arts has classes for adults and children. The instructors are professional artists and master craftspeople. For adults, the courses include Watercolor Painting, Woodworking, Open Woodshop, Painting, Life Drawing, Furniture Finishing, Upholstery, Stained Glass Making, Gilding and Frame Restoration, and Sewing and Alteration. For the kids, there are classes in Arts and Crafts, Woodworking, Drawing, Jewelry Making, Sewing, and a Woodworking Workshop class.
There are also workshops in Poloroid Transfer, Visual Journaling, Cold Process Soap Making, Bookbinding Basics, Woodturning Basics, Glycerin Soap Making, Dovetailing, and Art Critique. All courses and workshops are open to the public.
Most adult classes run in sessions of one class per week for twelve weeks. Prices range from $200 to $220 per sessions. There are some drop-in classes available, which charge a drop-in rate (about $40.00). Classes for kids cost between $120 and $160 per session, and also run twelve weeks. The workshops, which are single courses, range in price from $45 to $75.
Annually, the Eliot School holds a Crafts Fair, where artists and students display and sell their works. This fair is well supported by the community. The Eliot school is a treasure in this neighborhood so rich in artistic endowments.
The Eliot School of Fine and Applied Arts
24 Eliot Street
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Phone: (617) 524-3313
www.eliotschool.org
