Five Ways to Continue Your Artistic Education

You’re never too old or too young to learn new things. If you didn’t know that before, well, see how easily it works? And with a little more effort – and the right teachers and classes – you can gain even greater knowledge and learn even more rewarding skills. You can do that right here in Austin, of course, whether in person, virtually, or via some convenient mix of those methods. And here are five local educational opportunities for enriching your abilities and expanding your experience of this complex life.

Brass Ovaries

This is the premier school for pole dancing in our River City. Let’s note that there are two things pole dancing isn’t. 1) It isn’t just about choreographed eroticism, although it can certainly enhance your career as a stripper. Besides its legitimacy as an art form and sport (think “thin and vertical pommel horse”), pole dancing’s an exercise that’ll increase your core strength like little else, and you’ll have fun while doing it. And 2) This vigorous, gravity-thwarting activity is not just for women. 6039 N. I-35. brass-ovaries.com

Blue Moon Glassworks

How about some silica-based creativity, right there in the heart of Hyde Park? The staff and guest teachers of this longtime neighborhood epicenter of glasswork will instruct you in the ways of stained glass and glass fusing and more, offering a variety of classes that’ll have you crafting objects of transparent beauty for gifting to lucky friends (or improving light’s quantum path through your own barely affordable dwelling). Glass is one of the most sublime materials, and the only thing better than a self-made mosaic, we’ll suggest, is a self-made mosaic you can literally see through. 108 W. 43rd. austinbluemoon.com

Atelier Dojo

Sure, you can appreciate the heady gambits of abstract art, but what you really want to do is learn how to draw and paint things that look real? That’s representational art, and, whether it’s representing objects or people, the professional artists of Atelier Dojo will school you in its methods from total newbie to full mastery of technique. There are ongoing classes in all aspects of skeuomorphic depiction using traditional tools and materials, and even multiclass courses of study available to get you where you want to be vis-à-vis realism. Bonus: This Atelier is located in the Eastside’s Canopy complex, a thriving hub of working creatives and galleries and workshops. 916 Springdale, Bldg. 2, Ste. 106-B. atelierdojo.com

Sky Candy

Did we refer to pole dancing as “gravity-thwarting” earlier? How about going a magnitude further? How about learning to dance in a way that’s almost gravity-denying? Sky Candy is where terpsichore becomes amazingly aerial, with students learning to express themselves via movement in the middle of nothing at all – supported by ropes or silks, hoops or harls, embodying kinesis from the ceiling on down, weaving motion in a way that would put that dear Charlotte A. Cavatica to shame. 1023 Springdale Ste. 8-A. skycandyaustin.com

Austin Bat Cave

Here’s where you can take that story – or that idea you’ve had for a story – and turn it into something others will want to read as well. The Bat Cave’s coterie of wordsmiths are relentless crafters of narrative and literary potential, and they offer instruction – including video classes, for your asynchronous, learn-from-home convenience – to help you herd your words and hone your tone until it’s pretty much irresistible. Fiction, nonfiction, essay, or yarn – this team will let you tell what you need told, moving your personal expression beyond the merely abecedarian. austinbatcave.org

Five Ways to Continue Your Artistic Education

This article appears in February 4 • 2022.