Spark your curiosity + expand your creativity

SPRING 2025

Photo | Film | Animation | illustration

Venice Arts’ workshops in photography, filmmaking, animation, and narrative illustration, for youth ages 10-18, will spark your curiosity and expand your creativity, while you develop projects using high quality equipment and software. Teens also receive support for college and creative career pathways, scholarships, awards, and more!

Field trips, and in-class activities will support young people to express their unique perspectives. All materials and equipment are provided!

10 week workshops

(FULL)

10 week workshops will meet once a week for 10 consecutive weeks. All students will have a chance to showcase their completed work at our culminating celebration on May 10th.

TuesdayS

4-6pm

  • Over 10 weeks students will develop their technical animation skills and experiment with techniques such as: charcoal animation, flip books, zoetropes, and more while completing “The Garden”. In this beginning-intermediate animation workshop students will tell unique personal stories/experiences using the animation skills they’ll learn each week. Students will gain an understanding  of a wide ground of drawing methods, cartoon logic, and the effective use of sound. Presentations of work by relevant historic and contemporary animators will be shared; giving students exposure to diverse approaches to personal and creative storytelling while building their ability to look critically at art and to engage in discussion with their peers. 

Saturday mornings

  • In this beginning media arts workshop , students will make contributions to the class’s group project, “a day in the life”. But wait, there’s a twist! Each team will swap stories to direct another team in re-enacting their original mini-story. Each student will take turns assisting and leading, as they collaborate to complete an experimental video project. Through experimentation, play, and reflection, teams will discover how to tell stories that are relevant to themselves and their peers. Over the 10 weeks students will also learn the basics of visual storytelling while briefly exploring a variety of media techniques including photography, filmmaking, illustration, and animation. Presentation of work by relevant historic and contemporary artists will be shared; giving students exposure to diverse approaches to personal and creative storytelling while building their ability to look critically at art and to engage in discussion with their peers. 

  • In this beginning-intermediate photography workshop,  students will focus their lenses on the abundance of nature in Los Angeles while exploring their personal relationship with nature. Over the 10 weeks students will advance their photography skills through hands-on assignments focused on exploring the intersection of urban environments and natural spaces.

    Students will develop technical skills and explore creative possibilities, deepening their storytelling capabilities to complete a group project. Presentations of work by relevant historic and contemporary photographers  will be shared; giving students exposure to diverse approaches to personal and creative storytelling while building their ability to look critically at art and to engage in discussion with their peers. 

10 am - noon

Saturday afternoons

1 - 3pm

  • During this beginning media arts workshop students will learn how to convey powerful stories centered on the theme of belonging. This workshop emphasizes the role of media arts in expressing personal identity and connection; fostering a deeper understanding of how visuals can communicate shared experiences. Over the course of 10 weeks students will consider what "belonging" means to them; their own experiences of connection and inclusion, what it feels like, and how it might be visually represented. Students will reflect on how their personal background, culture, or experiences shape their sense of belonging; and environments that foster connection. From storyboarding to editing, students will work together to translate these ideas, feelings, and spaces into an animated narrative while exploring a range of media techniques. Presentation of work by relevant historic and contemporary artists will be shared; giving students exposure to diverse approaches to personal and creative storytelling while building their ability to look critically at art and to engage in discussion with their peers. 

February 19 - May 6, 2025

No Class: Spring Break April 15- 19, 2025

Advanced workshops

(FULL)

February 8 - May 3, 2025 

Advance workshops are students who have been studying in their chosen medium for at least two years. These workshops are for students dedicated to attending all 24 weeks (12 fall / 12 spring) in order to complete an impactful project and build their portfolios. New students may be asked to provide supplemental materials such as examples of work and proof of attendance in related arts programs. 

No Class: Spring Break April 15-19

Saturdays

1 - 4pm

Grades 9- 12

Ages 15 - 18

  • Overview

    This advanced workshop is designed for students who have prior photography experience. Students will deepen their skills and knowledge in photography while conceiving and creating an independent or small group project around a chosen theme/subject and investigating techniques and stories that are personally meaningful to them. Presentations of work by significant historic and contemporary photographers will be shared giving students exposure to diverse approaches to personal and creative storytelling and students will build their ability to look critically at images and to engage in discussion with their peers.  Critique of student work will further develop an understanding of the medium and each student’s personal, aesthetic interests. Over the 24 weeks, students will develop an independent portfolio, portions of which will be included in the Culminating Exhibition at the end of the academic year.

    Students may need to work on their projects outside of class time to allow for critique and workshoping their project during class time.

    Project Description

    Over the course of the workshop students will learn about the history of Japanese Internment during WWII and focus on how these events impact(ed) Los Angeles and our fellow community members. Students will research, photograph, and write about the connection between the internment, the resistance to forced removal, and how these stories impact and reflect contemporary life on a personal, local, and national level. This will include interviews with elders and  field trips to historical sites including an overnight trip to Manzanar National Historic Site in Independence, California. At the end of the workshop students will complete a zine that reveals these connections to their own lives, write about what they’ve learned, and imagine a better future. The zine as well as a selection of their photographs will be displayed at the Culminating Celebration at Venice Arts as well as featured at the Venice Heritage Museum. 

  • Overview

    This advanced film workshop  is designed for students who have prior filmmaking experience. Students will deepen their skills and knowledge in filmmaking while they collaboratively consider how to explore the chosen theme/topic through varying contexts, points of view and historical perspectives. Students will be encouraged to investigate techniques and stories that are personally meaningful to them. Presentations of work by significant historic and contemporary filmmakers will be shared, giving students exposure to diverse approaches to personal and creative storytelling and students will build their ability to look critically at images and to engage in discussion with their peers. Critique of student work will further develop an understanding of the medium and each student’s personal, aesthetic interests. Over the 24 weeks, students will develop a short film which will be included in the Culminating Exhibition at the end of the academic year.

    Students may need to work on their projects outside of class time to allow for critique and workshoping their film during class time.

    Project Description

    Over the course of the workshop students will be filmmaking through the subject of Los Angeles; its history, diverse communities and their contemporary stories. Students will utilize film language, in-camera techniques and editing to develop and express their distinct directorial voice through collaborative and independent short film projects.