Mainstreet Art Center Classes and Workshops

Mainstreet Art Center Classes and Workshops offers drawing and painting, including Drawing & Oil Painting, Pastels & Watercolor, Portrait Painting, and Just Drawing. Students can work on portraiture, still life, landscape painting, plein air painting, figure drawing, portraits from life, perspective drawing, palette knife techniques, and Plein Air. The program also offers specific workshops such as The Art of Animal Portraiture, Keeping It Fresh: Painting Figures from Photos, Abstract Florals and Landscapes in Pastel, Painting Dramatic Lighting Effects, Taking Your Paintings to the Next Level, Watercolor: The Artistic & Creative Process, Elevate your Portrait Painting, Mastering Flower Impressions!, Watercolor & Pastel: A Match Made in Heaven, Getting Comfortable with Gouache, Art & Your iPad: Intro to Procreate App, and Figure Drawing: Bring New Life to Your Painting, along with Open Studio, Workshops & Demos, and access to Frames & Art Supplies.

• Ages: 6–18 years old

Mainstreet Art Center Classes and Workshops is part of a school of fine art that has been open since 1994. The school offers classes in the fundamentals of drawing and painting, with a classical foundation in the principles of art. Students of all ages, from 6 to 96, attend weekly classes, and Mainstreet attracts students from across the Chicago area, northern Illinois, and southern Wisconsin. The professional staff of instructors have careers as artists, exhibit in galleries throughout the country, teach workshops, and appear in artists publications, and faculty members and visiting artists from around the world present special topic workshops.

Last updated January 16, 2026.