Renaissance Classical Art School
Renaissance Classical Art School Art Studio, 1213 Butterfield Rd, 2nd floor, Wheaton, IL 60189
About
Renaissance Classical Art School offers academic drawing and painting, color theory, composition, and sketching, with a focus on drawing from life. Students work with old masters technique, painting in gouache, still-life and landscape painting, and sketching real household objects, animals, buildings, landscapes, cityscapes, and people. The school also offers pre-academic classes, academic classes, portfolio preparation, and adult art classes.
• Ages: 9–18 years old
The Renaissance Art School states that drawing is the foundation of everything done at the school and describes its approach as a systematic European formal art school approach. The school uses sight-size technique and focuses on drawing from life, with students taught to stand back from the easel and depict the subject in proportion true to life. Students begin painting training in gouache with still-lifes, geometric shapes, and drapes, using a limited palette and grisaille before moving to full color for still-lifes and landscapes, and they learn color values, composition, and how to paint textures such as wood, metal, leather, fruits, and flowers.
The school offers a pre-academic program called “Little Michelangelos” for kids 9–11 years old and a pre-academic program for kids 9–12 years old, and it does not accept kids younger than 12 years of age for the academic program. The academic program for kids from 12 years old includes both visual and structural drawing, and there is an entrance test required for the academic program and art portfolio preparation for ages 12–99. An entrance exam lesson is required for all kids classes, and a test lesson is required for registration.
For the introductory test lesson, students must know all geometric shapes in 2D and 3D and understand the meaning of symmetry. When scheduling the test or trial lesson for the academic program, parents are asked to text 5–6 recent artworks, and the same is requested for enrollment in the Little Michelangelos program. All studio visits are by appointment only, with no walk-ins allowed.
The minimum attendance requirement for all programs is 4 hours at the studio and approximately 3–6 hours of homework per week, totaling 200+ hours a year, and there are no refunds for missed classes, with students required to make up required program hours. The school states that sketching from life is a very essential addition to the art education, favors impressionist and realism techniques, and will help students who prefer photo-realism. The Renaissance Art School is dedicated to the highest standards of draftsmanship and states that it is the only art school in IL and US with a classical academic art program for kids, and also states: “We are serious about art and we make a difference! We raise true artists!” The years 2017–2026 are listed as © 2017-2026 by RENAISSANCE Classical Art School LLC.
Last updated May 27, 2026.
• Ages: 9–18 years old
The Renaissance Art School states that drawing is the foundation of everything done at the school and describes its approach as a systematic European formal art school approach. The school uses sight-size technique and focuses on drawing from life, with students taught to stand back from the easel and depict the subject in proportion true to life. Students begin painting training in gouache with still-lifes, geometric shapes, and drapes, using a limited palette and grisaille before moving to full color for still-lifes and landscapes, and they learn color values, composition, and how to paint textures such as wood, metal, leather, fruits, and flowers.
The school offers a pre-academic program called “Little Michelangelos” for kids 9–11 years old and a pre-academic program for kids 9–12 years old, and it does not accept kids younger than 12 years of age for the academic program. The academic program for kids from 12 years old includes both visual and structural drawing, and there is an entrance test required for the academic program and art portfolio preparation for ages 12–99. An entrance exam lesson is required for all kids classes, and a test lesson is required for registration.
For the introductory test lesson, students must know all geometric shapes in 2D and 3D and understand the meaning of symmetry. When scheduling the test or trial lesson for the academic program, parents are asked to text 5–6 recent artworks, and the same is requested for enrollment in the Little Michelangelos program. All studio visits are by appointment only, with no walk-ins allowed.
The minimum attendance requirement for all programs is 4 hours at the studio and approximately 3–6 hours of homework per week, totaling 200+ hours a year, and there are no refunds for missed classes, with students required to make up required program hours. The school states that sketching from life is a very essential addition to the art education, favors impressionist and realism techniques, and will help students who prefer photo-realism. The Renaissance Art School is dedicated to the highest standards of draftsmanship and states that it is the only art school in IL and US with a classical academic art program for kids, and also states: “We are serious about art and we make a difference! We raise true artists!” The years 2017–2026 are listed as © 2017-2026 by RENAISSANCE Classical Art School LLC.
Last updated May 27, 2026.
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