About
Renaissance Classical Art School offers academic drawing, academic painting, sketching, color theory, composition, and old masters technique, with drawing as the foundation of all instruction. The program includes pre-academic classes, academic classes, adult art classes, and art portfolio preparation, with painting based on proven classical techniques that begin in gouache. Students use sight-size technique, focus on drawing from life, and progress from a limited palette and grisaille to full color for still lifes and landscapes, with sketching from life as an essential part of the program and work from real household objects, animals, buildings, landscapes, cityscapes, and people.
• Ages: 9–18 years old
The Renaissance Art School states that it is dedicated to the highest standards of draftsmanship. The school notes that it is the only art school in Illinois and the United States with a classical academic art program for kids and that it is serious about art and raises what it calls “true artists.” The pre-academic program “Little Michelangelos” is for kids 9–11 years old, and from ages 9–12 the school offers preparatory classes under the Little Michelangelos page, while the academic program for kids from 12 years old includes both visual and structural drawing. The school does not accept kids younger than 12 years old into the formal academic program because it states that the formal approach is not the best choice for young minds.
The school requires a test lesson or entrance exam lesson for all kids’ classes, including Little Michelangelos and the academic program and art portfolio preparation for ages 12–99. For the entrance test, families are asked to text 5–6 recent artworks such as drawings, paintings, doodles, art copies, cartoons, sketches, crafts, scribbles, or digital art, and the same type of submission is required for Little Michelangelos enrollment. Students must know all geometric shapes in 2D and 3D and understand the meaning of symmetry for the best experience with the introductory test lesson, and for students 15 and older the introductory lesson is presented as an opportunity to see if the formal approach fits their needs. Attendance requirements for all programs are a minimum of 4 hours at the studio each week and approximately 3–6 hours of homework, totaling about 200 or more hours a year, and the school states that there are no refunds for missed classes and asks students to make up required program hours. The school specifies that there are strictly no walk-ins and that all studio visits are by appointment only, and it notes that its program history runs from 2017 to 2025.
Last updated February 5, 2026.
• Ages: 9–18 years old
The Renaissance Art School states that it is dedicated to the highest standards of draftsmanship. The school notes that it is the only art school in Illinois and the United States with a classical academic art program for kids and that it is serious about art and raises what it calls “true artists.” The pre-academic program “Little Michelangelos” is for kids 9–11 years old, and from ages 9–12 the school offers preparatory classes under the Little Michelangelos page, while the academic program for kids from 12 years old includes both visual and structural drawing. The school does not accept kids younger than 12 years old into the formal academic program because it states that the formal approach is not the best choice for young minds.
The school requires a test lesson or entrance exam lesson for all kids’ classes, including Little Michelangelos and the academic program and art portfolio preparation for ages 12–99. For the entrance test, families are asked to text 5–6 recent artworks such as drawings, paintings, doodles, art copies, cartoons, sketches, crafts, scribbles, or digital art, and the same type of submission is required for Little Michelangelos enrollment. Students must know all geometric shapes in 2D and 3D and understand the meaning of symmetry for the best experience with the introductory test lesson, and for students 15 and older the introductory lesson is presented as an opportunity to see if the formal approach fits their needs. Attendance requirements for all programs are a minimum of 4 hours at the studio each week and approximately 3–6 hours of homework, totaling about 200 or more hours a year, and the school states that there are no refunds for missed classes and asks students to make up required program hours. The school specifies that there are strictly no walk-ins and that all studio visits are by appointment only, and it notes that its program history runs from 2017 to 2025.
Last updated February 5, 2026.
Is this your business? There is no cost, but you will be asked to sign up or log in.