Classes begin
August 18th
Register now!
& Be ready for Tax-Free Weekend July 25-27
Choose from the Programs & Levels below. Each button opens a new registration Portal window with filtered results. You can reset the filters on the Portal to find exactly what you want. Let us know if you need help
schoolyear 2025-26
Session is mid-August through mid-May
Learn More Below
ART Classes
Everything You Need To Know About Our Main Schoolyear Art Program Is Below.
Drawing & Painting
Cartoon & Animation
Foundational Guide
Foundational
CONTENTS
❶ Class Description
❷ Art Courses
How it all works
❸ Weekly Schedule
Choose from 32 classes
❹ Art Supplies
The media we use & how to get it
❺ Costs
Tuition, registration, & supplies
❻ Firstlight
- What students and parents are saying about us.
- A Note from our founder, Dennas.
1
Class Description
Foundational Art
Beginner | Intermediate | Advanced
5 Age Groups
The long term course allows instructors to get to know the students, so we can help guide you towards your personal goals.
Subjects covered Include
Courses have 70 lessons, with 35 each school-year.
From Mid August to Mid May
(Please note that registration is a purchase of the yearly course.)
Classes meet once per week, for 1 hour and 45 minutes
What a typical class is like, start to finish
- Warmup – sketching
- Lesson insights & intro to project
- Prep materials & workspace
- Reference is chosen by each student
- Sketching with one-on-one help
- How-to – with demonstration
- Students work with one-on-one help
- Step 2 demonstration
- Final work & review of insights
- Cleanup
Every Lesson Centers On One Of The
Four Cornerstones Of Art
DRAWING accurately is easier with our 3-step method. We show you different PAINTING techniques in acrylic and watercolor. COLOR theory and pigment mixing is learned with our 10 different color journal lessons. Personal expression and STYLE comes through when you understand the principles of composition.
2
Art Courses
Two-Year Courses
Make-ups
If you miss a few classes, don’t worry. you can get a make-up token good for a free Saturday Art Buffet session (no more than one each month please). If you miss even more, you can purchase extra Saturday make-up sessions.
Saturday Art Buffet is once a month for ages 6-7, twice a month for adults, and almost every Saturday for ages 8 and up.
2
Art Courses
Two-Year
Courses
Make-ups
If you miss a few classes, don’t worry. you can get a make-up token good for a free Saturday Art Buffet session (no more than one each month please). If you miss even more, you can purchase extra Saturday make-up sessions. (free make up classes are not guaranteed, but we do our best to help you when you miss a class or two).
Saturday Art Buffet is once a month for ages 6-7, twice a month for adults, and almost every Saturday for ages 8 and up.
3
Weekly Schedule
31 Weekly Classes
> Foundational & Cartoon <
Zoom in to see details below
Foundations is designed for intermediate artists as well as beginners
4
Art Supplies
The materials we use
And More
Our supplies are on sale every day
15% Off
MSRP
We sell all the supplies you need
5
Costs
Tuition
Ages 8 and up, teens & adults
For Foundational & Cartooning
$1,482
2025/26 Schoolyear Course
Registration Fee: $40
– – – – –
$156 payments
10-payment Installment plan
($78 for August, plus 9 monthly
auto-drafts of $156 )
Registration Fee: $40
(Please note that a registration is a purchase of the entire yearly course. Monthly installment plans are not pay-as-you-go. See policies)
KidsART Ages 6 and 7
$1,356
2025/26 Schoolyear Course
Registration Fee: $40
– – – – –
$142 payments
10-payment Installment plan
($78 for August, plus 9 monthly
auto-drafts of $142)
Registration Fee: $40
(Please note that a registration is a purchase of the entire yearly course. Monthly installment plans are not pay-as-you-go. See policies.)
Supplies
Supplies will last for one school year. Some things like cases and palette knives will last years.
6
Firstlight
What customers say
“After going to Firstlight, when I went off to [art school], I already knew most of what they were teaching for the first couple of years.”
Olivia, is one of our first students, who attended Firstlight for 12 years.
Tap for more testimonials
“Art class is the highlight of his week!”
Parent of 6 year old
“They both said they loved all the activities and couldn’t point out a favorite. We most definitely will take part next summer and can recommend it to others wholeheartedly. Thanks for everything.”
Hannah, Parent
“When I pick her up from class, she asks me if she can have art class every day after school!”
Parent of 12 year old
“I realized not only that she was being taught the same things I learned in art school, but that she was getting it — at only age 9. Your ability to translate it into fun for kids is wonderful.”
Shea, Parent and student
“We feel so blessed to have discovered first light. She enjoys class so much”
Allyson, Parent of 9 year old
Tap to open message
If you’re looking for an art class that sends home a lot of pretty pictures, this isn’t it.
Art teachers often feel the pressure for attractive results, but in truth, learning takes experimentation, and what’s produced at first is mostly practice work.
A common method art teachers use, is having students follow along as they do their own work. However, this doesn’t enable artists or help them express their vision. It’s better to learn core insights that apply to all your work instead of following a series of steps for only one picture – that isn’t even your own. We explain insights and techniques, and we’ll demonstrate often, but we don’t do follow-along lessons.
We tell all of our students that there is no way to make a mistake when making art, because everything you do teaches you something. Your work will be either be a Learner, or a Keeper. Usually there are more Learners in the first few years. Making Learners, or practice work, is what keeps every artist growing, even the most experienced professionals.
Dennas
Drawing & Painting
Section TWO
Cartooning Art
Cartooning
CONTENTS
❶ Class Description
Cartoon classes
❷ Art Courses ^ (above)
How it works – Takes you up to the Foundational section. Same information.
❸ Weekly Schedule ^ (above)
Choose from 4 classes
– Takes you up to the Foundational section. Chart shows all classes.
❹ Art Supplies
The cartooning supplies & how to get it
❺ Costs ^ (above)
Tuition, registration, & supplies
– Takes you up to the Foundational section for same information.
❻ Firstlight ^ (above)
- What students and parents are saying about us.
- A Note from our founder, Dennas.
1
Class Description
Beginner & Intermediate:
- Toons (age 10 – 13)
- Cartooning (age 13 & up)
Advanced:
- Advanced (for teens – after 2 years)
Animation:
- Advanced (for high school after 3 years)
In Toons & Cartooning, every class begins with a drawing exercise, involving specific directions: a character, an object, an action, and expression, and some dialog.
Classes rotate from specific individual lessons to large projects that take several weeks. Comic books, posters, illustrations, etc.
Cartoon classes – ONE SCHOOL YEAR AT A TIME. Projects change each year.
Cartoon Classes meet once per week, for 1 hour & 30 minutes
3 Age Groups
4
Cartoon Supplies
The materials we use
Pencil
Ink liner
markers
Tracing
paper
Modeling
Clay
Art Boards
Mechanicals
Bristol
Mixed
Media
iPad
(advanced)
And More
Our supplies are on sale every day
15% Off