During the summer of 2026, Chesterfield County Public Schools will be offering students a chance to take a variety of art classes over the summer. Sign-ups start on Mar. 6, and registration will end once the desired class is full.
Rachel Principe is a visual arts teacher at Clover Hill High School, and she is the Visual Arts Academy, Summer Sessions Principal, and she has developed the program herself for the students.
“I wanted to do this because I wanted more opportunities for our students to explore different ways of creating, especially if they are not able to fit these courses in their class schedule,” Principe said.
Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic, this is the first year that the county has offered this many different summer courses for students to take. Last year, they only had two courses, a drawing course and a coloring course, which were both at max capacity.
There is a big selection of classes that will be offered, such as Beginning Wheel Throwing, Beginning Ceramics, Drawing with Confidence, Vibrant Visions (Color theory course), Dark Room Photography, Digital Painting, Graphic Design, Advanced Drawing, Bookmaking and Collage, Introductory Fiber Arts, and Printmaking.
These classes are offered here at Clover Hill High School by a wide variety of secondary art teachers from all over the county.
These courses are for rising 8th through 12th graders here at Clover Hill High School who register for which art course they would like to take.
These programs will last Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and there is a limited number of people allowed in each course, which will be determined based on the class.
Having said that, each class’s capacity is around 20 to 25 students. However, the Wheel Throwing course’s limit is 15 students. All of the classes are 2 weeks long, while the ceramics classes run for 4 weeks.
As well as that, these courses have a price. For the 2 week classes it is $150, and for the longer 4 week classes it is $350.
These art classes are an amazing opportunity for students to explore and try and find different passions and interests for themselves and to experiment with different art materials and techniques.
