Looking for more space to spread out and work on a project? Or maybe you want to work amongst other artists to feel inspired and get some helpful feedback on your work. Join other local artists any time between 9am-12pm, for Open Studio. Please pay $10 cash at the door. Bring all supplies you need to use, NRAS has easels available. 

No registration, drop in only, cash or check.

No registration required – all are welcome! $10 cash only 

Looking for a creative way to kick off your week? Join us every FIRST and THIRD Monday night at North River Arts Society for Drop-In Craft Night! Bring your own project—whether it’s knitting, sketching, embroidery, sewing, collage, or any craft you're working on—and enjoy a relaxed, welcoming space to create alongside fellow makers.

All skill levels are welcome. This is an informal, social night perfect for getting inspired, sharing ideas, and making progress on whatever you're into. Come solo or with friends—stay the whole time or just pop in!

This group is open to all ages, levels, skills and crafts. 

Additional Information:

Please help us be respectful to our neighbors.
Do not park in front of neighbors or turn around in their driveways.

Join North River Arts for Figure Drawing!

Settle into a relaxed, creative atmosphere and spend your Monday evening drawing or painting from a live nude model. Each session begins with a series of short, dynamic poses designed to help you warm up, loosen your hand, and explore gesture. We then transition into longer poses, giving you the opportunity to dive deeper into proportion, anatomy, shading, and more refined detail at your own pace.

This is an uninstructed studio session, making it a wonderful option for artists of all levels who are looking to practice, build confidence, or simply enjoy dedicated time to create in community with others. Bring your preferred materials and enjoy a supportive, inspiring environment to grow your figure drawing skills.

Easels provided by NRAS. $20 drop in fee at the door, cash only. Space limited to 14 students. 

Discover the poetry of layers, texture, and imperfect beauty through the art of image transfers. In this mixed media class, we'll explore four unique transfer techniques, each offering its own surprises and character. We'll celebrate the unexpected—the faded edges, worn textures, and beautifully imperfect marks that bring depth and soul to your artwork. Whether you're adding vintage charm, personal imagery, or abstract elements, you'll leave with new techniques, fresh inspiration, and a collection of transfers ready to weave into your creative practice.

Materials List: Image Transfer Workshop supply list.docx

Mandy Fariello is a mixed media artist who has focused on collage, acrylic painting, and MailArt for the past 20 years. She is inspired by contrasts and juxtapositions- bright colors and rusty bits, shiny and dull, smooth and textured-all with a healthy dose of humor thrown in for good measure.

Much of Mandy’s art revolves around finding new life for discarded books and objects. Her art journey has led to teaching workshops, being published, winning awards and supporting other artists as a member of the board of trustees of the Duxbury Art Association.

Additional Information:

Please help us be respectful to our neighbors.
Do not park in front of neighbors or turn around in their driveways.

We will discover how to lay out, design, and paint a portrait from your photo or copy a Zorn portrait using the Zorn limited palette. Work to gain confidence in portraiture, whether your first or after many - we will work in layers to achieve luminosity in flesh tones while using only four paint tubes.

Materials List: Zorn portrait materials list.rtf

About the Instructor: Ann Musto

Ann began her art career studying with various artists at North River Arts Society, and then completed the full atelier at Boston Academy of Realist Art.  She is an award winning artist in both figure and landscape locally and in national competitions.  Currently she displays her art at NW Barrett Gallery in Portsmouth, NH, and at the Copley Society in Boston where she is an artist member.

annmustofineart.com

Additional Information:

Please help us be respectful to our neighbors.
Do not park in front of neighbors or turn around in their driveways.

Stuck on a sewing project and need some guidance or motivation? Come to the Open Sewing Studio every second Monday of the month to work alongside other sewing enthusiasts! Hosted by NRAS sewing instructor Olivia Harvey, you’ll be able to ask questions and receive assistance, if desired, to help fine-tune your skills. Bring any project, your sewing machine, and the supplies you need, and let’s get sewing! Please note, this is not a structured class and is intended for those with some prior sewing experience.

Olivia Harvey is an avid sewist and upcycler who first learned how to sew as a kid right here at NRAS with Brooke Stanton — and she hasn’t stopped since! Along with making and embellishing her own clothes, Olivia also sells her upcycled creations through her online shop OHpleeze. She believes that everyone should learn how to sew because it makes life (and your closet) a lot more interesting!

Additional Information:

Please help us be respectful to our neighbors.
Do not park in front of neighbors or turn around in their driveways.

Stuck on a sewing project and need some guidance or motivation? Come to the Open Sewing Studio every second Monday of the month to work alongside other sewing enthusiasts! Hosted by NRAS sewing instructor Olivia Harvey, you’ll be able to ask questions and receive assistance, if desired, to help fine-tune your skills. Bring any project, your sewing machine, and the supplies you need, and let’s get sewing! Please note, this is not a structured class and is intended for those with some prior sewing experience.

Olivia Harvey is an avid sewist and upcycler who first learned how to sew as a kid right here at NRAS with Brooke Stanton — and she hasn’t stopped since! Along with making and embellishing her own clothes, Olivia also sells her upcycled creations through her online shop OHpleeze. She believes that everyone should learn how to sew because it makes life (and your closet) a lot more interesting!

Additional Information:

Please help us be respectful to our neighbors.
Do not park in front of neighbors or turn around in their driveways.

In Beginning Drawing 2, you’ll explore how line creates weight and rhythm, how simple shapes help establish proportion, and how shadow shapes reveal mass and form. Ideal, but not necessary, for students who have completed Beginning Drawing 1 and are ready to take their drawing skills to the next level. But this course is open to anyone with some drawing background at the intermediate level. 

Materials List:

  - Strathmore drawing pad paper pad 70 lbs.  12'' x 18" or larger

  - Pencils: Standard graphite set (2H, HB, 2B, 4B, and 6B).

  - Erasers: One kneaded eraser and one white vinyl eraser.

  - Extras: Metal pencil sharpener, artist tape, and a 12-inch metal ruler.

About the Instructor: Sue Casey

Sue Casey is a local artist and educator who studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and earned her degree in Art Education from Rhode Island College. She taught art in the Attleboro Public Schools for more than 30 years, inspiring generations of students through her passion for creativity and learning. Today, Sue devotes much of her time to her own artistic practice while teaching art classes and workshops throughout the South Shore.

Additional Information:

Please help us be respectful to our neighbors.
Do not park in front of neighbors or turn around in their driveways.

Throughout the ages artists have studied with and learned from masters of the craft.  In this class we will take a look at artists who’s great skill at painting has been inspirational and influential.  We’ll study the different techniques of different artists, some from history, some from the present time, and examine their techniques, figuring out their particular methods of creating paintings.  With this knowledge we will create our own paintings… either a copy of one of their works, for our own edification, or paint a subject of our choice using their methods.  It will be both fun and challenging and we will all grow from this experience! Best for artists familiar with their medium. 

This session will focus on Sorolla, Parrish, O’Keeffe, and Thiebaud. 

This class is along the lines of the book ‘Steal Like An Artist” by Austin Kleon, whose book by the same name is a great addition to any artist’s library.  Join us and explore techniques that will inspire you and push you to grow your own style!

About the Instructor: Kelley MacDonald 

After getting her Art History degree at Wheaton College, Kelley continued taking art classes at various Art Associations for 10 years before she started painting.  First with watercolor, then oil and now happily with acrylic and mixed media, it has been a lifetime of growing and exploring all things art.  

Kelley has won numerous awards, and has taught classes and workshops for many years.  While for the majority of her career Kelley has been a literal, representational painter, in the past 4 years she has been diving into abstraction, particularly Intuitive Abstraction.  The history involved on the canvas, the multiple layers, the reveal and conceal and push and pull are what attracts her to this method. 

A favorite thing to do is to travel, and be inspired by different landscapes and  cityscapes.  Kelley has traveled to Holland to paint, along with many places on this side of the ocean, namely Nova Scotia, Sedona, Santa Fe, St. Simon’s Island, Seattle, San Miguel de Allende, MX, California and Maine. 

In 2009 Kelley founded the Artists’ Challenge Group “Girls Just Wanna Paint” which is a collection of award winning artists  who post a response to a new topic every month consecutively since July of 2009. Aside from the Providence Art Club Kelley is a member of the North River Arts Society in Marshfield, MA.  She has taught at the Art Club, Bristol Art Museum, and at North River Arts Society.

Materials List for Learn From The Masters

You can choose whatever medium you have experience with. Kelley will be painting with acrylics. You will need:

A canvas or substrate between 9x12 to 16x20.

A Sketchbook and ‘paintable’ paper such as canva pads or paper for acrylics, etc. to experiment on.

In your medium:

• a warm red (cad red light) and a cool red (alizarin crimson or magenta or rose)
• A warm blue (pthalo or cerulean) and a cool blue (ultramarine)
• A warm yellow (cad yellow medium) and a cool yellow (lemon)
• White and burnt umber and black if you like.

Paper towels, tubs for water, aprons or painting shirt

Pencils, ink pen, 

Bring your open heart and a beginners mind.  All levels familiar with their medium.

In this 6-week class, students will learn the basics of clothing construction, from threading and using their sewing machines to reading patterns and sewing garments from start to finish. This class is perfect for those who are complete beginners or have a few simple sewing projects under their belts and would like to learn more. Prior students are also welcome!

This class is open to adults and high school students, please contact the office with any questions at northriverarts@gmail.com.

Materials List:

• Sewing machine (North River will have a few machines for students to share if you do not have your own machine.)

• Fabric scissors

• Pins

• Seam ripper

• Soft measuring tape

• Pencils/sketchbook

• After students learn the basics, they will be asked to purchase a simple pattern and fabric for a project

Olivia Harvey is an avid sewist and upcycler who first learned how to sew as a kid right here at NRAS with Brooke Stanton — and she hasn’t stopped since! Along with making and embellishing her own clothes, Olivia also sells her upcycled creations through her online shop OHpleeze. She believes that everyone should learn how to sew because it makes life (and your closet) a lot more interesting!

Additional Information:

Please help us be respectful to our neighbors.
Do not park in front of neighbors or turn around in their driveways.