Open Studio Schedule

Open Figure Studio
All TDS open studio sessions are held at The Drawing Studio, 33 S 6th Avenue. Each session is $10. No reservations are required.

• Sunday morning, 9:30 AM– 12:30 PM, general studies*
• Monday morning, 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM, general studies*
• Tuesday evenings, 6 – 9 PM, one long pose, costumed
• Thursday evening, 6 – 9 PM, general studies*
• Saturday morning, 9:00 AM– 12:00 Noon, one long pose, nude

* “General studies” include short and long poses (2 min. to 1 hr.), usually nude.

Note: No open studio on Saturday, April 24; Sunday, Apr. 4; Monday, May 31. Visit Rebecca Olson’s Open Sketch page for the most up-to-date info about model scheduling and schedule updates.

Open Studio Monitors

Rebecca Olson, Carolyn Gibbs, Paul Mohr, Tom Bielejec, Kurt Anderson, Reid Silvern, Pete McCray, Betty Counseller

Why Open Studio?

From our earliest years, we have offered several weekly Open Studio figure drawing opportunities for independent practice. We consider this program an important aspect of our mission by providing a regular arena for practice—at a very economical cost—both to our own students in their learning path as well as to community artists of all media who know its value for maintaining their skills.

Anyone in the Tucson community may participate in any session, any time, without reservations. All Open Studio sessions are held at our downtown studio. Each session is managed by a TDS volunteer staff artist, who registers each participant, collects the $10 fee, works with the model in the formalities of setting poses, timelines and breaks, and generally is responsible for the professional conduct of each session.

What does the Open Studio Program at TDS offer that is essential? Once a person has some foundation and experience in the grammar and tools of drawing, the role of regular practice is obvious. Drawing, or the continuous act of paying attention to what is physically at hand, keeps opening new vistas in our work and way of seeing the world. Drawing from the human figure adds one more dimension, which is that mixture of humility, awe and compassion that arises when we return the focus of our drawing practice back to the human vessel that is our shared physical home.

The kinds of people who use the Open Studio to support their ‘seeing’ practice include independent working artists (professional and avocational), drawing students at all levels of study, people who work in related media like clay or painting, people who draw for pleasure or as a meditation practice. There is the companionship of working with all these ‘drawers’ who love the practice.

We invite you to use the opportunity for yourself by beginning or re-committing to create a regular drawing-from-observation practice as an essential part of your own visual maintenance. You can thank us later.

--Andy Rush