At ART+Academy, our teen art programs are designed to help young artists grow skills, confidence, and creative independence. We offer two distinct learning paths — Traditional Art Classes or Digital Art Classes — allowing students to choose the medium that best fits their interests and goals.
Across our Austin and Cedar Park locations, teens work on personalized projects at their own pace in a supportive, small-group setting. Rather than following a rigid curriculum, students receive individual guidance from professional instructors who help them strengthen technique while encouraging creative exploration.
Teens new to art typically begin in our traditional art classes, where strong drawing skills form the foundation for all future learning. Using principles from Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Dr. Betty Edwards, students learn how to truly “see” what they draw.
They explore:
Contour and cross-contour lines
Perspective and negative space
Basic shading and value
As confidence grows, students deepen their skills through value studies, observation exercises, and shading with charcoal or pastels. Projects may include composition studies, still life, and master-inspired work, while also incorporating color theory and the use of watercolors and acrylic paints to support creative growth.
(See what can be learned.)
For teens interested in digital illustration, ART+Academy offers dedicated digital art classes. Students work using digital tools (such as iPad and Procreate) while learning essential art concepts like composition, color, value, and design — all applied specifically to digital media.
For experienced students (traditional or digital), instructors begin with an assessment of skill level and goals, then guide students through projects that challenge their abilities and expand their portfolios. This focused approach helps teens develop confidence, refine technique, and grow creatively within their chosen medium.
With small class sizes and low student-to-teacher ratios, every teen receives meaningful, personalized instruction. Our caring instructors provide timely feedback and encouragement, helping students see real progress over time.
✨ You can view that growth in our Before & After Gallery.
If a class is currently full, families are welcome to join the waitlist, and we’ll notify you as soon as a space becomes available.
START ANYTIME.
Yes, you can enroll at any time, as long as there’s space available in the class. Additionally, we prorate your first month tuition based on your start date.
PROFESSIONAL INSTRUCTORS
Also, all our teachers have a college degree in an art-related field.
SMALL CLASS SIZE
Specifically, we limit each class to a maximum of 8 students.
GALLERY DAY EVENT
Above all, every April, we celebrate our students’ progress with an art show we call “Gallery Day”. This event is open to all our enrolled students and their families & friends!
We understand that sometimes things come up—unexpected events, travel, or illness—and you may need to miss a class. Not a problem! As long as you are enrolled, you can make up a missed classes by attending another class listed in our schedule at any of our locations.
However, keep in mind that there is absolutely no prorating or refund for missed classes. In addition, missed classes cannot be used as class credit for the next session, other classes, or camps.
Your tuition provides four(4) consecutive weekly art classes. If you start in the middle of the month, we’ll simply prorate your tuition based on your registration date.
For Kids and Teen Classes, a quarterly admin fee applies in September, December, and March. We will also prorate the admin fee in you enroll in the middle of the quarter.
We provide all materials for kids and teen classes; you only need to bring your student.
Students will explore a wide range of materials, including watercolor, tempera paint, pastels, charcoal, ink, acrylic paint, and more.
Rating
I’ve been taking art classes at Art + for six years. Every instructor has been great and can help anyone, from beginners to experienced artists (we have all levels in my adult class). It’s been great to see my artistic skills improve, as well as try new media. I really love that classes can be made up on a different day/location if you have to miss a class, which is great for those who are worried about their budget (and who isn’t?).
Teachers are kind and welcoming, and my son has plenty of fun while learning how to paint. Thank you Art+ Northwest Austin!
My 12 year old loved the summer camp. To the point that she’s asked to take classes at Art+Academy this new school year.
Art+Academy is an excellent art school. The teachers are professional and provide art instruction beyond what is taught in a public or private school. The owner responds to inquiries and is accommodating. At age 6, my granddaughter showed signs of artistic ability, but was shy around people and lacked the self-confidence to follow through with extra-curricular activities. Now at age 8, after 2 years of Art+Academy’s quality art instruction, she has identified herself as a good artist, shows an increased self-esteem, makes eye contact, converses with her peers and teachers, and shows no resistance to attend her art classes. Her finished pieces include various techniques, perspective drawing, and mixed media. Art Academy yields an outcome that is well worth the investment of time and money.
We have been going for two years with the kids and the teachers are wonderful, the classes are small and peaceful. It’s a perfect place to learn art. Highly recommended.
My daughter’s progress in art is phenomenal, she loves going to the academy. Her teacher is great!
The team are very focused on individual learning needs. My 6 year old son always looks forward to his weekly lessons! Marlene is very kind and gentle with the children.
My experience attending adult classes at Art + Academy has been so helpful to reigniting my passion for artistic creation. It has shown me a path forward in my life that I thought would be left behind unfulfilled. My instructor Erin listens, observes and finds the ways to guide me not away from any one approach to my art but presents alternatives and/or source material that may serve me better.
I love this school. My teacher, Rosemarie is excellent. She is an excellent artist in her own right but she is able to help each student achieve at their highest level. It is so cool to see a new student come into the classroom without any experience and be taught the basics and soon become an outstanding artist. I’m so proud of my classmates. I have attended 3 other schools. One just showed you a picture then took you one step at a time, showing you exactly what color of paint to use and how to do the painting. So all you were doing was copying someone else’s painting. I won’t say I didn’t learn anything there but I didn’t learn to express myself and do my own work. Each of the other classes had teachers who just ignored me. They had bonded with the other students and so it was kind of a little click and they didn’t want anyone else to join in. Also once the teacher admitted to not having had much experience with acrylic painting so he ignored me and I just had to paint what I wanted to paint. Rose primarily works in watercolors but she is able to teach each student in the class no matter what medium the student wants to work in. If the student is interested in learning about a new medium she does a great job of teaching the new medium. It is a beautiful experience to watch students learn new techniques and skills. I enjoy each class and look forward to the class each week.
Art+Academy is a fantastic art school! I appreciate the ease & flexibility with the sign up process and to a make up a missed class. The owner is very responsive. My two kids (teen class & 9-12yo class) have been attending for several months and love their teachers. In fact, because of the class make up policy, my kids have met & learned from several teachers and all of them have been so kind, engaging and skilled! I’ve been impressed. All the teachers we’ve come across really care about the kids as people and as artists and my kids feel that respect and care. We’ve seen my kids’ skills (& art) improve with the constructive feedback from talented teachers.
My daughter has been attending this place for more than a year now, and she absolutely adores it! Ms. Llanes is an incredible teacher, and my daughter has made significant progress under her guidance.
My eleven year old developed an interest in art over the summer, so I put her in a summer camp at Art + Academy. After one week, she was hooked. Ms. Marcia did a wonderful job of balancing instruction in different techniques and mediums with giving each student enough freedom to pursue the art that they wanted to do. My daughter is now in a weekly class and has made enormous strides. She is learning how to work with pastels, acrylics, water color and pencil. She drags me to Michael’s virtually every week to get new art supplies. This is all due to her wonderful teacher. Thanks for great art lessons!
During this course with Art+Academy I only have kind words and I must recommend it. In Art+Academy I had the opportunity to learn a lot about technics but also I learnt to use colours in my artworks. I enjoyed with watercolours!! and most important, I got one important goal to me!! Thank you Rosemary and Mónica.
My daughter has attended Art + Academy for years – she love the teaching, the teachers and has become friends with the other students! AND her love for Art continues to blossom!
My children have thoroughly enjoyed the art instruction they have found at Art + Academy. They love the in-person classes as well as the online offerings. Actually, the online art classes during this season of staying at home have been true gems! We have been so impressed with how the classes have translated to an online format. We highly recommend this local art instruction option!
My daughter is an avid drawer who was not being challenged at her elementary school. We enrolled her in five-day drawing camp at Art + and she truly thrived. Her teacher, Ms. Marcia, imparted to the students an impressive variety of techniques in just a few days. Ms. Marcia really connected with the kids in the class both personally and in terms of instruction. In addition to formal art lessons, there were super fun breaks where the kids had a blast playing games. Each day my daughter came home filled with pride at her accomplishments and she would not let me see any of her work until the art show at the end of the week. It was a joy to see how much she had grown during her week with Ms. Marcia!
Since 2021, my daughter has been attending these art classes. Under the tutelage of Ms. Marcia, she has unleashed her creativity as she explores various mediums such as pastel, acrylic, watercolor… among others. Also, she has improved her tracing skills since then, and is more aware of the perspective and colors palette when drawing and painting. Teachers are nurturing, and encourage the kids to express themselves artistically delving into their themes of interest. The academy holds an annual showcase, presenting a fantastic opportunity for her to exhibit her artistic growth and to immerse herself in the diverse styles and talents of her peers. Its accommodating policy on making up for missed classes adds to the convenience. All in all, this is a great space for nurturing your kids’ artistic skills!
We love this art studio. My daughter has been taking classes here for several years. She has had wonderful instructors and has improved her skills with every course. Most importantly to me, her love of art and her ability to express herself creatively has grown by leaps and bounds. The owner is responsive, provides great instruction, and is truly passionate about sharing her love of art with her students. I highly recommend this studio!
My 4 year old granddaughter loves the art class and looks forward to it every week.
My daughter really enjoys her art classes here. They are competitively priced, offer year long classes, lots of schedule options, and the teachers are wonderful. I love the makeup class policy too, it really allows you to get the most for your money.
