Figure Drawing Classes, Workshops, Open Studios
900 art schools, studios, and groups in the United States and Canada

Since 2009, this directory has listed art schools, ateliers, and studios where artists can paint, sculpt, or draw live art models. Life Drawing groups come and go, and schedules change, so it is wise to confirm with the organizer before attending. Please report any defunct groups or broken links to directory@artmodelbook.com

See submission guidelines if you would like a free listing.
USA: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California ( Los Angeles · O.C./San Diego/I.E. · Central · Bay Area ),
Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington DC, Washington State, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
CANADA: Alberta, British Columbia (Vancouver), Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia,
Ontario (Toronto), Quebec, Saskatchewan

Submission Guidelines
Increase attendance by promoting your sessions in this directory.

To add a free listing for your figurative art classes and open studios, please email the following information to directory@artmodelbook.com with the name of your group in the subject line. If your organization offers more than one class or session, please submit one listing, and explain the various offerings in the description.

  • Name of Group/Organization
  • Street address of drawing workshop location
  • City, State/Province, Zip/Postal Code. (Zip/Postal code is used to sort geographically.)
  • URL, Email and/or Telephone for prospective attendees to obtain more information
  • Instructed or Uninstructed
  • Description: 100 words maximum, plain text. Include any pertinent information such as regular meeting day and time, whether models are nude or costumed, gender of models, length of poses, equipment provided (benches, easels), fees, atmosphere, etc. If you are seeking new art models, mention that here. Please write as a long-term description—do not include enrollment deadlines or course dates—to avoid your listing appearing obsolete quickly.

PLEASE DO NOT TYPE IN ALL CAPS -(STOP)- THIS IS NOT A TELEGRAM -(STOP)-

Submissions deemed off-topic or unverifiable may be excluded. The focus of the directory is figure drawing—nude, costumed, or street clothes. Listings may be edited for length, clarity, format, or redundancy.

Listings are free. A reciprocal link is always appreciated.

Long Live Life Drawing

Open studio sessions are an economical way to practice drawing from life.

• Winnipeg Sketch Club has been sketching from live models since 1914.
• Friday Night Open-Figure Drawing has been a resource in Milwaukee for over 50 years.
• Susan Gallacher has held two weekly life drawing sessions in Salt Lake City for 40 years.
• Sandy Hill Life Drawing Workshop in Ottawa has been meeting for over 35 years.
• Taos Open Figure Drawing Group has been meeting for over 35 years.
• The Etobicoke Art Group has been meeting since 1951.
• Florence Hill has hosted the Figure Drawing Co-op in Minneapolis since 1976.
• Basic Inquiry in Vancouver BC was established in 1983.
• Open Figure Drawing Inc. has met on Wednesdays in Syracuse since the late 1980s.
• Mendocino Figure Drawing Collective has been meeting since 1989 at Mendocino Art Center.
• Wednesday Model Lab has been in continuous operation at Watercolor Art Society Houston since 1986.
• Minerva's Drawing Studio (previously Spring Studio) has hosted figure drawing 7 days a week in NYC since 1992.
• Monday Night Figure Session at St. Augustine Art Association has been ongoing for over 30 years.
"Open figure drawing sessions have become ubiquitous for two reasons: a resurgence in the popularity of the figure in art, and the fact that such sessions are usually very reasonably priced. They play an important part in meeting the needs of artists who are interested in drawing the nude figure but cannot afford to hire a model. Their communal nature helps keep costs down and also gives artists some company (and in some cases, competition) while they work from the model. The shorter poses that are usually the focus of such sessions provide unique challenges on a technical level." — Robert Zeller, p.192, The Figurative Artist's Handbook: A Contemporary Guide to Figure Drawing, Painting, and Composition
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