Berkeley
California
Kala Art Institute News - March 26, 2025
Arts and Entertainment
March 28, 2025
From: Kala Art InstituteAuction Time - Bidding is Open!
Kala's auction exhibition and benefit is up and running! Thanks for coming out to the Art Kala 2025's kick-off party Thursday night and getting the auction started. We felt the love! This is Kala's biggest fundraiser of the year and given the current political and funding climate, the auction is especially important.
We have over 150 incredible works of art and other fun silent auction items to bid on for a good cause - Kala. You can bid from the comfort of your home, or visit the Kala gallery Tuesday - Friday, 12-5 pm or Saturday 12-4 pm.
This Saturday Ellen will be in the gallery with coffee and snacks, so be sure to stop by.
West Berkeley Community Print Festival 2025
Join us for an afternoon of art activities, community art workshops, artist demonstrations, artist vendors, print studio tours, and more at the West Berkeley Community Print Festival - Saturday, April 5th, 12-4pm!
We are looking forward to celebrating the power of printmaking, community connections, and a day of sharing and experiencing art. Free and open to all ages.
Festival Highlights:
1:00-3:00 pm Community Fabric Collage
- Quilting Workshop with Cordy Joan and Gaia Wu
Join us in Kala's new sculpture lab to help work on a series of community-collective-crazy quilts. This workshop is a part of Transmissions, a project with a mission to create quilts for trans people. These collective quilts will be part of a national traveling exhibition that will run from 2025-2027, opening at Berkeley Public Library in June. Participants at the workshop will have the opportunity to be listed as collaborating artists.
2:00 pm Heinz Print Studio Tour
- Printmaking Demo (Letterpress) with Quite Contrary Press (Mary V. Marsh & Tony Bellaver)
Tony & Mary will be printing on the two Vandercook cylinder presses in the Kala Letterpress room, demonstrating how to make a two-color print with handset type and linoleum cut. Visitors can see the process in action, ask questions, and walk away with a print fresh off the press.
- Printmaking Demo (Etching) with Megan Broughton
Sign up for our printmaking studio tours (Heinz Print Studio Tours) through Eventbrite or on-site on the day of the event (limited spots available).
June 30-July 3, 9am -3pm
Instructor: Jennifer Mazzucco
Discover the joy and magic of printmaking! Using found objects such as string, fabric, leaves, legos, and bubble wrap, we will explore different ways of making marks. We will learn the basic printmaking techniques used in monoprinting, make our own collagraph and relief prints, and experiment with collage using positive and negative shapes, texture, and color to create fun and vibrant landscapes, portraits, monsters, and more!
July 7-11, 9am - 3pm
Instructor: Christiana Reining
Explore color, shape, pattern, and texture using mixed media including paint, collage, graphite, sculpture, and more to investigate the world around you. Create mixed media work inspired by artists throughout history, including contemporary Bay Area artists. Have fun creating abstract and representational objects, sculptures, places, and human and animal forms, and experiment with new materials to express your ideas and imaginations!
10% multi-session / sibling discount. Sliding scale/tuition assistance available.
Teach with us!
Kala is looking for a Lead Teaching Artist for the Teen Studio: Screenprinting Camp this summer! The camp is for teens ages 11-17 and will run from July 21 - July 25, 2025 (Monday through Friday, 9:30 AM - 4:30 PM daily).
To apply, please review the full job description on our website and submit the required application materials to [email protected].
Upcoming Adult Class Highlights
6 Thursdays,
April 24 - May 29 (6-8 pm)
Instructor: Jill McLennan
San Pablo Community Classroom
Explore the basics of watercolor painting!
Participants will learn fundamental concepts such as brush strokes, color theory, composition and watercolor techniques (wet-on-dry, wet-on-wet, etc.) through guided painting prompts.
There will also be room for experimentation as participants are encouraged to embrace spontaneity and the playful dance between water and color. No skills required, all are welcome.
Special Topics in Intaglio: Aquatint
2 Sundays, April 6 & 13 (10-4pm)
Instructor: Megan Broughton
Heinz Printmaking Studio
Aquatint is an intaglio etching technique that creates distinct fields of tone within an image. More consistent than crosshatching or shading, aquatint is made by melting rosin onto an etching plate then submerging that plate in acid. The acid bites at the metal wherever the rosin is not, creating a very fine dotted tone. Students will learn how to step etch their work during this weekend intensive, creating an aquatinted image with 2-3 shades of tone.
Participants should arrive with an original 7"×7" drawing that they will turn into an etching. The drawing should include 2–3 shades of tone and must also include white.
2 Saturdays, April 26,27 (10-4pm)
Instructor: Theodora Varnay Jones
San Pablo Community Classroom
Designed to push the boundaries of traditional mark making, Drawing Now will open advanced creative paths of process and materials while expanding the language of drawing.
Work with a variety of conventional media and unconventional materials, such as Plexiglas, vellum, cold wax, and natural pigments, as you focus on experimentation and produce complex artworks. Explore various ways of seeing—both perceptual and conceptual—as you play with abstraction, work in a series and incorporate scale and layering techniques.
6 Thursdays, May 1 - June, 5 (6-9pm)
Instructor: Tomoko Murakami
Heinz Printmaking Studio
Monotype, also known as the painterly print, is one of the most expressive and freeing among printmaking techniques. Whether you are new to printmaking or have worked in the medium before, this class offers a wonderful opportunity to create fun and unique images. We’ll also be experimenting with the process of chine-collé, a technique where (typically)Japanese/washi paper is “collaged” onto the print using the pressure of the press and an adhesive. Monotype results can be surprising, subtle, dramatic and painterly – all depending on how you work with this adaptable and exciting method of image making!
Accessibility – Please email [email protected] regarding any accessibility needs prior to enrolling so we can assess if we are able to accommodate you safely and efficiently.
Friends of Kala Members receive 10% off classes and workshops. Learn more here.
Scholarship tiers are available for all classes. Learn more about scholarships and assistance.
More News... In Brief
- Center for Photographic Art 2025 Members' Juried Exhibition, March 29-May 4. Opening Reception Saturday, March 29, 4:00 – 6:00pm *walk-through, and awards with Juror Allie Haeusslein, Director, Pier 24 Photography.
- Funding Opportunity: Pirkle Jones Fund of MCF invites applicants for Four $100,000 Grant Opportunities for Local Artists Deadline: May 30, 2025
- Professional Portrait & Headshot Sessions with Photographer, filmmaker, and Kala Fellow, Shantré Pinkney *headshot sessions—on location or in the studio—plus a bonus image with any session this month! Book here