New art classes aim to inspire
Build your practice with The Studio Program, founded by Coalcliff resident Kate Coyne
A new studio arts program for adult learners launches at Clifton School of Arts this August — filling a gap in the region’s arts education.
‘The Studio Program’ is a sustained, in-depth program for adult learners — a real studio experience with professional mentoring, structured critique and the kind of unhurried time that serious creative work requires.
Sessions run at Clifton School of Arts and, as the program grows, at venues across the Northern Illawarra — bringing serious arts education into the heart of our community with affordable weekly day and evening classes.
Drawing on a rigorous tradition
The program begins with drawing and painting — the foundations of visual practice, rooted in the rigorous traditions of the National Art School in Sydney, where artist and program director Kate Coyne completed her Master of Fine Art (Painting).
From this foundation, the program will expand with guest artists bringing specialist knowledge into the studio. A full term-based program across multiple disciplines launches from February 2027.
“Adult learners are not blank slates,” Kate says. “They arrive with years of experience, strong aesthetic instincts, and often some self-doubt.
"My job is to create the conditions where genuine creative risk becomes possible — where people feel safe enough to make, and confident enough to reflect on what they’ve made.”
Not just technique
The Studio Program is built for adult learners, and what people gain from it goes well beyond technique. They find permission: a real sense that they can make things, and that their way of seeing has value. They build a practice, a habit of making and reflecting that outlasts the classes. They start to hear their own voice, an emerging sense of what they like and why. And they pick up the language to talk about work, their own and other people's, with precision and curiosity.
“The studio feels like a conversation,” Kate says. “I draw on a wide range of artistic traditions, and I bring my own practice into the room, including its struggles and uncertainties.”
The program is designed to inspire everyone, from complete beginners to experienced artists. Whether you are picking up a pencil for the first time or returning to a practice you recently set aside, ‘The Studio Program’ is designed to meet you where you are and provides a space for exchange and sharing between like-minded people.
Initial painting and drawing classes run on Monday (10am–2pm) and Wednesday evenings (6.30–9pm) at Clifton School of Arts, in five-week blocks (casual introductory sessions available). Saturday sessions are an opportunity to spend a whole day in the studio.
“We are part of a remarkable creative community,” Kate says. “This program is for the people who are wanting to develop their art practice, refine their skills and feel supported.”
Introducing DRAW
Friday evenings upstairs at the Imperial Hotel, Clifton. 6.30–8.30pm (during school terms) From August 7. DRAW is a relaxed weekly drawing session that brings creativity into a social setting. DRAW welcomes everyone 18+ from complete beginners to experienced artists. Bring your own sketchbook and materials, settle in with friends or come on your own. Share plates and bar service are available throughout the evening.
About us
The Studio Program is presented in association with Clifton School of Arts, a home for the arts, learning and community in the Northern Illawarra since 1880.
This association matters to us.
CSA is one of the region's most significant cultural organisations, managed entirely by volunteers and sustained by the generosity of its members and supporters. The Studio Program is proud to contribute to that community — bringing a new generation of participants through its doors and supporting the ongoing life of a place that has always believed in the importance of creativity.
Enrolments open. Places filling fast. Book now: www.thestudioprogram.com.au or www.artsclifton.org
The Studio Program
August at a glance (Sept-Dec program in development)
Drawing and Painting with Kate Coyne
- Initial Daytime Sessions: Mondays 10am–2pm August 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
- Initial Evening Sessions: Wednesdays 6.30–9.00pm August 5, 12, 19, 26, Sept 2
- Initial Saturday Sessions: 9am–4pm August 1, 8, 15, 29
Venue: Clifton School of Arts (During school terms)
DRAW
Friday evenings upstairs at the Imperial Hotel, Clifton. Life drawing, still life and landscape, from 6.30pm–8.30pm during school terms. From August 7.
