Race and Class Portrayed in Vanitas: Still Life Drawing Workshop (Tuition-Free)
Tuition-Free Workshops | Registration opens Tuesday, October 27, 2026 8:00 AM EDT
Students will be asked to sketch a commonly researched image in academic drawing: Still Life with Skull. The set, which will be produced in the traditional vanitas style, will include items that are not only a necessary exercise for draftsmen, but are also representative of the transitions of cultural, racial, and social status in a newly colonized 17th-century world. Through group demonstration and one-on-one conversation, students will learn how to draft an image with various charcoal materials whilst learning the context of still life symbolism we often assume is racially and socially neutral. Class will come with a small lecture, demonstration, and drawing time.
Who This Class Is For:
Students interested in still life drawing and exploring the cultural and historical meanings behind traditional imagery. All skill levels are welcome. Questions about whether this class is right for you? Email adulteducation@fleisher.org.
- All materials are included in the workshop, but you are welcome to bring your own materials if you'd like.
- 18x24” Paper (One piece or Pad of paper)
- Vine Charcoal
- Compressed Charcoal
- Rubber eraser (pink or white)
Patricia Thomas
Patricia Renee Thomas is a Philadelphia-based painter, and art educator, with a BFA from Tyler School of Art and Architecture, a MFA from University of Pennsylvania's Weitzman School of Design with a certificate in University Education. She has exhibited in both solo and group exhibitions with the DuSable Black History Museum in Chicago, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, The Colored Girls Museum in Philadelphia, PA, The Delaware Contemporary in Wilmington, DE as well as Kravets-Wehby Gallery in Chelsea, New York, Kapp Kapp Gallery in Philadelphia, Gaa Gallery in Cologne, Germany. She was a 2025 McMillian Stewart Chair of Painting Fellow at Maryland Institute College of Art, a 2021 recipient of the Meyer Family Award for Contemporary Art, and a 2021 recipient of the Toby Devan Lewis Fellowship. Thomas teaches Painting and Drawing at University of Pennsylvania.
https://patriciarthomas.com/