In Inspired Art, you will explore the life and artwork of several artists who have shaped society’s aesthetic, focusing specifically on the artwork of Amy Sherald, Yayoi Kusama, Dick Termes and Yinka Shonibare. This class is intended for those who want to learn more about a variety of artists and experiment with replicating or being inspired by their style. This is partly an art history class, and mostly an art-making class. Every class will begin with a slideshow or video presentation about the artist and their work as a starting point for creating. You will have the opportunity to use a variety of artistic mediums such as liquid watercolor paints, oil pastels, paper, paint markers, crayons, and more. It will be an experiment and an opportunity to expand general knowledge of a variety of artists as well as to inform your artistic practice!

Sara Gately is a Sunderland based practicing and exhibiting mixed media Visual Artist and licensed and teaching PreK-8 Visual Arts Educator. Gately earned her Bachelor’s from Hampshire College where she focused in Comparative Religious Visual Culture. She earned her M. Ed from Lesley University in 2008 but has been an educator since 2003. Since 2022, Gately has been freelance teaching at a variety of locations such as the Sunderland Public library and the Northampton, Greenfield and Hatfield Senior Centers. Gately instructs art history, mixed media, collage, crayon, acrylic paint marker and liquid watercolor classes to all age participants. Gately has been published in the local literature magazine, “Meat for Tea”,  and has had solo exhibitions at the Air Space Gallery in Amherst, the Sunderland Public library and Easthampton Media. Gately has participated in group shows at the Elusie Gallery, the Northampton Center for the Arts and the Mill District Gallery and more. Most recently, Gately received two grants from the Northampton Arts Council in support of her program to provide affordable visual arts programming to seniors in Northampton. In the past three years, Gately has been developing two bodies of work concurrently; one consists of up cycled mixed media assemblage and the other are small, detailed ink drawings termed “Transautomatism”, an art movement coined by Austrian environmentalist architect and Visual Artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Transautomatism refers to the process of creating without a specific goal or intention. Gately’s educational philosophy is centered in the idea that “Everyone is an Artist!” and all people deserve access to the visual arts as creators.  

To register, please email by clicking the button below and include your name, address, and phone number.

Payment can be made by mailing a check made out to NCFA to PO Box 366, Northampton, MA 01061 or by Paypal, Venmo, Apple Pay, Pay Later or Credit Card by clicking the link below.

*Payments on the upper end of the sliding scale help support our continued commitment to accessibility, including sliding scale models and the NCFA Community Fund.