First Posted: 3/4/2012

Misericordia University is now taking registrations for a slate of non-credit art classes offered to the community this spring. The classes in painting, ceramics, sculpture and drawing, as well as wearable art and fly tying will be held in the new Misericordia University Art Studios, rear 50 Lake St., Dallas.

The Art Studios opened in the fall of 2011 in conjunction with the start of the university’s new undergraduate minor in fine arts that offers concentrations in dance, visual art, photography and music. The facility includes fully functional painting, ceramics and sculpture studios and offers 18 drafting tables, eight pottery wheels, a clay pugger-mixer, an electric kiln, a glass kiln, a slab roller, a clay extruder and other intrinsic equipment.

The credit and non-credit courses in the fine arts required the Department of Fine Arts to add Skip Sensbach as an artist-in-residence and several regionally acclaimed artists as faculty and adjunct instructors.

Sensbach has a bachelor’s degree in visual communication and a Master in Fine Arts from Marywood University, and he worked as an award-winning graphic designer in New Jersey.

After moving to Pennsylvania in 1994, he began working in clay and opened Green Dog Pottery in Dallas in 1998. His studio work focuses on functional clay work as well as teaching.

In 2010, Sensbach was the winner of the Ruane Graduate Award for Artistic Excellence. Sensbach’s functional and sculptural ceramic works have been recognized in many regional shows, including Wilkes-Barre’s Fine Arts Fiesta (first place in craft and sculpture) and honorable mention in Binghamton, N.Y.’s WSKG-TV Art in Motion competition. His work also was accepted in the 2011 Art of the State exhibit at the State Museum in Harrisburg.

Wenner has a bachelor of arts in art education and a master’s in education. As the coordinator of the Arts Studio, she is responsible for developing and scheduling non-credit courses and recruiting talented adjunct artists as instructors. Her specialty is watercolor and drawing.

For more information, call the Center for Adult and Continuing Education at 674-6289.