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2026 Simpson Art Center Programming
2026 Wallace Master Sculptor Program Workshops
January 14 & 15: Pathways to Possibilities, Myrtle Beach Convention Center. Career Day for Horry County 8th Graders.
March 9 - 13 Wildlife Sculpture, with David Turner, FNSS. $650, plus materials fee.
If you have a passion for wildlife and want to express this in clay, then this class is for you. The workshop will cover all aspects of creating wildlife sculpture in clay, including subject research, anatomy, developing a pleasing design through maquette creation, armature design, construction, and clay modeling techniques. Prior to the course, students should choose a specific animal or two to focus on and collect materials on these subjects. This is suitable for various levels of experience. Live animals may be used as models for photo references and quick sketch opportunities, depending on availability.
David H. Turner was born, raised, and currently resides in the Eastern Shore of Virginia. He looked over his father's shoulder growing up, and thus started sculpting at six years old.
April 13 - 17, Birds in Sculpture, with Sandy Scott, FNSS. $650, plus materials fee.
The class begins with a discussion of bird anatomy, aerodynamics, and how to create the illusion of movement in bird-in-flight sculptures. Students will learn how to construct an armature for blocking in birds in flight. Sandy Scott will help students distinguish between a sculpture that is technically adequate and one that has spirit and life. All aspects of modeling in oil-based clay will be explored and beginning students are welcome. Students will learn the importance of assembling strong, meaningful shapes and how eliminating unimportant details can create the bird's essence. Students will work from photography, drawings, field guides, and videotapes of birds in flight. Above all, armature building, assembling references for specific species, aerodynamics, anatomy, and creating art is the focus. Sandy has instructed bird sculpture for 30 years and is recognized as one of America's leading wildlife artists.
Sandy Scott is a Fellow with National Sculpture Society. Sandy trained at the Kansas City Art Institute and worked in animation before turning her attention to etching in the 1970s and sculpture in the 1980s. An elected member of the National Sculpture Society, she has won awards from the National Academy of Design, Allied Artists of America, Pen and Brush Club, American Artists' Professional League, Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, and a Gold Medal for sculpture from the National Academy of Western Art. In 1998, the Gilcrease Museum honored Scott with a retrospective. Her work may be seen in numerous public installations and museums, including Brookgreen Gardens, and she was commissioned to sculpt an eagle for the Clinton Presidential Library. She participates in many annual juried exhibitions, including Prix de West, Autry, Northwest Rendezvous, Cheyenne Frontier Days Museum Show, and the National Wildlife Museum Fall Exhibition. A veteran instructor, Scott teaches at Scottsdale Artists School and Brookgreen Gardens, and is the subject of a book, Spirit of the Wild Things: The Art of Sandy Scott.
May4 - 8; Portrait Modeling with Alicia N Ponzio. $650 plus materials and model fee.
This is an intensive 5-day Potrait modeling workshop. The emphasis will be on finding the structure and proportion, establishing the gesture and likeness, and modeling the forms of the face, neck, and upper chest. Teaching methods will include step-by-step demos, brief lectures, and individual feedback. The project will be a 3/4 life-size bust in water-based clay on a wooden armature. *We will not cast or fire the portraits during the workshop. Students are encouraged to do so independently.
Alicia Ponzio is a Fellow and board member of the National Sculpture Society. (b. 1974) Ponzio began her career as a Lieutenant in the United States' Navy Nurse Corps. After experimenting with various mediums in figurative art, she found her voice in sculpture and made the decision to pursue it. She completed her artistic training at the Florence Academy of Art (FAA) in Florence, Italy, where she completed the Sculpture Program in 2008. She was the director of the Artistic Anatomy and Ecorché Sculpture programs, as well as a figure drawing instructor, at the FAA until 2011, when she returned to the United States and set up her studio in downtown San Francisco. Alicia brings life to her bronzes and plasters, focusing on the abstract movement of forms as embodied in the human figure, as well as the subtle shades of human emotion. Her figure compositions and portraits have received recognition and honors from several organizations including the Art Renewal Center, the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, The Portrait Society of America, The California Art Club and the National Sculpture Society from which Alicia received the Alex J. Ettl Grant in 2016. She is a Fellow and board member of the National Sculpture Society and a Signature Artist of the Portrait Society of America. She has taught at various venues around the United States, Canada, and Italy including the Florence Academy of Art, the Rome Art Workshops, Brookgreen Gardens, Pixar Studios, The University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine, and the Scottsdale Artists' School, in addition to her own private studio classes in San Francisco. She teaches wide range of classes including various aspects of Figure and Portrait Modeling, Artistic Anatomy in drawing and sculpture, and Figure Drawing. Her work ranges from miniature portraits to larger scale single figure and multi-figure compositions. She works extensively in plaster to achieve her effect and casts the final product in bronze.
May 18 - 22; Make Your Own Brookgreen Medal, with Heidi Wastweet, FNSS, $650, plus materials fee.
A single-sided art medal is a bite-size project that can be done in five days. On the first day, Heidi Wastweet will take students around the grounds to take their own reference photos. Then there will be two-and-a-half days of sculpting and a day-and a half of mold-making and plaster casting. For an additional fee of $100 to cover the cost of casting, patina, and shipping, she will send your piece to a foundry and ship to you a finished bronze medal. Those who don't want a bronze can take home a plaster cast.
Heidi Wastweet is a leading American medalist and sculptor specializing in bas-relief bronzes. In conjunction with a wide variety of private mints she has produced over 1,000 coins, medals, tokens, and rare coin replicas since 1987. She was chief engraver for Sunshine Mint for 11 years and lead designer/sculptor for Global Mint for five years. In 2001, she opened her own studio, relocated from Idaho to Seattle in 2003, and then to San Francisco Bay area in 2013. She serves as president of the American Medallic Sculpture Association and is former president and founder of Seattle Sculpture Guild as well as a member of the Federation Internationale de la Medaille. Her work has been shown in Coin World and Coinage magazines, and she exhibits her non-commissioned work with the National Sculpture Society in New York and the Bellevue Art Museum in Washington. She served two, four year terms on the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee for the U.S. Mint in Washington, D.C. Medal and coin credits include a seven-coin set issued by the Sultanate of Darfur, Asian Hall of Fame Award Medal, the Dean's Award for Seattle University School of Law, Alumnus Award Medal, and Dean's Award for Seattle University School of Law, Alumnus Award for Stephen F. Austin University, Mayo Clinic Visiting Physicians Medal, Stanford University Alumni Medal, and Island Records Willie Nelson portrait. In addition to medallic art, she has also created public art including a commission for the University of Washington's Medal of Honor Monument in Seattle and eight bronze relief panels for 12-foot-high church doors at St. Paul's in Pensacola, Florida.
June 1 - 5; Human & Animal Integration Workshop with Adam Matano. $650 plus model and material fees.
This 5-day intensive workshop explores the integration of human and animal forms in sculpture, focusing on anatomy, composition, and storytelling. Participants will learn how to combine these forms into dynamic, cohesive compositions. We will work for life through life model sessions, as well as from reference materials. Students will explore different compositional ideas and develop an understanding of human and animal anatomy, highlighting key similarities and differences. The workshop emphasizes the importance of studying proportion, rhythm, and narrative flow. By the end, participants will have gained deeper insights into anatomy and practical techniques for creating expressive, multi-figure sculptures that integrate human and animal forms into balanced, emotionally impactful compositions.
Adam Matano is a contemporary representational artist specializing in sculpture. His work is an organically evolving process combining visceral reaction to life, his interest and admiration for the natural world and our relationship with it. The exploration of these ideas allows for psychologically dense, rhythmic artwork. Adam's interest and involvement with nature and the arts began at a young age. Early in his career, he nurtured his musical interests, which now play an integral part in his overall aesthetic, its principles echoing in his sculptures. Most of Adam's subjects are real life models that he has spent time with, through observation or interaction. Adam attained his BFA in sculpture at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts in Connecticut in 2010. Currently, Adam works and lives in Los Angeles, exhibiting his sculpture and teaching.
June 15 - 19; Intro to Character Sculpting with Jerome Ranft. $650 plus material fees
This workshop is about seeing with a critical eye, interpreting what you see, and executing your conclusions in clay. Students will learn how to take a 2-D character design or caricature from the page to a 3-D clay model. Each student will bring to the first class a design of his or her choice (Please, no monsters, creatures or anything overly complicated and no personal Drawings and/or designs), something that motivates you from the vast amount of materials in the world. Instruction will include how to construct a sufficient armature, how to mass up a form, interpreting a design into three dimensions, and how and when to start bringing in details.
Jerome Ranft was born in Whittier, California in 1966. He showed great interest in art as a young child. He attended Fullerton College where he received a broad education in sculpture from 1984-1989. In 1989 he transferred to the California College of Arts and Crafts, in Oakland, California where he graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor's degree of Fine Arts in Sculpture. While planning to attend graduate school, Jerome became employed at Skellington Prodcutions, working as a model builder on The Nightmare before Christmas and then as a sculptor on James and the Giant Peach. These first jobs in feature Animation gave him a love for the medium and soon lead to many others until he secured a full-time position at Pixar Animation Studios in 1997. Jerome's work as a Character Sculptor for Pixar has also lead to working with the Theme Parks Division of Pixar and collaborating with Walt Disney Imagineering on Pixar-themed attractions for their various parks around the world.
July 20 - 24; Artist in Residence - Chad Fisher. Closed to Public.
July 27 - 31; The Dynamic Figure in Clay with Chad Fisher. $650 + Material and Model fees
This workshop will introduce students to the process and techniques of figurative sculpture. Students will sculpt from a live model over a 5-day period, 40 hours, with an emphasis on gesture, volume, proportions, anatomy, and model likeness. Each student will complete one 24-inch figure in water-based clay. The concepts of the golden section and dynamic symmetry will be introduced, along with historical design elements and the discover of anatomical rhythms. Throughout this workshop, students will be guided by instructor led demonstrations and individual and group critiques, which integrate authentic ancient Greek and 19th-centry figurative sculpture principles. Complementing the class, are discussions about the phenomenological approach to observing figures through clay.
Chad Fisher is the Director of the Sculpture Program at Lyme Academy. Through his studio/personal foundry, Chad has created over 25 public sculptures. Fisher studied at the UPenn, Pennsylvania Academy, Janus Collaborative, Barnstone Studios and Schulykill Academy.
September 14 -18; Intro to Mold Making for Sculpture Workshop with Janessa Portner and Heather Hanna. $650 + material fees
This is not an advance mold-making workshop, rather an introductory workshop examining the various urethane and silicone rubber and plastic resin materials available to sculptors and the processes to create simple molds of small scale 3D sculpture and bas relief works. Students will create a two-part rubber and plaster mother mold of a small 3D printed bust, as well as other blanket and box molds and resin castings. At the instructor's discretion, and depending on complexity, students may be allowed to bring their own piece to mold if it fits within a 6" x 6" box. This is a perfect class to learn how to make simple, basic molds that students can incorporate into their own studio practice, or business, and taught by an industry expert.
September 28 - October 2; Plein Air Figure Sculpture with Kevin Chambers. $650 + material and model fees
Students will utilize sculptures from the Gardens at Brookgreen to create master studies onsite. Students will spend the morning of each workshop day outside creating a small-scale study of a sculpture of their choosing. The afternoon will be spent in the studio sculpting from a live model. This allows each student to study how the master sculptors have addressed such challenges as gesture, proportion, and anatomy. Then they will come into the studio and work on a 18-24" sculpture to apply these skills.
Kevin Chambers is an elected member of the National Sculpture Society. He received a BFA in Media Arts and Animation from the Art Institute of Atlanta, a program that allowed him the latitude to develop his own personal style while he apprenticed for talented artists. He studied the figure with contemporary masters such as Glenn Villpu, Brian Booth Craig, David Simon, and anatomical workshops with Andrew Cawrse.
October 19 - 22; Sculpting Extinct Animals with Gary Staab. $650 + material fees
In this 4-day workshop, each student will be given the option to sculpt one of 3 subjects, a Mammoth, a Camarasaurus or a T-rex. We will discuss the anatomy of living animals and how it informs the restoration of extinct life forms. Working over an armature and using skeletal diagrams and fossil reference casts, each student will flesh out their chosen animal. Students will be able to pick the pose of the animal or follow along with the instructor. We will cover techniques to create believable movement as well as a variety of textural finishes in clay. Staab will also discuss the challenges and complexities of working on large and small-scale Paleo Art sculptures. We will discuss the philosophy of what material to use and when to use it. Beginning students are welcome.
Gary Staab has been making sculptures for Natural History Museums for over 35 years and is an elected member of the National Sculpture Society. He first started his interest in animals at age 11 by taking a taxidermy correspondence course. Since then, his entire life has been focused on understanding the shapes and complexity of the natural world, both past and present. His work has been displayed at the National Geographic Society, The Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, The Carnegie Museum of Natural History, The Beijing Museum of Natural History and the British Museum of Natural History, among many others. You can see his work featured on the PBS NOVA special, "Iceman Reborn."
November 9 - 13; Beginning Portrait Sculpting with Bryan Rapp. $325 + material fees
This is an introductory sculpting course designed for beginners who wish to learn how to build a sculptural bust from photo references but is open to all levels of experience. Students will follow the instructor's step-by-step instruction, constructing a head armature and will learn how to proportion eyes, nose, mouth, and ears from photo references, and examine facial muscles and gestures to capture the uniqueness or spirit of an individual. Returning students may choose their own subject. Anyone interested in creature or monster making is welcome to choose their own subject.
Bryan Rapp is the Director of the Wallace Master Sculptor Program at Brookgreen Gardens. Rapp studied Computer Animation at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh ('03) and earned his BFA from Muskingum University, and an MFA in sculpture from the University of Oklahoma ('16), where he studied under Paul Moore, FNSS. Bryan began his sculpting career in 2004 in Alan Cottrill's studio and foundry, Coopermill Bronzeworks, in Zanesville, Ohio, as a mold and wax tech for three years, assisting on numerous large commissions. From 2016 to 2019, Rapp was the first Artist-in-Residence at Coastal Carolina University, teaching all processes in the ancient clay to bronze tradition know as "Lost Wax' casting while fabricating a 12' tall bronze mascot in the university's foundry for the football stadium.
Simpson Art Center additional programs:
Open Studios is a program that is open to the public once a month, and invites guests to spend time with a sculptor and observe the various processes employed to produce a sculpture from clay to bronze. Guests are encouraged to ask questions.
Open Studio dates - Wednesdays | 10 AM - 12 PM
Free and open to the public
1/21, 2/18, 3/25, 4/22, 5/27, 6/10, 7/22 with Artist in Residence Chad Fisher, 8/12, 9/23, 10/14, 11/18
Sip and Sculpt
Try your hand at sculpting a small clay Bas Relief while sipping on wine and Hors d'oeuvre.
Saturday, January 24, 2026 | 1-3 PM
Saturday, March 28, 2026 | 1-3 PM
Wednesday, September 9, 2026 | 4-6 PM
Wednesday, November 18, 2026 | 4-6 PM
Conservation Talks in the Robin Salmon Conservation Lab at the Simpson Art Center
Dates to be determined.
3d Lab Demonstrations
Dates to be determined.
WORKSHOP POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Registration and Payment
Registration is accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Students are asked to provide a complete mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address when pre-registering with Curatorial Associate Kay Filar at (800) 849-1931, x6034, or locally at (843) 235-6034. A registration deposit of $150 for adult workshops is required to complete the registration. Students will receive an emailed invoice indicating that two payments need to be made with credit card (AmEx, Visa, MasterCard, Discover) or check (payable to “Brookgreen Gardens”, sent to Brookgreen Gardens, ATTN: Sculpture Workshops, PO Box 3368, Pawleys Island, SC 29585). The first payment is the $150 registration deposit due upon receipt; the second, a final payment including remaining tuition and materials/models fees due on the last day of the workshop. A
place in a class is not reserved until this registration deposit is paid. A waiting list will be established once a class has filled. After attending one workshop, adult students may receive a 10% tuition discount for attendance in subsequent workshops during the same year.
Withdrawals, Cancellations and Refund Policies
Withdrawals from a workshop must be in writing and must be given at least 30 days prior to the beginning of the workshop. We prefer to apply the registration fee to a future workshop but, if this is not possible, it will be refunded. If a student withdraws during a workshop, a pro-rated tuition payment plus any fees for materials or models must be paid. The full registration fee ($150) will be kept if a student does not attend and does not provide written notice of withdrawal by the deadline. Students will receive a full refund if a workshop must be canceled by Brookgreen Gardens.
Levels of Skill
All workshops require students to have basic familiarity with the subject matter of the class, but most are suitable for beginners.
Supplies, Books and Additional Fees
A supply list of required materials will be sent approximately two weeks prior to the start of each workshop. Students may not bring their own clay to the workshop unless the instructor has specified it. If recommended, students are encouraged to obtain books prior to the workshop. Some materials for workshops are provided and some workshops require models, both for additional fees. In the event additional fees are required, they are determined at cost and divided evenly among the students.
Daily Schedule
Although each sculpture workshop begins and ends at the instructor’s discretion, the schedule is generally 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM on the first day, and 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM on the subsequent days, which provides six hours of instruction per day. One hour is allowed for lunch. In order to keep to the schedule, students are encouraged to bring their own bag lunches or to use Brookgreen food service facilities. A microwave oven, coffee maker, and vending machines are located at the Campbell Center.
Additional Questions?
email: sculptureworkshops@brookgreen.org
Please call Bryan Rapp, Director of the Master Sculptor Program (843) 235-6027, or, Kay Filar, Curatorial Associate, (843) 235-6034, or, Robin R. Salmon, VP of Art and Historical Collections and Curator of Sculpture, (843) 235-6012.
Recommended Places to Stay:
Litchfield Beach & Golf Resort (closest)
Airlines that service Myrtle Beach are - Allegiant Air, American, Delta, Porter Air, Spirit, United, US Airways and WestJet.
Airlines that service Charleston are - American Eagle, Delta, Jetblue, Southwest, United, and US Airways.