Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar’s (VCUQ) summer art and design community classes by noted local and international instructors, for students aged four and above concluded recently.
The three-week design intensive course had the students aged 16 and above  exploring traditional art media, digital media and photography as part of portfolio development. They also created individual projects related to fashion, interiors, graphics, painting and printmaking as well as art history. They also participated in museum and gallery visits with presentations by practising artists. The 26 students, of which 14 were Qatari, later exhibited their work to family and friends on July 18 at VCUQ.
Creative Discovery, a two-week course targeting students aged 13-15, introduced them to art and design through classes in painting, drawing, illustrating, printing and using computer graphics programmes as well as creativity exercises and group activities. This class of 24 students jointly exhibited their final work with students from the design intensive course.
VCUQ also offered opportunities for younger students, hosting week-long classes  two Art Exploration classes for 8-10 and 11-12-year-olds and Art Fun classes for students aged four to seven.
About 27 students in the art exploration class using a variety of media - drawing, painting, collage, experimentation with different art materials, exhibited their work on July 11 and July 18. The 12 youngest students in the art fun class transformed the gallery into a wonderland of colour, shapes and incredible creations in a whole variety of media.  
All students were introduced to the world of art and design through many different art and design projects using a broad range of media, group work and discussions, as well as exposure to professional work with increasing levels of intensity depending on the age groups. Students also visited the Museum of Islamic Art and other commercial art galleries where they were taken on tours and afterwards worked on individual assignments to process what they had seen, and created art to be used in their own final projects.
Current secondary educator and previous VCU art educator Jan Johnston, Associate Professor of Art Education at VCU Richmond Dr Melanie Buffington and Community Art Class lecturer Verity Watkins taught the various programmes with the assistance of VCUQ students and alumni Noor Suleiman, Samira Abbas, Amani Abbarah, Hisham Dawoud, Omar Ezzeldeen, Omaima Abdulla and Omaima Saad.
VCUQatar Dean Allyson Vanstone handed certificates to the students of all the programmes in the presence of faculty, alumni, students and their families at the end of the course. The next set of Community Classes and Portfolio Development Classes will start in October 2013.