Thunderbird Arts Center, in partnership with the City of Phoenix, is a satellite location of Phoenix Center for the Arts, serving our North Phoenix communities. The facility opened to the public in the fall of 2016, and began offering classes for adults and youth year-round.
Students can register for a variety of art classes at this location, including: Ceramics, Mosaics, Painting & Drawing, Photography, Printmaking, Mosaics, Youth Art, and more!
Note: Click the “Sign Up” button at the bottom of a class description to register through the Center’s Mindbody registration platform. A Mindbody account is required to register for classes at the Center. Questions about registration or financial aid? Call (602) 254-3100 or email frontdesk@phoenixcenterforthearts.org to speak to a Patron Services Associate to speak to a Patron Services Associate.
Prior to arriving for in-person classes, students are required to digitally sign our Student Agreement.
Address:
Thunderbird Arts Center
1106 E. Grovers Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85022
(located in the building behind the Mountain View Community Center)
Hours of operation:
Our hours vary based on class schedules. Please contact our office to confirm the weekly hours.
Phone:
(602) 293-3267
One Day Camera Class for Photographers (Thunderbird)
Date: December 10, 2025 11:00 am - 3:00 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 4/9
Description: This will be a condensed class for photographers who not only want to understand their camera and it's creative settings but also wish to improve the look of their photography.
Topics include;
Getting off the Auto Setting
Creative control of settings
Rules of Composition and when to break them
Post processing using Adobe Lightroom
Materials: None
Prerequisite: Should have a camera or Cell Phone
Duration: 1 day
Ages: 16+
Cost: $50.00
Painting Exercise: CLOUDS
Date: January 05, 2026 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 9/10
Students or Guardians must bring ID to the first class.
Instructor: Hristi Wilbur (She/Her)
Description: 3-hour acrylics workshop with a focus on clouds. Two compositions will be presented to practice different types of clouds in a variety of light conditions. We will discuss brushstrokes, color mixing and gradation as well. This workshop will benefit those interested in realistic landscape painting.
Materials: All materials provided
Duration: 3 Hours
Ages: 16+
Cost: $50
Intermediate / Advanced Acrylic Painting 4 weeks (Thunderbird)
Date: January 05, 2026 6:00 pm - January 26, 2026 9:00 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 7/12
Description: Landscapes, florals, water scenes, figure work, abstract, still life. Students take their work home each week and bring it back to work on it the following week.
Materials: All materials will be supplied by instructor.
Prerequisite: My beginner painting class, or another beginner painting class
Duration: 4 weeks
Ages: 16+
Cost: $125.00
Fun & Easy Acrylic Painting (Thunderbird - 4 weeks)
Date: January 06, 2026 6:30 pm - January 27, 2026 8:30 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 9/12
Students or Guardians must bring ID to the first class.
Description: Great for beginners and intermediates. Step-by-step follow along tutorial to produce a completed painting in 2 hours! Always room to personalize/modify your art piece. Always fun! 4 weeks
Materials: All materials will be provided.
Prerequisites: None
Ages: 16+
Cost: $85.00
Crafts and fairy tales (Thunderbird)
Date: January 06, 2026 4:00 pm - February 03, 2026 5:30 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 10/10
Description: Let's dive into the world of mixed media and craft our very own fairy tales and characters. We will start by reading a passage from a fairy tale, and then we'll unleash our creativity to invent unique characters and scenes using mixed media. Finally, we'll free write down our stories to share with everyone. Kids will leave with valuable experience in expressing their ideas and nurturing their imagination.
Materials: None
Prerequisite: None
Duration: 5 weeks
Ages: 8-10
Cost: $85.00
Beyond Basic Wheel Throwing (Thunderbird)
Date: January 06, 2026 6:00 pm - May 26, 2026 9:00 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 0/11
Students or Guardians must bring ID to the first class.
Description: Designed for Intermediate and Advanced level students who wish to improve their pottery wheel throwing skills beyond basic pottery forms. Emphasis will be on exploring the more complex throwing principles of developing a wider range of pot shapes such as the lidded vessel, plate, bottle forms through structured group assignments, instructor lead demonstrations and tailored supervision.
Materials: Please bring your own pottery hand tools, an apron and hand towel. Depending on project of choice, students should expect to spend a minimum of $50 for materials. Clay is available for purchase in class at $30 per 25lb. bag. Please bring cash!
Duration: 21 weeks
Prerequisites: Must be able to throw a centered cylinder on the potter’s wheel.
Ages: 16+
Cost: $425.00
Please arrive 15 minutes before class begins.
Fun & Easy Acrylic Painting (Thunderbird - 4 weeks)
Date: January 07, 2026 6:30 pm - January 28, 2026 8:30 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 9/12
Students or Guardians must bring ID to the first class.
Description: Great for beginners and intermediates. Step-by-step follow along tutorial to produce a completed painting in 2 hours! Always room to personalize/modify your art piece. Always fun! 4 weeks
Materials: All materials will be provided.
Prerequisites: None
Ages: 16+
Cost: $85.00
Watercolor Landscape (Thunderbird)
Date: January 07, 2026 6:00 pm - February 11, 2026 9:00 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 7/10
Description: Six-week watercolor painting class covering beginner to intermediate levels. The main focus of the class will be landscapes. Step-by-step instructions will be provided. Students will learn a variety of painting techniques and styles, including realism, pointillism and cubism. Composition, perspective, scale, value and more will be explained and practiced. All materials provided.
Materials: All materials provided
Prerequisite: No experience required
Duration: 6 weeks
Ages: 16+
Cost: $195.00
Wednesday Daytime Clay (Thunderbird)
Date: January 07, 2026 1:00 pm - May 27, 2026 4:00 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 7/12
Description: Designed for both experienced wheel throwers and hand builders. Emphasis will be on a casual hands-on approach with the instructor, who will work with you one on one as needed to help move you further along in your pottery skills path. Engaging class demonstrations and discussion are also included. Students also have the option to work independently.
Materials: Please bring your own pottery hand tools, an apron and hand towel. Depending on project of choice, students should expect to spend a minimum of $50 for materials. Clay is available for purchase in class at $30 per 25lb. bag. Please bring cash!
Prerequisites: Previous wheel and/or hand building experience required.
Ages: 16+
Cost: $425.00
Arrival Time: Please arrive 15 minutes before the start of class to check-in.
Open Clay Studio - Handbuilding (Thunderbird)
Date: January 07, 2026 6:00 pm - May 27, 2026 9:00 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 4/12
Students or Guardians must bring ID to the first class.
Materials: Please bring your own pottery hand tools, an apron and hand towel. Depending on project of choice, students should expect to spend a minimum of $50 for materials. Clay is available for purchase in class at $25 per 25lb. bag. Please bring cash!
Prerequisite: Previous clay experience and be able to work independently
Duration: 21 Weeks
Ages: 16+
Cost: $425.00
Please arrive 15 minutes before class begins.
Better Pots - Better Wheel Throwing (Thunderbird)
Date: January 07, 2026 6:00 pm - May 27, 2026 9:00 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 4/11
Students or Guardians must bring ID to the first class.
Description: Designed for Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced level students who wish to improve their pottery wheel throwing and glazing skills. Emphasis will be on analyzing /correcting poor wheel throwing habits that prevent you from advancing to the next level. Learn more complex throwing principles in developing a wider range of pot shapes and glazing techniques through instructor lead demonstrations and tailored supervision.
Materials: Please bring your own pottery hand tools, an apron and hand towel. Depending on project of choice, students should expect to spend a minimum of $50 for materials. Clay is available for purchase in class at $30 per 25lb. bag. Please bring cash!
Duration: 21 weeks
Prerequisites: Wheel throwing experience and must be able to throw a centered cylinder on the potter’s wheel.
Ages: 16+
Cost: $425.00
Arrival Time: Please arrive 15 minutes before the start of class to check-in.
Basic class: Learning to Draw the Head
Date: January 08, 2026 6:00 pm - January 22, 2026 8:45 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 9/10
Description: Learning to draw the head from life is a fundamental class where we explore the proportions of the head and capture a basic value scale. This class serves as a foundational skill for creating realistic or abstract portraits. We will work on enhancing your observational abilities, improving eye-hand coordination, and discovering the proportions of the head in 3D as they relate to 2D paper. We will identify what is essential to draw first, what comes second, and what details to add later in the process. We will also touch on understanding how to incorporate a simple value scale and how facial planes contribute to depth. It's important to remind ourselves to be patient and recognize that regular practice is key, as visible progress can often be slow and imperfect, but it is constantly evolving.
Materials: Set of pencils: graphite, H, HB,B4 B8 kneaded eraser, white eraser, papers(drawing board)/sketch book 11 x 14
Prerequisite: Practiced drawing 3D objects & used a pencil
Duration: 3 weeks
Ages: 16+
Cost: $95.00
Beginning Wheel Throwing (Thunderbird)
Date: January 08, 2026 6:00 pm - May 28, 2026 9:00 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 5/12
Students or Guardians must bring ID to the first class.
Ages: 16+
Cost: $425.00
Beginning Wheel Throwing (21 Weeks - TB)
Date: January 08, 2026 1:00 pm - May 28, 2026 4:00 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 6/6
Description: Designed for Beginner and Intermediate level students who wish to begin or improve their Ceramics’s education by learning about various ceramic materials and methods of throwing on the potter’s wheel. Emphasis will be on exploring the basic throwing principles of forming and finishing cylindrical forms through instructor lead demonstrations.
Materials: Please bring your own pottery tools or purchase a 9 piece ceramics tool kit from Marjon Ceramics Supply prior to class time, an apron and hand towel. Students should expect to spend a minimum of $50.00 for materials. Clay is available for purchase in class for $30.00 per 25lbs. bag. Please bring cash.
Prerequisite: Have basic experience in hand building clay construction or wheel throwing, helpful but not necessary.
Duration: 21 weeks
Ages: 18+
Cost: $425.00
Beginning Wheel Throwing (21 Weeks - TB)
Date: January 09, 2026 1:00 pm - May 29, 2026 4:00 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 6/6
Description: Designed for Beginner and Intermediate level students who wish to begin or improve their Ceramics’s education by learning about various ceramic materials and methods of throwing on the potter’s wheel. Emphasis will be on exploring the basic throwing principles of forming and finishing cylindrical forms through instructor lead demonstrations.
Materials: Please bring your own pottery tools or purchase a 9 piece ceramics tool kit from Marjon Ceramics Supply prior to class time, an apron and hand towel. Students should expect to spend a minimum of $50.00 for materials. Clay is available for purchase in class for $30.00 per 25lbs. bag. Please bring cash.
Prerequisite: Have basic experience in hand building clay construction or wheel throwing, helpful but not necessary.
Duration: 21 weeks
Ages: 18+
Cost: $425.00
Acrylics for Beginners (Thunderbird)
Date: January 10, 2026 9:00 am - February 14, 2026 12:00 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 8/10
Students or Guardians must bring ID to the first class.
Description: This six-week course is an introduction to acrylic painting focusing on a variety of styles and subject matter. There will be an individual approach to each student’s abilities and needs. The emphasis will be on acquiring skills in realistic painting. Projects will include landscapes, still life, portrait and decorative compositions based on the elements of art and principles of design. Students will learn the basics of color theory and color mixing, as well as how to use perspective, proportion, value, scale, etc. in making visually appealing compositions. All materials will be provided, including painting surfaces, brushes, palette knives and tools. Optional: bring a sketchbook for additional drawings and notes.
Duration: 6 weeks
Prerequisites: No Experience Required
Ages: 16+
Cost: $195.00
Comics and Manga Production Fundamentals (Group One) Thunderbird
Date: January 10, 2026 11:00 am - March 14, 2026 1:00 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 12/12
Description: This class is intended for kids who dream of becoming like the great authors of worldwide comics and manga outside of their standard school curriculum. Within this course, students will learn the history of sequential arts in both the West and East, the process of producing an individual and collaborative book, and how to present and pitch their story to a potential publisher. This course encourages students not only to grow as artists but to grow connections for those who share their passion and dreams to make a mark in the world of entertainment and explore new possibilities in storytelling.
Materials: Standard materials for comic and manga production will be provided to the students, along with reference materials to study in-class at their leisure, though it is recommended that students bring additional production and reference materials for supplementary production skills they may wish to learn.
Prerequisite: Elementary Drawing Skills, Attentiveness, Scheduling, Work Ethic, (Optional) Knowledge of Japanese Language
Duration: 10 weeks
Ages: 6-12
Cost: $145.00
Comics and Manga Production Fundamentals (Group Two) Thunderbird
Date: January 10, 2026 1:00 pm - March 14, 2026 3:00 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 11/12
Description: This class is intended for kids who dream of becoming like the great authors of worldwide comics and manga outside of their standard school curriculum. Within this course, students will learn the history of sequential arts in both the West and East, the process of producing an individual and collaborative book, and how to present and pitch their story to a potential publisher. This course encourages students not only to grow as artists but to grow connections for those who share their passion and dreams to make a mark in the world of entertainment and explore new possibilities in storytelling.
Materials: Standard materials for comic and manga production will be provided to the students, along with reference materials to study in-class at their leisure, though it is recommended that students bring additional production and reference materials for supplementary production skills they may wish to learn.
Prerequisite: Elementary Drawing Skills, Attentiveness, Scheduling, Work Ethic, (Optional) Knowledge of Japanese Language
Duration: 10 weeks
Ages: 13-16
Cost: $145.00
Intro To Watercolor
Date: January 10, 2026 9:00 am - May 16, 2026 12:00 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 9/10
Description: Watercolor is not as scary as it seems. It can be wet and wild but it can also be damp and disciplined. We will enter in the shallow end and slowly wade to the deep end of this art form without a lifeguard on duty! (Joke) You'll learn how to mix colors, ways to apply the paint and how to control it on the paper. Subject matter is up to you.
Materials: Watercolor Paper Pad Cold Press (9 x 12); Watercolor Paint (tube) - Alizarin Crimson (Hue), Cadmium Red (Hue), Lemon Yellow (Hue), Cadmium Yellow (Hue), Ultramarine Blue, Pthalo Blue; Watercolor Brushes (3) - #4 Round, #12 Round and 1 inch Flat; Palette (10 or more wells, with lid if possible) (e.g. ice cube tray); Pencil; White Plastic Eraser; Pencil Sharpener; Rag; Small Spray Bottle; Plastic Water Containers (2) (e.g. yogurt container); Artist tape (waterproof, 1/2 - 1" wide), Ziplock bags (gallon size) (one for palette, one for small supplies)
Prerequisite: No Experience Required
Duration: 19 weeks
Days Off: 5/23
Ages: 18+
Cost: $340.00
Beginning Wheel Throwing (Thunderbird)
Date: January 10, 2026 10:00 am - May 30, 2026 1:00 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 8/12
Students or Guardians must bring ID to the first class.
Instructor: Randy Thomas
Description: Designed for Beginner and Intermediate level students who wish to begin or improve their ceramics education by learning about various ceramic materials and methods of throwing on the potter’s wheel. Emphasis will be on exploring the basic throwing principles of forming and finishing cylindrical forms through instructor lead group demonstrations and individual hands-on instruction.
Materials: Please bring your own pottery tools or purchase a 9 piece ceramics tool kit from Marjon's Ceramics Supply prior to class time, an apron and hand towel. Students should expect to spend a minimum of $50.00 for materials. Clay is available for purchase in class for $30.00 per 25lb. bag. Please bring cash!
Prerequisite: Have basic experience in hand building and/or pottery wheel clay construction, helpful but not necessary.
Duration: 21 Weeks
Ages: 16+
Cost: $425.00
Beginning Wheel Throwing (21 Weeks - TB)
Date: January 10, 2026 1:00 pm - May 30, 2026 4:00 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 6/6
Description: Designed for Beginner and Intermediate level students who wish to begin or improve their Ceramics’s education by learning about various ceramic materials and methods of throwing on the potter’s wheel. Emphasis will be on exploring the basic throwing principles of forming and finishing cylindrical forms through instructor lead demonstrations.
Materials: Please bring your own pottery tools or purchase a 9 piece ceramics tool kit from Marjon Ceramics Supply prior to class time, an apron and hand towel. Students should expect to spend a minimum of $50.00 for materials. Clay is available for purchase in class for $30.00 per 25lbs. bag. Please bring cash.
Prerequisite: Have basic experience in hand building clay construction or wheel throwing, helpful but not necessary.
Duration: 21 weeks
Ages: 18+
Cost: $425.00
Comics and Manga Production Fundamentals (Group Three) Thunderbird
Date: January 11, 2026 11:00 am - March 15, 2026 1:00 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 11/12
Description: This class is intended for kids who dream of becoming like the great authors of worldwide comics and manga outside of their standard school curriculum. Within this course, students will learn the history of sequential arts in both the West and East, the process of producing an individual and collaborative book, and how to present and pitch their story to a potential publisher. This course encourages students not only to grow as artists but to grow connections for those who share their passion and dreams to make a mark in the world of entertainment and explore new possibilities in storytelling.
Materials: Standard materials for comic and manga production will be provided to the students, along with reference materials to study in-class at their leisure, though it is recommended that students bring additional production and reference materials for supplementary production skills they may wish to learn.
Prerequisite: Elementary Drawing Skills, Attentiveness, Scheduling, Work Ethic, (Optional) Knowledge of Japanese Language
Duration: 10 weeks
Ages: 13-18
Cost: $145.00
Painting exercises: TREES
Date: January 12, 2026 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 10/10
Students or Guardians must bring ID to the first class.
Instructor: Hristi Wilbur
Description: 3 hour acrylic workshop with step-by-step instruction on how to paint trees. We will cover a few aspects of landscape painting including composition, proportion, color mixing and shading. All materials provided.
Materials: No materials required
Duration: 3 Hours
Prerequisites: None
Ages: 16+
Cost: $50
Ceramics (Thunderbird)
Date: January 13, 2026 1:00 pm - April 28, 2026 4:00 pm
Location: Thunderbird Arts Center
Available Slots: 0/11
Description: "Let’s get dirty together. Join me Tuesday afternoons where I will help you learn the basics, centering and pulling a cylinder, or improving your skill level. Everyone has different strengths I will help you hone in on your individual throwing style."
Materials: Clay is available for purchase. Please bring cash! Student will also need their own hand tools. Expect to spend at least $50 depending on skill level and projects.
Prerequisite: No experience required
Duration: 16 weeks
Ages: 16+
Cost: $375.00