Sarah Weiben ’04 has been teaching Painting classes for Continuing Education since 2008. Originally focusing on Russian studies, Weiben began to pursue her interest in art in 1991. In a recent interview, Weiben invokes that career shift when describing their CE courses:

A lot of people come to CE because they wanted art earlier in their lives and for some reason decided not to pursue that. But it has stayed with them. And so people are either pursuing a long-time interest or returning to something that they started and didn't finish earlier in their lives. Since I came to art later in life, I feel like I'm the right person to usher them back in.

Weiben also talked about how diverse their CE classes are, with students ranging from 18 years old to 80. In response, Weiben wants to create a certain atmosphere in their classes:

I try to quickly let them know that they're here to have fun and that they will be supported and grow. I assure them that even later in the class, they will already be laughing and enjoying themselves. And all of that sort of newbie anxiety just melts away.

Brian Britigan, an Illustration instructor, has been teaching at MCAD since 2020. In an interview about Brian’s experience teaching Continuing Education courses, he explains;

When coming into the classroom, I try to meet folks wherever they are at. I have students who might have been working in a single artistic practice for 40 years, and they're experts in their area. And then there are folks who have dabbled in a sketchbook, enjoyed that process, and wanted to figure out what their next steps might be.

What's really great about the CE classes that I've taught is the way that students interact with each other. Students are very courteous about meeting folks where they are and helping everybody move on to their next step. If you're somebody who feels self-conscious about your arts experience or the amount of work that you have under your belt, I think a CE class is a great space to try something new and expand what you might expect from yourself.

Brian’s encouragement for others to take CE courses is not unwarranted; he explains that community education courses are a way that he has built community and connections in his own artistic practice. Teaching was a natural progression. Brian has taught online, in-person, and hybrid courses, which means students are often local, but have come from all over the world. Brian has had students from across the U.S., as well as students located in Malaysia and Indonesia. Describing what to expect in a CE course, Brian says

Peer critique is a huge part of what I do. I don't like to be the sole source of knowledge in the classroom that I'm imparting to these students, but, instead, I really view it as a meeting space for a group of creative people to collaborate on projects together. We're bringing so many different skills to the table. We have graphic designers in the room, we have photographers in the room, we have comics artists in the room, and all of them are speaking languages that overlap a little bit, but are all coming from really unique perspectives.