The University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Continuing Studies offers summer travelers a variety of ways to combine artistic enrichment with a visit to the capital city.

In addition to classic activities like touring the magnificently restored Capitol, watching sailboats on Lake Mendota from a seat on the Memorial Union Terrace, and hiking the wooded paths of the UW Arboretum, you can pick up new techniques as an artist or writer.

Workshops for artists cover quilting, color, charcoal, monoprints and other topics. Summer is also the time for two major writing events at UW-Madison: the Writers' Institute and the Write-by-the-Lake Writer's Retreat. Many offerings are short, making for a memorable and enriching weekend getaway.

Professor Leslee Nelson, who coordinates UW-Madison's noncredit visual arts programs, says instructors in her department look forward to working with artists from around the state and beyond Wisconsin's borders.

"We want to extend our classes to those who can't take advantage of our regular evening art classes," Nelson explains. "Many people visit Madison during the summer and now they can do some touring and discover fresh techniques by attending one of our special classes or workshops. It makes for a great weekend away from home."

UW-Madison's Division of Continuing Studies is offering four art programs that can be completed in a single day or weekend. They are:

Color for Quilters, Saturday, July 10, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sunday, July 11, 12 to 4:30 p.m. This program gives quilters the opportunity to sort their many color choices when constructing a quilt. The group works with contrast, value and a variety of color "scheming" techniques via collaged fabric and colored pencil or painted samples.

Color in a Day, Saturday, July 17, 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. This course is for painters or designers who wish to improve their understanding of color theory. Participants learn to use gouache paint to create a wheel of pure and saturated color. They use paint or collage to learn about color value and plan color schemes.

Drawing: A Day of Charcoal, Friday, August 6, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Participants experiment with a variety of charcoal drawing approaches. They also examine ways of seeing and techniques to describe what they see. The group will create several quick drawings leading up to one longer observational drawing. All levels are welcome.

Monotype, Sunday, August 8, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wear old clothes or an apron and enjoy a fun day of printmaking! The instructor will help the group create direct monotypes from visual observation, using line, shape, space and form. Participants will use brushes, rollers, rags, stencils and other tools to create imagery with inks. The class covers additive and subtractive methods for creating multilayered prints while also addressing basic approaches to seeing.

Fans of Richard Lederer's books and Sunday morning radio show on Wisconsin Public Radio, "A Way with Words," won't want to miss his appearance at the 15th annual Writer's Institute. The Writers' Institute will be held July 8-9 at the Pyle Center on the UW-Madison campus. Lederer's co-headliner for the event is popular novelist and poet Chitra Divakaruni. Find more information about the Writers' Institute—including a complete schedule of sessions—on the Division of Continuing Studies Web site.

The Write-by-the-Lake Writer's Workshop & Retreat will be held June 14-18. Enrollees include writers from around the country; this year's enrollees already include participants from California, Arizona, Texas, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Minnesota and Illinois. Creativity thrives when you work on your writing while watching the sailboats go by the Memorial Union Terrace!

For more information about these and other educational opportunities, call toll-free at 877-336-7836 or e-mail info@dcs.wisc.edu.