Tuition & dates

The Art of Study

Every price, and every date they fall due

Conservatory of Realist Art

Full-time

The full year: drawing, painting and sculpture from life, with anatomy, perspective and the humanities — two days a week in the studio with eleven other students.

What the year is like
The first cohort, which began October 5. It runs eight months rather than nine, which is the whole reason it costs less.
$10,400
October 5, 2026 to May 2027, finishing with the residency in Tuscany. You can join at any point in the year, with tuition prorated from your start date, subject to acceptance and space in the cohort.
  • Monthly8 payments of $1,300, due Oct 1 – May 1$10,400
  • Semester2 payments of $5,200, due Oct 1 and Jan 1$10,400
  • Annual1 payment, due Oct 1, 2026$10,400
The standard nine-month year, September to May, from the 2027–28 cohort onward.
$13,500
The same total however you choose to pay it.
  • Monthly9 payments of $1,500, due Sep 1 – May 1$13,500
  • Semester2 payments of $6,750, due Sep 1 and Jan 1$13,500
  • Annual1 payment, due Sep 1$13,500
Paid once, when you book your interview. It covers reading your work, the interview, and the decision.
$79
Paid at the point you book your admissions interview.
Holds you a place in next year’s cohort before applications open to everyone else.
$650
Enrollment deposit, due around August 15, 2027, and credited toward your tuition — leaving $850 due on September 1 monthly, $6,100 on the first semester payment, or $12,850 if you pay annually.

Private Mentorship

Enrollment open

One to one and online, built around whatever you are making now. No application, and you can start this week.

How mentorship works
A single conversation about one thing that is stuck.
$55
A full hour — room to go through the work properly and leave with a plan.
$125
Four weekly sessions that build on each other, with work to do in between.
$200
The first session sets the plan of study.
The same four weeks with a full hour each time — demonstrations, longer critique.
$400

Begin here

Two ways to find out whether any of this is for you, neither of which commits you to anything.

About the conversation
Twenty-two minutes to ask anything at all. It is exploratory and guarantees nothing.
$44
Twenty-two minutes, online. It commits you to nothing.
Setting up the room you will actually work in — lighting, camera, easel, storage.
$175
An hour online, a written checklist, and a follow-up.

Tuscany Residency

May 24 – June 6, 2027

Two weeks painting in Italy, with daily teaching. Open to anyone — you do not have to be a student here to come.

Daily instruction, the villa, excursions and most meals.
from $5,500
Daily study, plein air, the villa and most meals. Open to anyone.
A partner or a parent sharing the villa and the meals, without the teaching.
$1,500
Accommodation and meals, no instruction. A partner, or a parent.

Tuition covers instruction, studio access, online coursework and critique. Materials, travel and the Tuscany residency are not included — we send a materials list before you start.

Dates

When each of these falls due.

Nothing is owed until you have been offered a place and accepted it. After that, these are the only dates that involve money.

  1. Tuscany deposit due
  2. Tuscany balance due
  3. Enrollment deposit due
Plainly

The questions people don’t like asking.

What does tuition actually cover?
Instruction, the studio, and your place in the cohort — two days a week in the room with Lisa and Matthew, the weekly online class, and critique. It does not cover materials: you buy your own paint, charcoal, canvas and brushes, the way you would in any atelier. We'll send a list before you start so nothing is a surprise.
Why does the founding year cost less?
Two reasons, and one of them is a discount. It is shorter — eight months, October 5 to May, finishing with the residency in Tuscany — and the first cohort is deliberately priced below what the year costs from 2027: $10,400 against $13,500. From 2027 the program runs its full nine months, September to May.
Can I pay monthly?
Yes — that's the normal arrangement rather than a concession, and there are three ways to do it: monthly, by semester, or once for the year. The total is the same whichever you choose. The founding year is eight payments of $1,300, and students who join after the start may be offered a prorated schedule rather than paying for weeks they missed.
Is the application fee refundable, or credited?
The $79 covers work that happens whether or not you're offered a place: reading the application, reviewing your portfolio, and the interview itself.
Do I need to already be good?
No. No previous formal training is required and beginners are welcome — curiosity, consistency and a willingness to learn are what matter most. Learning to see is a trained skill, not a gift you either have or you don't.
Can I do this alongside a job?
It's built to. Two days a week in the studio, one class online, and a day or two at your own easel at home — that's the shape of it, and it's designed to sit beside a working life rather than replace one. What it asks for is the same two days, every week, for the year.
What if I can't afford this?
Say so. Two one-year scholarships begin in 2027, and Lisa and Matthew would rather have the conversation than lose someone who belongs here over money. Nobody is thought less of for asking.
Do I have to commit to the whole year?
The Conservatory is a year — that's what makes it work, and a term of it would be a different and lesser thing. If a year isn't possible right now, private mentorship exists for exactly that reason and it starts at $55.
Next

Applying is free, and takes about twenty minutes.

Nothing on this page is owed to begin. The $79 review fee is paid when you book your interview, and not everyone is offered a place — which is the other half of what these figures buy.

Begin an applicationOr a $44 conversation first