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Friday 11am - 5pm Saturday 11am - 5pm Sunday 11am - 5pm

Frank Bette Center for the Arts

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Alameda, CA
Frank Bette Center for the Arts

. . . a place for meetings, readings, showings, and other creative doings." — Frank Bette How to Unleash Creativity!

Enlighten - Expose yourself to new ideas, materials, techniques and perspectives. Challenge - Act on your curiosity and inspiration to experiment. Grow - Commit to improving your skills, artistic voice and artwork. Share - Share your creative journey and artwork with others. Celebrate - Appreciate and embrace every step along your path as an accomplishment, from the first toe in the water to the pinnacle of the mountain.

09/03/2026

Starting this month!

Weave Together: Unplug, get analog, meet your neighbors.

Join a local gathering of fellow weavers and fiber artists at the Bette for community weaving.

*This is not a learn-to-weave workshop, rather a community gathering for fiber artists of all skill levels. BYO portable loom (lap size or small tabletop loom) and materials. Some additional yarn will be supplied. Sliding scale donation of $5-$15 is suggested, but not required.

4th Thursday of the month, 6–8 pm (Starting September 24)

Where: In the upstairs classroom

Your host: Laura Wasserman
https://www.radcraftstudios.com/

09/02/2026

September Happenings at the Bette!

09/01/2026

Monday Night Life Drawing at the Bette!

$20 drop-in, or pay for the entire month and save 5% at https://www.frankbettecenter.org/life-drawing

08/30/2026

Looking for your next creative project?

We have lots of classes on the calendar, with opportunities to explore everything from oil painting and watercolor to gouache, charcoal, acrylics, wood relief, Adobe Illustrator, and more.

Whether you’re looking to try something new, build your skills, or spend some time making art with other people, there’s a class for you.

Take a look at what’s coming up and sign up for your next class!
https://www.frankbettecenter.org/classes-and-workshops

08/29/2026

🎨 Explore the possibilities of acrylic painting!

Join artist and educator Tom Waters for a six-week Acrylic Painting class at the Frank Bette Center for the Arts.

Explore color mixing, composition, brushwork, materials, and how to develop a painting from start to finish. Subjects will include still life, landscapes, seascapes, abstracts, and more—giving you plenty of opportunities to experiment and develop your skills.

📅 Tuesdays, October 6–November 10
🕖 7–9 PM
🎨 6 sessions
📍 Frank Bette Center for the Arts
💵 $160 members | $180 nonmembers

Come paint, learn, and explore what acrylics can do!

Sign up today: https://www.frankbettecenter.org/service-page/acrylic-painting-with-tom-waters

08/28/2026

🎨 Learn Gouache + Refine Your Figures & Faces Skills!

Join artist Jenna Hobbs for a two-day workshop designed to help you explore the qualities and benefits of gouache while strengthening your skills in painting figures and faces.

Learn gouache basics through a guided demo, explore a variety of approaches to gouache figure and portrait painting, and practice simplifying complex features into shapes and values that capture the essence of the human form. With hands-on support from Jenna, you’ll create a series of figure and portrait studies—and then develop one into a finished painting on day two.

📅 November 23–24
💰 $250 for members | $300 for non-members
📍 Upstairs Classroom

Whether you're new to gouache or looking to refine your figure and portrait skills, this workshop is an opportunity to learn, experiment, and grow your practice.
Sign up and save your spot!

Register here: https://www.frankbettecenter.org/service-page/gouache-figures-faces-2-day-workshop

08/26/2026

🎨 Cleo is back by popular demand!

Award-winning Bay Area artist Cleo Vilett is back at the Frank Bette Center for the Arts for another class. This time a two-day workshop: Intro to Color Theory, Minimizing the Minimal Pallet. September 25–26.

Explore color temperature, complements, color mixing, and how a limited palette can create more harmonious, expressive paintings. Beginner/intermediate artists working in oils or acrylics are welcome!

$275 for members | $325 for nonmembers

Register here: https://www.frankbettecenter.org/service-page/intro-to-color-theory-2-day-workshop

08/22/2026

Still spaces left! 🎨

Ready to feel more confident with oils? Join artist and instructor Elaine Carpenter for Oil Painting with Confidence, a four-session class designed for beginning to intermediate painters.

You’ll practice drawing, composition, color mixing, value, light, edges, palette knife techniques, and brushwork while working from simple still-life compositions. Best of all, you’ll complete two small paintings to take home!

📅 Starts September 10
🖌️ 4 sessions | 3 hours each
📍 Elaine’s private studio in Alameda’s West End
💲 $180 for members | $210 for non-members

Spots are still available—sign up and build your confidence with oils!

Register here: https://www.frankbettecenter.org/service-page/oil-painting-with-confidence

Address

1601 Paru Street
Alameda, CA
94501

Opening Hours

Friday	11am - 5pm
Saturday	11am - 5pm
Sunday	11am - 5pm

Website

http://www.frankbettecenter.org/

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