WORKSHOPS
Saturday School Summer Workshop Series 2026 in Long Beach, CA
Saturday School is a series of workshops that I host at my home + studio in Long Beach, CA.
These are designed as small group workshops, or a workshop intended for small groups. Each workshop will have a different theme + activity.
The price of each workshop is correlated to the materials and snacks needed on the day of the workshop.
June 13, 20, 27 - Thinking About Things
Location: My Home - Long Beach, CA (Near Studebaker and 405 fwy exit)
9am - 12noon.
Food and Beverages included.
10 participants
$100
WHO is it for: Anyone who is interested. Anyone like you.
You might be a thing maker yourself — an artist, designer, writer, poet, etc…
You might be an interior designer who has to talk about things all the time.
You might be a curious person who likes to be around other curious people.
You might be a retired High School English teacher who’s a little bored, but during the first session it’s your obscure reference to a line in The Iliad that you taught for 42 years straight that unlocks the whole prepositional framework of being both in and with and through!
You might be a theoretical physicist who has a math equation for “Zeitgeist Adjacent” relativity.
You might be Eric’s Mom.
WHAT will we do: A series of activities and exercises to get us to think differently and distinctly about the things that we often ignore in everyday life.
We are going to think about things and talk about stuff.
HOW’s the vibe: The vibe is intentionally casual. It’s in my house.
Casual setting. Intentional content.
Ok but like WHAT will we do?
At 9am you’ll exit your vehicle and walk up to my house and in my front door. I’ll be there to greet you, of course, as well as the other workshop participants. Inside will be assorted pastries, proteins, fresh fruit, and mugs for coffee or tea. There will be coffee and tea for inside the mugs too. There will be name tags. Cute ones.
By now you’ve already made several choices about how to move through a space you’ve never been in, with people you’ve never met. Things are arranged in a familiar way, but none of the things are familiar to you.
You’ve already made a bunch of decisions, at various levels of your conscious to subconscious mind.
This isn’t to invite anxiety, but to offer a sense of the simple reflections we will engage in.
My house isn’t going to be setup up like a “fun house” - it’ll be regular. And a work in progress.
Enjoy it. Meet other people. Browse books. Sit on a chair and read by yourself too.
The agenda IS presence. You have permission to relax, and choose your own level of involvement.
At 9:30 we’ll start in on a series of exercises to get us thinking about things.
Bring your own pen and paper if you have a preference.
If not, those materials will be provided.
Food and beverages will be included too.
Plenty of street parking, don’t worry about that either.
WHY: Charles Eames said, “The role of the designer is that of a gracious host…” It is within that spirit, that I arrange this workshop.
The operative question is: What sounds like a really good Saturday morning?
This workshop is that answer.
I provide food and some reading material, and some paper and pens, and objects to look at and think about.
You and I, and nine other interested people, get to hang out and talk about stuff, and enjoy a nourishing morning together.
My goal is that you leave feeling full and light.
That sounds good, right?
Email eric@erictrine.com to secure your spot.
Subject Line: Workshop + Preferred Date (June 13, 20, or June 27)
An invoice will be sent via Square to secure your spot.
No refunds. Cancellations can be transferred to future events.
Since I’m buying and prepping food and that costs a bajillion dollars now I need to keep my budgets tight to offer this at a good price!
Thank you!
JULY
Backyard Sculpture Rally + Pizza Party
Level: Intermediate - Advanced
Location: Long Beach, CA
Saturday, July 4th - ALL DAY + NIGHT
9am - 9pm
$250
This workshop is designed like a ‘Pressure Cooker” for serious artists and sculptors who want to push their work forward with a group of like-minded individuals.
This workshop is part studio, part critique, part sandlot baseball (metaphorically), part seminar, part symposium.
This will be a full day of full participation, intellectually, emotionally, and physically.
The structure of this workshop is to: think hard, play hard, make hard, chill hard.
Think, Play, Make, Chill.
Together.
Agenda:
Morning Session. Intros.
Light lecture + group discussion.
Exercise: Speed Sculpture
Exercise: Group Sculpture
Lunch Break + Scavenge for Supplies
Afternoon Session; Report on findings, plan fiinal sculptures
Build All Afternoon into Early Evening.
6 pm - Present Final Sculptures.
I make pizza for everyone and then we eat pizza while critiquing and reflecting on the work.
7pm - Invite guests, friends, and family to come hang out for a backyard reception + bonfire (free).
Skill Level: Must be proficient with standard building tools if you choose to use them. If I need to explain “proficient” then you are not proficient enough. There will be a waiver, of course. But I want to make sure you know what you’re doing because it will be a major bummer if you get hurt. You are in charge of self-selecting your building style and material according to your skill set.
The sculpture materials will be “Found Materials.”
The fee covers food + expendable materials like sandpaper and hardware.
Email eric@erictrine.com to secure your spot.
Subject Line: Sculpture Rally
An invoice will be sent via Square to secure your spot.
No refunds. Cancellations can be deferred to a future event date.