center forcreative exploration

Winter 2026: Making to Markets

Making to Markets is a free, hands-on workshop series for students in grades 7–11 who are curious about turning their creative ideas into real-world products. Designed to spotlight the power of small, independent manufacturing, this program introduces students to what it truly means to be a small-scale “maker.” Participants will explore how independent creators bring their ideas to life without mass production, why thoughtful design and problem-solving matter, and how products are made in small batches.

Through interactive workshops led by creative professionals and emerging artists/designers, students will gain practical experience with marketing, branding, and packaging. Students will leave each workshop with the essential skills for standing out in a competitive marketplace. They will learn how to present their work, connect with customers, and tell the story behind what they make. Each attendee will also have the opportunity to apply to become a vendor at the PCA&D’s Spring Student Art Market in April, offering a real-world chance to showcase and sell their work. Making to Markets empowers young creators to see themselves not just as artists or designers, but as confident, independent makers ready to bring their ideas to the market! Spaces are limited, register today

Workshop Series Information and Registration

From Making to Markets: Making Merchandise from Traditional Artworks: Saturday, February 14, 12:30 - 2:30 pm

In this class students will learn the basics of bringing their traditional artworks into the digital world with the intention of producing print based reproductions. Students will leave this class with not only scanned files of their artworks, but also fully formatted files ready for printing stickers or prints of their work.

Aimed towards traditional artists, this workshop will require students to bring in existing pieces of artwork that they like (this includes sketchbooks!) to digitize. We will review how to use the scanners in their pieces and move into a demonstration and practice of basic Adobe Photoshop formatting for sticker sheets and prints. They will also learn methods of repurposing artworks to create new designs digitally using their traditional works.

Supplies: Participants are encouraged to bring in a thumb drive or other external drive to store their files on, as well as pieces of reasonably sized artwork to scan (no larger than 9″ x 12″).

This workshop is being facilitated by Mauro Licata who is a sophomore Fine Art student in the BFA degree program at Pennsylvania College of Art & Design.

LOCATION: Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, 204 N Prince Street, Lancaster, PA 17603

Making to Markets: Making Merchandise from Digital Artworks: Saturday, February 14, 12:30 - 2:30 pm

This workshop for students in grades 7-11 focuses on creating merchandise for print from digitally created artworks. We will cover some basics of digital art formats, artwork sizing skills, and how to prepare your work for print. In addition to learning about digital art and formatting skills, students will learn how to choose canvas sizes and colors for the artwork to ensure they look good once printed. By the end of the class, we will have created and formatted our very own sticker design.

Supplies: Please bring a thumb drive or a cloud storage account with log in information to save your design files to access after class. OPTIONAL: Bring a sample of your digital artwork. This artwork should be no smaller than 2″ x 2″ at 300 dpi and can be a JPG or PNG.

This workshop is being facilitated by Eliza Moulder who is junior Illustration major in the BFA degree program at Pennsylvania College of Art & Design.

LOCATION: Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, 204 N Prince Street, Lancaster, PA 17603

Making to Markets: Packaging 101 with FORCEpkg: Friday, February 20, 5:30 - 7:30 pm

Did you know that almost a third of product purchasing decisions are based on packaging?!?!

Join the Center for Creative Exploration at Pennsylvania College of Art & Design and FORCEpkg to dive into what it takes to package, market, and ship the things we make!

Students in grades 7-11 are invited to join us at the FORCEpkg headquarters on North Queen Street in Lancaster on Friday, February 20 to see how packaging is created and designed, learn about packaging terminology, why we use certain materials, sustainability, and take a look at examples of packaging design finished work. We will then move into the studio to work on some prototype packaging for your product!

Supplies: Students should bring a product they are currently making to sell or an item that interests them. Items should be no larger than 12″ x 12″ x 12″

This workshop is being facilitated by FORCEpkg designers. FORCEpkg is a design and branding agency that combines real collaboration and real mobility. The FORCE crew has strategic and tactical design experience across numerous categories, including automotive, breakfast cereal, cheese, confectionery, fresh produce, frozen food, hardware, household cleaning, housewares, ice cream, nutritional supplements, meat, outdoor, OTC and snacks. Over the past 16 years, the members of the FORCE crew have 50+ package design awards to their credit.

LOCATION: FORCEpkg, Located in the Greist Building, 8 N Queen Street, Lancaster, PA 17603

Making to Markets: Branding and Marketing 101: Saturday, February 21, 12:30 - 2:30 pm

Everyday we create and explore, the art world is vast and every creation artists make has an opportunity to change someone else’s life even through the smallest thing. Join us in talking about how to take your work and transition it into products that people can use in their every day life. Learn how to use your work to then explore your industry and build your portfolio to then open the door to more opportunities. Illustrator and designer, Dobe Steigelman, will talk about how they turn their artworks into products and how the marketing and sale of these products has become a stream of passive income and a pipeline to other professional opportunities. The workshop will end with an activity of designing your own sticker sheets on simple sticker paper with colored pencils.

This workshop is being facilitated by Dobe Steigelman, CCE faculty and freelance illustrator. Dobe graduated from Pennsylvania College of Art and Design and has worked on 4 children’s books as well as a range of projects from private commissions to business marketing. They aim for their art to capture the essence of the subject material while also igniting a sense of whimsy. Her work can be found at https://www.dobeillustrations.net/.

LOCATION: Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, 204 N Prince Street, Lancaster, PA 17603

Making to Markets: Art Markets 101: Saturday, March 21, 3 - 4:30 pm

In this workshop, students will be led through the research process, preparation, and design of presentation which are essential to vending at art markets. We will review important things to consider before and during markets such as the design of the table set-up, how to consider pricing, and what types of markets best suit their work. There will be examples of actual vending set-ups for students to explore and critique and resources for how to start exploring the landscape of art markets in our region. Students who attend this workshop will walk away with the information they need to vend at their first market!

This workshop is being facilitated by Mauro Licata who is a sophomore Fine Art major and Eliza Moulder who is a junior Illustration major in the BFA degree programs at Pennsylvania College of Art & Design.

LOCATION: Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, 204 N Prince Street, Lancaster, PA 17603