This course embraces the “Each One Teach One” philosophy, fostering a collaborative space where everyone contributes and learns. Each morning begins with movement, connecting mind and body through music to set the tone for the day. Participants will exchange techniques, ideas, and experiences to enhance their painting practice and personal growth. Whether it’s stretching canvases, mastering brushstrokes, exploring color theory, or incorporating meditation, everyone’s unique skills enrich the group’s collective knowledge.
The course includes individual engagement with Curtis Santiago to support personal development and provide tailored guidance. We’ll also share meals together to build community, take trips to museums and galleries for inspiration, and conclude each day with group discussions to reflect and connect. Through this dynamic exchange, we cultivate openness, curiosity, and mutual support, transforming painting into a shared experience enriched by diverse perspectives, collective inspiration, and meaningful connections—a vibrant space for learning, creating, and growing together.
Information
- Venue
- Festung Hohensalzburg
- Date
- 21. 7. – 2. 8. 25
- Teaching language
- English
- Participation fee
- 670 Euro (reduced 495 Euro)
- Requirements
- A willingness to share a technique you feel you have mastered. This can include everything from stretching canvas to painting to meditation. We all have something to share with each other that could enhance our practice and lives.
- What to bring
- Materials you are familiar with in your practice. All tools one needs to feel comfortable in the studio.
- Maximum number of participants
- 18
Curtis Talwst Santiago
(b. 1979, Edmonton, Alberta) lives and works in Munich. Early in his practice he studied as an apprentice of Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun. He has exhibited internationally at venues such as The Drawing Center and The New Museum, New York, NY; The Eli and Edythe Broad Museum at Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI; the Institute of Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA; The Pérez Art Museum Miami, FL; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada; Osage Gallery, Hong Kong, and various others. His works are in the permanent collections of Lenbachhaus, the National Gallery of Canada, the Kadist Foundation, Studio Museum, Harlem and the Nevada Museum of Art among others.
Santiago was included in the SITE Santa Fe SITELines. 2018 Biennial, Casa Tomada, the inaugural 2019 Toronto Biennial of Art in Toronto, Canada, and featured in the 2018 and 2022 Biennale de Dakar in Senegal.
"My practice combines painting, sculpture, installation, and sound to explore memory, migration, and how personal history connects to wider cultural narratives. I begin with research, writing, and drawing, then develop works through hands-on making—building forms, testing materials, and composing scenes that move between intimacy and public reference. Sound and archival elements often enter as structuring tools, shaping how the work is activated in a space. Each project is built through iteration, moving between idea, object, and environment to invite close attention and reflection."
Website
Exhibitions
Selected solo exhibitions
2025 Offsides, Nir Altman, Munich (DE).
Buttermilk Mood, Hiro Gallery, Tokyo.
2024 A man not in the mood for salsa, Martina Simeti Gallery, Milan (IT).
2023 Artissima, Torino, Nir Altman Gallery, Munich.
Moving through Burning Haze, Cooper Cole Gallery, Toronto (CA).
Joyvasted, Nir Altman, Munich.
Mas a Play, Capsule Gallery Shanghai, Art Brussels, Brussels.
Selected group exhibitions
2025 Deep Color, Halsey McKay Gallery, East Hampton, NY (US).
AGA100: Act 3 Words to Worldmaking, Art Gallery of Alberta, Alberta (CA).
Smaller Objects Larger Pictures, Halsey McKay Gallery, East Hampton, NY.
HOME: A Space of Sharing and Strength, National Art Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
2024 Drawing Now Art Fair, Paris; Art Basel (HK).
Frieze, Los Angeles, CA (US).
Felix Art Fair, Los Angeles, CA.
V1 Gallery, Copenhagen (DK).
2023 Mickalene Thomas – Portrait of an Unlikely Space, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT (US).
Poetry of the Evident, Galerie Droste, Düsseldorf (DE).
Crafting Resitance, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ (US).
Publications
Brown, Kate, "Why Is Small Art So Big Right Now?", in: ArtNet, 22 January 2025.
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/small-art-2599293?amp=1
Demircan, Saim, "Curtis Talwst Santiago’s Sonic Sensibilities", in: frieze, 4 March 2024.
https://www.frieze.com/article/curtis-talwst-santiago-a-man-not-in-the-mood-for-salsa-2024-review
Humber, Larry, "Former Art Gallery of Ontario curator wins Canadian foundation’s curatorial award", in: The Art Newspaper, 31 July 2024.
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/07/31/wanda-nanibush-curtis-talwst-santiago-hnatyshyn-foundation-mid-career-award
Milnes, Daniel, „Curtis Talwst Santiago at Nir Altman“, in: Art Viewer, 16 March 2023.
https://artviewer.org/curtis-talwst-santiago-at-nir-altman/
