Sawtooth School: Enriching Winston-Salem’s Cultural Life For 80 Years

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission. Here’s how it works.

Since 1945, the Sawtooth School for Visual Art has been committed to providing high-quality craft and visual art instruction to the community and enriching the cultural life of Winston-Salem. For 80 years, that commitment has not only endured but expanded, shaping generations of artists and art lovers.

What began as an arts and crafts workshop has evolved into a creative hub for the region, offering hands-on experiences for everyone, regardless of age, background, or skill level. It has 18 studios, wood-fired and raku kilns, and offers classes and workshops in eleven disciplines. Sawtooth also fosters creativity and connection through its community outreach programs, including Arts + Wellness, which serves patients, survivors, and caregivers, as well as exhibitions at its two galleries.

How It All Began

Sawtooth School, a nonprofit art and craft school in downtown Winston-Salem, was originally founded in 1945 as the Arts and Crafts Workshop by The Junior League, the Winston-Salem School System, and the Winston-Salem Parks and Recreation Department. The goal of the organization was to provide high-quality craft and visual-art instruction to all members of the community

The Arts and Crafts Workshop was housed in several buildings in Winston-Salem from its inception through the early 80s. In 1982, it found a home in the historic Shamrock Mills building, constructed in 1911 as Hanes’ first hosiery factory and named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The building, with its unique jagged roofline, became the inspiration for the organization’s new name, Sawtooth.

In 2010, Sawtooth reopened under its current name, Sawtooth School for Visual Art, within the Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts, featuring 16 studios spanning 20,000 square feet. Recently, Sawtooth expanded with two new studios at the Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness, and a set of wood-fired and raku kilns at the North Carolina Museum of Art (formerly SECCA) in Winston-Salem.

Through the years, moves, expansions, and name changes, Sawtooth’s mission remained the same: “…to strengthen our community’s creative core by providing high-quality instruction and hands-on visual art experiences for students of all ages, backgrounds, and skill levels.”

What Classes Does Sawtooth School Offer

Sawtooth provides so much to the community, it definitely earns its distinction as a creative hub for the region. It is, first and foremost, “a space to create,” offering classes and workshops, taught by experienced artists and educators, for children, adults, seniors, and the community. There are classes in digital art, ceramics, printmaking, glass, metal, and so many others. Here is a sampling of the programs available.

Fall Registration Is Now Open For Classes And Workshops – Visit this site to register.

Classes For Children

Sawtooth programs are designed to provide age-appropriate experiences that are both fun and educational. The programs cater to ages 6-8, 9-11, and 12-17. Children 14 and over can also attend most adult classes and workshops. Courses for homeschooled children are available during school hours during the week. See here for youth classes. Here are a few examples of courses for children:

• Fall Into Art: Autumn Landscapes – Ages 9-11
• Watercolor And Ink Dragons – Ages 9-13
• How To Draw Pokemon – Ages 6-8
• From Concept To Creation: Illustrating Your Own Books – Ages 9-13
• How To Draw Disney Faries – Ages 6-8
• Crochet Club – Ages 8-16
• Adventures In Mixed Media Workshop – Ages 6-8
• Macrame Crescent Moon Dream Net With Pom Poms – Ages 9-13
• Winter Wonderland Scapes: Painting Workshop – Ages 8-12

Classes For Adults

Sawtooth offers fundamental classes for beginners, as well as intermediate and advanced courses. The classes are provided as two-day workshops and weekly courses throughout four sessions: winter, spring, summer, and fall. See here for adult classes. Some of the adult classes available include:

• Abstract Textured Acrylic Workshop
• Bandsaw Zoo
• Marbling On Cotton
• Glass Beadmaking Workshop
• Beginner Bowl Turning
• Needle Felted Alpaca
• AI And Photography For Photographers
• Drawing Lessons With Les III
• Crochet Basics

Classes For Seniors

Sawtooth School of Visual Art is a founding partner of the Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness. This state-of-the-art community center in Winston-Salem, led by Senior Services, Inc., in collaboration with 21 partners, is a pioneering effort that brings various organizations under one roof to offer healthcare, intergenerational interaction, and art-based activities to the broader community. See here for senior classes. Here are some of the programs Sawtooth offers at the Generational Center for seniors and adults:

• Mixed Media Sunflower Series
• Williamsburg Wall Basket
• Knitting Basics Workshop
• Taste Of Art: Macrame Plant Hanger
• Bird’s Nest Crochet Bag Or Basket
• Handmade Cards With Elle
• Stories From The Heart: A Reflective Writing Workshop
• Introduction To Watercolor
• Beginning/Intermediate Wheel Throwing

Camp Sawtooth

Camp Sawtooth provides weekly classes during the summer for students aged 6-8, 9-11, and 12-16, featuring instruction in various art and craft mediums, including drawing, painting, ceramics, printmaking, photography, textiles, glass, metals, and wood. Classes are offered in the morning and afternoon. Campers signing up for both sessions should bring a lunch from home. Children can join the camp for one week, a month, or all summer. Camp Sawtooth 2026 will be held from June 8 to July 31, 2026. Registration will begin February 3, 2026. See the Camp Sawtooth website for more details.

Taste Of Art

You may not think of yourself as creative, but these classes offer a chance to give it a try! No matter your skill level, these hands-on workshops will have you create something great in just a few hours and have fun doing it. This is an excellent idea for a date night, a girls’ outing, or a family activity. See here for Taste of Art workshops. Here are some of the exciting workshops for you to try:

• Taste Of Art: Sculpt A Cheese Knife
• Taste Of Art: Tree Of Life Pendant
• Taste Of Art Fused Glass Suncatcher
• Eco Printing On Silk Scarf
• Taste Of Art: Ceramic Bird House
• Taste of Art: Aluminum Earrings With Vintaj Patina
• Taste Of Art: Glass On Glass Mosaic
• Taste Of Art: Ceramics – Sushi Tray With Dipping Bowl

Sawtooth School Supports Artists

Providing high-quality art and craft instruction to the community is the primary purpose of Sawtooth School, but it also supports and advances artists.

Visiting Artist Workshops

Sawtooth brings nationally and internationally known artists to its studios throughout the year to present special workshops where they share distinctive methods, approaches, and materials not typically covered in regular classes. The last Visiting Artist Workshop session was held in the spring of 2025 and featured three workshops: Clay Form Transformed Through Fire, Powder Coating on Metal, and Sculptural Basketry, led by three artists. We will update here when the next Visiting Artist Workshops are scheduled.

Artists In Residence

The one-year-long Artists In Residence program at Sawtooth is open to US-based artists. It encourages them to develop new skills, foster community connections, and create new bodies of work, while assisting with studio operations. The Artists In Residence Programs are:

• Ceramics Artist-In-Residence
• Schupbach-Gordon Resident In Printmaking
• Gondring Resident In Woodworking

The 2025-2026 Residents have already been selected. The next round of applications will begin in the spring of 2026. See Sawtooth’s Artists In Residence site for more information.

Sawtooth Luminaries

Sawtooth Luminaries is a long weekend of immersive and intensive workshops offered each year, filled with in-depth instruction, communal bonding, and a platform for exchanging ideas and igniting inspiration. This year, Sawtooth Luminaries will take place October 3 to 5, 2025, in its landmark downtown facilities and is designed to offer structured studio time, communal lunch offerings, and evening events that explore Winston’s reputation as the City of Arts and Innovation. Register now: enrollment will close Friday, September 12, 2025. Special rates are available at The Historic Brookstown Inn. The discount code will be supplied once you have registered. See this site for details and call 336-723-7395 for more information.

Exhibitions

Exhibitions are essential to artists. They express themselves through their work, which serves as a means of communication with others. Presenting their artwork to audiences to admire and discuss is the culmination of the artist’s creative process.

Sawtooth School features two galleries where you can appreciate and enjoy the work of fine artists. The Eleanor and Egbert Davis Gallery and Redding Corridor Gallery feature rotating exhibitions of local, regional, and national art. Both galleries are located in the historic Sawtooth building at 251 N Spruce Street, Winston-Salem.

An exhibition of the Artists-In-Residence’s works is held each year to celebrate the artists’ hard work and view their creative artwork. For 2025, an opening reception will be held on September 5 from 4-6pm at Sawtooth’s Davis Gallery. The show will remain on view through November 2025.

Gallery Shop

The Marta Blades Gallery Shop, located in the Sawtooth building, showcases the work of the school’s artists, instructors, and students. You will find a diverse selection of artistic mediums and unique, one-of-a-kind items, including fine jewelry, ceramics, handmade prints, paintings, and more, that you can purchase to support Sawtooth artists.

Juried Exhibition

At the end of the year, Sawtooth School hosts a Holiday Market and Juried Exhibition. This exhibition inspires pride and support for the region’s talented, dedicated artists. Within the Juried Exhibition, you will find high-quality works by various regional artists, including Sawtooth instructors and students. The exhibition will be held at the Sawtooth School and will run from November 22, 2025, through January 31, 2026. The exhibition is open to the public and admission is free, with most of the works available for purchase.

Outreach To The Community

Art and Community are what Sawtooth School is all about. Aside from all the classes it offers, Sawtooth brings art to the community through workshops like Taste Of Art, for those unsure if they have talent, reaching out to seniors by partnering with the Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness, caring about parents and children with Camp Sawtooth, and providing exhibitions for the community to learn more about art and to open discussions.

Sawtooth School’s community outreach also includes the following:

Art + Wellness Outreach Program

The Art + Wellness Program collaborates with eleven healthcare agencies in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County to provide supportive art experiences for patients, survivors, and caregivers affected by critical illness. The art experiences encourage stress reduction, relaxation, mood elevation, and overall well-being. Financial support from the Greer Foundation makes this outreach possible. For information about the Art + Wellness program, contact Studio Director Betsy Messick at bestsymessick@sawtoothschool.org or call 336-723-7395 ex 1205.

Holiday Market – A Celebration With The Community

Sawtooth’s Holiday Market is a fun event for the season. The Milton Art Center’s halls, studios, theater, and galleries will be filled with artists offering a variety of handcrafted items that make great gifts, including ceramics, jewelry, textiles, paintings, photography, and woodworking. There will be demonstrations happening, food trucks on site, free activities, and fun for the whole family. This year, the event will take place on December 6, from 11am to 4pm. It’s open to all with a suggested donation of $5, supporting Sawtooth’s Scholarship and Community Outreach programs.

Financial Assistance

Sawtooth School wishes to provide art for all and does not want financial circumstances to be a barrier between students and their art. It offers general scholarships and discounts for eligible classes and workshops to those in financial need.

Sawtooth also offers other forms of financial assistance, including the Standby Discount For Educators + College Students, Work-Trade, and Benefits Of Volunteering.

See this site for information about class scholarships and additional financial assistance programs.

Scholarships are also offered for Camp Sawtooth, and families who may qualify are encouraged to apply. Spots are reserved in each class for scholarship students. Click here to apply for a Camp Scholarship.

Sawtooth School Information

• Sawtooth School is located at 251 N Spruce Street, Winston-Salem
• Hours:
  • Monday-Friday, 9am – 7pm
  • Saturday, 9am – 4pm
  • Sunday, Closed
• Sawtooth is closed on major holidays
• There is parking available near Sawtooth School, including metered parking, surface lots, and parking garages.
• Phone – 336-723-7395
• Visit the Sawtooth School For Visual Art Website to see more information.

Artists Make Winston-Salem A Colorful Community

We are so fortunate to live in such an art-centric community, filled with creative and imaginative people who help spark those qualities in all of us. Sawtooth School can help you develop your talents or discover them. Read about another organization that spreads art throughout Winston-Salem – known as The Canvas of the Community, Associated Artists.

Have you taken a class or workshop at the Sawtooth School? Tell us about it in the comments.