Drawing & Storytelling: Visual Narratives in Los Angeles

Course Overview Link

This two-week in-person intensive invites high school students to explore the power of drawing as a form of storytelling. Drawing & Storytelling: Visual Narratives in Los Angeles guides students in refining their perceptual drawing skills while expanding their capacity to communicate ideas, emotion, and narrative through image-making.

Students will create portfolio-ready works that demonstrate both technical drawing skills and deep engagement with narrative concepts – from personal stories to imagined worlds. Each student will develop their unique visual “voice” through daily drawing prompts that blend observation, experimentation, and narrative structure. Sample Prompts: Character and Setting, Drawing from Memory, Sequential Storytelling, Mapping the Invisible, Visual Diaries.

Students will maintain an active journal for drawing, writing, collage, and visual research. This journal will serve as both a sketchbook and a narrative development tool, culminating in a collaborative class zine
that archives the stories, images, and creative exchanges from our summer together.

Regular opportunities for critique and discussion with instructors and visiting artists will allow students to explore how drawing functions as storytelling across disciplines such as illustration, film, design,
animation, and fine art. The course will culminate in a final review and presentation, where each student will share a completed narrative drawing or series with the class and guest artists.

All students who successfully complete the course will receive a Certificate of Completion and have the opportunity to request a Syracuse University noncredit transcript.

Learning Objectives Link

By the end of the course, students will:

• Strengthen perceptual drawing and observational skills.
• Explore narrative structure and visual storytelling through drawing.
• Experiment with conceptual, sequential, and collaborative approaches to image-making.
• Develop an individual artistic voice through daily creative practice.
• Learn to articulate their ideas about process and intention through writing and critique.

Learning Outcomes Link

Students will complete:

• A body of portfolio-ready drawings demonstrating both technical proficiency and narrative exploration.
• A personal sketchbook/journal documenting process, reflection, and story development.
• A contribution to a collaborative class zine as a collective record of creative experimentation.
• A final presentation and critique with faculty and a visiting artist

Course Information Link

Course Prefix and Number: TBD

Format: On Location: Los Angeles, CA (commuter only) at Syracuse University’s Dick Clark Los Angeles Program

Eligibility: Students must be of rising high school sophomore, junior, or senior status – or a 2026 high school graduate. Students must be able to commute to and from the Los Angeles (North Hollywood, CA) location for class. 

Credit: Noncredit

Grading: Pass/Fail

Cost:

• Commuter only: $1,495

Program rates are subject to change and will be approved by the board of trustees. Discounts and scholarships are also available.

Program Information Link

Summer College – On Location: Experience what college is really like in one of Syracuse University’s homes on the west or east coasts! 

Jill Spector is an interdisciplinary artist and independent art worker who lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Her practice encompasses sculpture, drawing, performance, design, teaching, and collaboration. In 2017 Jill founded In Favor Of, a consultancy that grew out of her desire to partner with others and expand the potential of their work. As an advocate and guide, Jill works with artists and designers to nurture moments in the creative process where collaboration, creative growth, and community collide. Jill Spector’s sculptures and collages were featured in Made in L.A. 2012 at the Hammer Museum. Her work has been included in the exhibitions Biomorphic Forms In Sculpture at the Kunsthaus Graz and Drawling, Stretching, and Fainting in Coils…, an exhibition organized by artist Diana Thater, at the Pinakothek der Moderne and National theater in Munich, Germany. Jill Spector’s photography has been featured in publications, including Valeria Napoleone’s Catalog of Exquisite Recipes, and SchindlerLab.org published by the MAK Center. In 2016, Spector created The Editor’s President: Models and Mock-Ups for Elaine May, Nora Kaye, and Eileen Gray, an installation at JOAN in Los Angeles. In 2015, Jill Spector and artist Bret Nicely founded TARP, an ongoing series of performances and installations in and around their empty swimming pool in Altadena, California. Spector was named one of the Orange County Contemporary Collectors 2013 Fellowship Artists and in 2019 awarded an Inquiry Fellowship from American Jewish University, Los Angeles, CA. Her works are included in the Zabludowicz Collection, London, the Kunsthaus Graz, and The Museum of Modern Art. Jill is an alumna of the Syracuse University School of Visual and Performing Arts (BFA 1998) and the Graduate Art Program at Art Center College of Design (MFA 2005). Jill Spector is currently the coordinator of Syracuse University’s L.A. Turner Semester Residency Program where MFA candidates from Syracuse University’s School of Art come to Los Angeles to live and work for a semester while developing and employing essential professional practices in the arts.