Educational Opportunities
We want to help the local artist community by illuminating the possibilities in new media, as well as helping to advance more experienced artists in their search to achieve excellence in their art. We are offering a series of free online courses at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels, with responsive curriculum designed around artists’ needs based on our ongoing survey of local artists. Below you will find info about and a pre-registration form for our first two courses. Please sign up on our mailing list for updates and for announcements about any new courses offered, and feel free to e-mail us with any questions.
Midjourney & Adobe Firefly Essentials: A Course in AI Image Generation
When: Thursday July 30th from 10:00am-11:30am PST
Where: Live online Via Zoom. The zoom link will be provided after pre-registration (submission form below the course description).
Who: Your instructor for this course is Ann Cutting, award-winning commercial and fine art photographer of 30 years, and Associate Professor in the Photography and Imaging Department at the Art Center College of Design. She is also a Brill Family Foundation grant recipient and flagship participant in our AI Artists Alliance Accelerator Group.
What:
Whether you view AI as a disruptive force or an exciting frontier, developing fluency with these tools is increasingly essential for any contemporary artist, designer, or photographer. This one-session free online class introduces participants to two of today’s leading AI image generation platforms: Midjourney and Adobe Firefly. Designed for working professionals, educators, artists, and lifelong learners, the course covers how each tool works, what makes them different, and when to choose one over the other. Students will learn the fundamentals of writing effective prompts, controlling style references and composition, creating personalization code and moodboards, and refining results through iteration. We’ll explore Midjourney’s distinctive artistic capabilities alongside Firefly’s commercially-safe outputs and seamless integration with the Adobe Creative Cloud ecosystem, including features like Generative Fill in Photoshop and Neuro FIlters. We will demo scaling up your work with Topaz Gigapixel.
By the end of class, participants will have the knowledge to create original artwork on both platforms, understand the basics of licensing and commercial use, and leave with a practical prompt-writing framework they can apply immediately. No prior design or technical experience is required — just curiosity and a willingness to experiment.
Pre-requisite: Please have active accounts on both platforms before class begins.
Click the button below to pre-register for the course and the Zoom link will be provided upon submission of the form (be sure to copy and paste the link when you receive it).
*Note: you must be signed into your Google account to complete the form.
Prompt to Picture to Shot: A Course in AI Video Generation
When: Thursday August 6th from 10:00am-11:30am PST
Where: Live online Via Zoom. The zoom link will be provided after pre-registration (submission form below the course description).
Who: Your instructor for this course is Simon Quiroz, a filmmaker, director, creative technologist, and Assistant Professor of Film and Time Based Media at CSUCI. He combines storytelling, design, and emerging technologies to create impactful media. His expertise spans filmmaking, post-production, color grading, visual effects, stereoscopic 3D, immersive media, virtual production, XR, AI-driven workflows, and real-time production pipelines. As both a creator and educator, he develops original, story-driven work that blends cinematic craft with innovation while leading collaborative creative and technical teams and building a forward-looking media curriculum that prepares students for the future of film and digital storytelling. Simon is also a board member of the AI Artists Alliance.
What: Prompt to Picture to Shot is a 90-minute workshop introducing generative AI video to creators who want to use it with intention. We’ll work in Google Veo and Omni via Flow to demonstrate what’s possible, but the fundamentals covered can apply to any tool or model, including Runway, Kling, and beyond. We’ll explore the difference between generation and augmentation, learn how creative thinking translates directly into directing AI, and cover iteration and character consistency using NanoBanana within Flow. This workshop is designed for filmmakers, content creators, and visual storytellers or creatives ready to bring generative video into their work.
This is a demonstration-based workshop, sit back, watch the process, and try it on your own afterward. A basic feel for composition, shot language, and the ability to describe a scene will help you get more out of it. Prior experience with any AI image generator is a plus. A Google account with Gemini access is recommended if you want to dive in after the session.
Click the button below to pre-register for the course and the Zoom link will be provided upon submission of the form (be sure to copy and paste the link when you receive it).
*Note: you must be signed into your Google account to complete the form.