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Creative Code Intensive

Creative Code Intensive

Apply for the Intensive:
Where creative studio practice meets Computer Science

Our Creative Code Intensive is a newly redesigned 12-week course in creative technology, offering a comprehensive introduction to foundational and advanced tools for programming interactive experiences. Guided by expert instructors, participants gain technical skills and creative inspiration to design, prototype, and install an interactive experience or artwork in a public showcase attended by the creative community, technology industry, and museum professionals.

The 2025 curriculum brings a fresh focus on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, critically exploring generative artificial intelligence tools and introducing core concepts for building machine learning models. In addition to AI and ML, the course emphasizes the fundamentals of computer programming for creative media, audiovisual performance, and interactive applications for the web. Through playful experimentation, Gray Area’s Creative Code Intensive encourages participants to both embrace and interfere with new technologies as a mode of critical engagement, fostering creativity through technological experimentation and exploration.

Whether you’re an artist exploring new tools, a designer crafting interactive media, or an industry professional advancing your AI expertise, this interdisciplinary course will provide opportunities to expand your skills and prepare you for new career pathways in creative technology. 

NOW OPEN FOR ENROLLMENT

Deadline to apply for the Spring Session is Monday, March 24, 2025.

Learning Outcomes

Students in the course will:

  • Apply coding fundamentals  (e.g., variables, loops, conditionals, functions, arrays, objects) to create visual and interactive media
  • Practice advanced coding topics (e.g. handling user input, networked communications, object modeling, machine learning) through hands-on creative projects
  • Recognize and debug technical issues in code
  • Develop a creative voice by building time-based works, live performances, and interactive applications
  • Engage with emerging technologies including Artificial Intelligence and examine their potential, limitations, and risks
  • Contextualize their work in the fields of creative code, media arts, and technology
  • Present and critique​ their own creative work and provide constructive feedback on the work of others
  • Plan, scope, and execute complex technical projects
  • Apply workforce-ready skills such as project planning, advanced technical proficiency, and professional presentation techniques
  • Prepare and showcase professional-grade projects in a final public exhibition, including installation and documentation

Program Features

  • Creative and professional development for technical and design skills
  • Hands-on practice writing and debugging software
  • Over 100 hours of classroom instruction
  • Production of a portfolio of 10+ creative code projects
  • Access to a network of hundreds of peers, alumni, and professionals to build connections with potential collaborators and employers
  • Affordable enrollment fee of $4,500 (monthly payment terms are available)
  • Scholarships available for students, prioritized by need

Dates & Program Details

2025 Spring Session: In-Person
April 8th – June 14th, 2025
Showcase Opens: June 25, 2025

Tuesdays & Thursdays (6–9pm) &
Saturdays (1–5pm)

Classes are held in-person at:
Gray Area / Grand Theater
2665 Mission St
San Francisco, CA 94110

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis until the class is filled. Apply by March 24, 2025 for fullest consideration. 

Accessibility:
Please note that this workshop will be held in the upstairs Gray Area classroom, which is not ADA accessible. We apologize for any inconvenience and encourage those impacted to contact us for assistance. Thank you for your understanding.

Reach out to [email protected] with any questions.

Syllabus

Week 1: Drawing and Interaction with p5.js
Week 2: Building Websites with HTML & CSS
Week 3: Video Synthesis with Hydra
Week 4: Projection Mapping
Week 5: Going Deeper with JavaScript
Week 6: Web Audio
Week 7: Multi-user Interactivity with Node.js & Web Sockets
Week 8: Intro to Machine Learning with ml5.js
Week 9: Artificial Intelligence with Comfy UI
Week 10: Interactive Environments
Week 11: Project Development Week
Week 12: Final Project Public Showcase

Prerequisites

The pace of the course requires that students enter the class with some foundational programming knowledge. We recommend that applicants have some practice working with concepts covered in Code! Programming with p5.js and HTML/CSS/DOM on The Coding Train to be successful in this course. These tutorials are excellent starting points for beginners who need more practice before enrolling in this course.

Diversity Scholarship

To help creators of all backgrounds reach their goals, we are proud to offer a diversity scholarship to sustain and advance an inclusive community at Gray Area and beyond. This scholarship is for outstanding students from diverse backgrounds that are underrepresented in higher education and the fields of art, design, and technology. Recipients will receive a $1125 discount towards partial tuition for our bi-annual Creative Code Intensive Program.

The Diversity Scholarship prioritizes applicants who are women, queer, gender nonconforming folks, and people of color. We highly encourage students to apply for this scholarship.

Student Showcase

Every Creative Code Intensive session culminates with a media arts exhibition, showcasing work from students alongside artists in our Incubator program. This highly attended event invites the public and industry leaders to see new work from our artist community.

See some previous examples from final showcases below.

Over 250 alumni have joined the Immersive and our private email list which provides upcoming opportunities.

Watch a testimonial below from one of our alumni.
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Creative Code Intensive Project: “Water Pixels” by Francis Li
Instructor(s)

Kate Hollenbach is an artist, programmer, and educator. She is passionate about using open source tools and teaching in interdisciplinary environments where art and technology meet. Kate is also a contributor to p5.js and serves as President of the Board of Directors for the Processing Foundation. Before joining Gray Area, she was an Assistant Professor of Emergent Digital Practices at the University of Denver. In her creative practice, Kate creates video and interactive works examining critical issues in user interface and user experience design with a focus on user habits, data collection, and surveillance. Her work is informed by years of professional experience as an interface designer and product developer. She has presented, published, and exhibited work in venues such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, SIGGRAPH, INST-INT, Piksel Festival, and Taper.

Alexa Ann Bonomo is an artist and scholar with a deep interest in methods in preservation and archiving who holds an extensive skillset in creative technology. Her creative work primarily lives on the internet and other ephemeral settings in the form of net art, creative writing and other community driven projects. She is currently crafting lore and researching motion capture for performance based art in the World Engines Lab. Alexa curates programming and teaches with Index, works on archiving and conserving new media works with Leonardo, and is an adjunct professor at University of San Francisco.

Jeffrey Hawkins is an education and data visualization expert with a PhD in physics focusing on physics education research. He has worked with organizations ranging from leading design studios to Head Start programs in developing data visualizations for use in education, community building and other domains. Recently he has present artworks utilizing technology and AI at Art Hack Day and Fidget Camp Showcase. Additionally, he also has a decade of experience teaching physics at the university level and leading education research projects.

Tonz is an interactive artist designing fantastical transmedia experiences that ask players to playfully dissect social issues. They have an M.F.A. in Interactive Media & Game Design from USC and their commercial work specializes in mixed reality attractions for virtual or IRL locations.