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arts · Wednesday 22 July 2026 · Various times 
Watercolour Painting Class
At Wexford Arts Centre · High Street, Wexford, Co. Wexford
At Wexford Arts Centre · High Street, Wexford, Co. Wexford
A weekly watercolour painting class running through the summer months at Wexford Arts Centre is a proper excuse to slow down and pick up a brush. Whether you have never held a paintbrush or have tried watercolours before and want to push a bit further, these sessions are pitched at beginners and intermediate students alike. The pace is unhurried, the groups are kept small so the tutor can actually get around to each person, and the focus is on building real skill - colour theory, landscape composition, the particular way watercolour behaves when you let it do what it wants - rather than producing a polished product in the first hour.
Each session follows a rhythm of demonstration, instruction and supervised practice. You watch the technique explained, then you try it, then you get feedback. The classes cover core watercolour skills: mixing and layering colour, working wet-on-wet versus wet-on-dry, building up tonal value without muddying the wash. Landscape painting is a central thread through the programme, which makes sense given that Co. Wexford has no shortage of coastal light and countryside worth painting. Materials can be provided or you can bring your own - check with the centre when booking. Classes run weekly from late July through to early September, so there is enough time to actually progress rather than just dip in once.
The venue adds something to the experience. Wexford Arts Centre occupies a neoclassical building on High Street that dates to 1776 - a former town hall and cornmarket, repurposed as an arts centre in 1974. It is a small and genuinely intimate space, the kind where you bump into an exhibition on the way in and end up looking at contemporary Irish art before your class starts. The D’Lush café inside is worth a stop before or after.
Wexford town is about two hours south of Dublin by road, following the M11 and then the N11 through Wicklow and Gorey. Irish Rail runs direct services from Dublin Connolly to Wexford station five times a day, and the journey takes roughly two and a half hours. Bus Éireann’s Expressway Route 2 also connects Dublin Airport and the city centre to Wexford regularly. The Arts Centre is on High Street in the town centre, a short walk from the train station. Street parking is available around the quays and town centre car parks are close by.
Wexford town is compact enough to walk across in twenty minutes, with the medieval quayside, the remains of the old town walls, and the famous opera house all within easy reach of the Arts Centre. The county beyond town - Kilmore Quay, Hook Head, the Saltee Islands - gives you good reason to make a day or a weekend of it. There is more to see in Wexford and across Co. Wexford.
Heading to Wexford Arts Centre in Wexford? Wexford has plenty more to see. Read the Wexford area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.