CURRENTLY FILLED AND OPERATING ON A WAIT LIST.

Held both in Athens and on the inspiring and peaceful island of Crete, this 10-day immersive summer icon painting study program will allow balanced daily studio learning with additional trips to churches and monasteries as a part of the inspirational curriculum –along with shared lunches and curated evenings of food, discussion, music and poetry.

Our summer school of 2022 was a great success and we’re happy to welcome a new group of students to learn iconography with George Kordis and experience the beauty of Greece!

Please fill out the registration form (from red button above) and we will email you with your next steps for securing your spot.

GEORGE KORDIS SUMMER ICON SCHOOL

AUGUST 5 – 16th, 2023

OVERVIEW:

The Summer Iconography School is a unique opportunity to immerse in learning iconography in-person from Dr. George Kordis in his native country of Greece.  This program will begin with three days spent in Athens meeting at both the Mets Art Centre and the teaching space of Kordis’s Eikonourgia School of Iconography. The group will then transition to Crete to enjoy another week of learning with Dr. Kordis with a painting focus in egg tempera techniques at the renowned Orthodox Academy of Crete (OAC) — a unique sanctuary overlooking the sea that houses several chapels, an extensive library, and two museums on site where students will both live and work for the remaining duration.

For more information on the location, visit the website for Orthodox Academy of Crete.

Each day will comprise an average of 6 hours of studio time paired with relaxed visits in the afternoons to museums, churches and monasteries to see inspiring ancient and contemporary examples of iconography. Students will share lunches and can join in curated evenings of food, discussion, music and poetry.

The program is good for beginner, intermediate or advanced levels, as all instruction is individualized and broken into groups based on student preference.

The summer school will be conducted in English.

PART 1 Program: ATHENS

AUGUST 5 — 8th

The first part of the summer school will be held in Athens at both the Mets Arts Center and the Eikonourgia Teaching Studio.  Time will be spent getting to know one another while immersing in learning and reinforcing the iconographic techniques of contemporary Byzantine drawing.  Each day will have an average of 6 hours of studio time balanced with several museum and church trips to see some of Dr. Kordis’s local icon work.

NOTE: For this part of the summer school all food and lodging options will be booked and paid for independently by the student. The night of August 8th will be reserved for an overnight trip by boat to Crete (or early plane ride the morning of August 9th, as preferred).

Note: Some of the below day to day itinerary may still slightly change to best optimize the daily experience prior to the summer school itself.  The dates will not change.

Saturday. 8.5

20.00 Welcome reception at Mets Art Centre with light refreshments and a tour of the collection and current gallery exhibition.

Sunday. 8.6

Free morning time

12.30 Meet for light bunch reception at Eikonourgia

13.30–17.00 Workshop — first afternoon lessons

18.00 Early Dinner (small groups, optional)

Monday. 8.7

09.00 Eikonourgia, studio time

12.30 Travel to the Byzantine Museum

13.00 Independent lunch at the Byzantine Museum (optional)

14.30 Tour the Collections with Museum Guide

Free time, dinner

Tuesday. 8.8

10.00 Eikonourgia, studio time 

12.30 Lunch

13.00–14.00 Tour nearby church painted by George Kordis

14.00 — 16.30 Eikonourgia, studio time 

17.00 Optional group Dinner, Lostre’s Kouzina: https://www.lostrekouzina.eu/en/

19.00 Transfer from Athens to Piraeus for ferry (arrival at port by 9pm — overnight ride arriving early around 7am Wednesday morning, or plane ride to arrive in the early morning is an alternate option)  

PART 2 Program: CRETE

August 9— August 16

The second part of the summer school is spent with a focus on icon painting while at the beautiful Orthodox Academy Of Crete (OAC: www.oac.gr) — a unique sanctuary in the mountainous hills of Northern Crete near the village of Kolymbari overlooking the ocean and within walking distance of both village and beach.  The Academy hosts two Botanical Museums, an extensive library as well as several ancient churches on-site, including the famous Gonia Odigitria Monastery. The food is highly rated and is included in the separate lodging cost. Students registered in the program are required to stay at the OAC for the best group experience (spouses and other family members welcomed ~ scroll down for specific information). The stay will be split between daily studio work with a focus on icon painting and optional trips (included in cost) to monasteries to visit significant ancient icon paintings, monasteries and churches and a special beach trip in Northern Crete.

The detailed updated 2023 OAC agenda will be shared individually with participants. 

COST DETAIL:

Tuition: $1500 with a 20% non-refundable deposit of $300 to secure a spot (applied to total). 

A second tuition installment of $600 will be due in January 2023 with remaining amount due in May (all registered students will be billed accordingly). 

Note: If any pandemic issues prevent our summer school in 2023, we will allow refunds or continued postponement holding, with the $300 deposit allowed to be applied to any of the on-line learning programs (remaining non-refundable).

Crete Orthodox Center Fee: 

(please do a dollar/native conversion in real time as it will need to be paid in Euros, converged from your bank at time of payment, note these are the 2023 rates).

Choose from:

•  895 Euros for the single room accomodation at the OAC
• 695 Euros for the double room accomodation at the OAC
• 640 per child until 12^th of the year for double room accomodation at the OAC

For the OAC fees, students will need to remit the full amount one month before arrival — on or by July .  This amount will be non-refundable.  We will give instructions on how to secure the payment directly to the OAC after the main tuition deposit has been made.

ALL STUDENTS ARE WELCOME TO BRING A SPOUSE or TRAVEL FRIEND (or a child 12 and older or under 12 if accompanied with a parent/care-giver) by paying per person for the Orthodox Center Fee.

The OAC fee includes:

•   Welcome reception
•   Accommodation at the OAC’s rooms with breakfast
•   Lunches and Dinners at the OAC (with red/white wine) according to the traditional Cretan cuisine
•   Coffee and Tea, biscuits available throughout the Workshop
•   Transfers by bus from the Port of Souda, Chania to the OAC as you come by ship from Piraeus, Athens or from the Chania airport (CHQ) to the OAC
• Dinner at the old harbor of Chania
• Traditional live Cretan night with traditional music, musicians and dancers
• ALL EXCURSIONS:

1.  To the church of Archangel Michael, Rotonda  Episkopi,the Church of  Saint Stephan – Drakona and Church of Saint John the Herimit- Marathokefala
2.  Visit at the Holy Monasteries of Chrysopigis and  the Holy Trinity and the Museum of Icons, the Grave of Benizelos, small tour at the  old city of Chania
3.  Falasarna Beach

       https://www.chania-vacation.com/our-favorites/falasarna-beach/

REGISTRATION PROCESS:

1. Please use the red registration button at the top of this page — you will then be contacted for your formal depositing process.

2. Once notified of your registration, you will be invoiced and need to pay your tuition deposit promptly ($300) in order to hold your space.  You will be billed two further payments for the tuition in both January and April, 2023 to space out the payments.

3. You will only need to pay the Orthodox Center Lodging deposit one month out from the actual event (it is non-refundable from that point).

NOTE:

• You will need to independently secure your air travel to and from Athens, Greece, as well as your travel to and from Crete.
• You will also need to independently secure 3 nights lodging while in Athens (8.5 — 8.7, as well as 8.8 if you prefer to fly to Crete on the morning of 8.9)
• You will need to budget for all of your food allowance and spending money during the time in Athens as well as your free time in Crete.

(Look for hotels and Airbnb’s near the “Mets”, “Plaka” or “Pangrati” areas of Athens).

The ferry boat is an additional cost which must be booked in advance (link for tickets will be shared closer to the date, with an average of $60 per person economy seat, with more for a cabin with a bed). Your round trip travel to Crete can be made by boat or by plane. The Orthodox Academy will be able to provide transport to and from the OAC upon arrival from either the port or airport (* all arrivals must aim to be close to 7am on Thursday morning, August 11th). Bear in mind that most airlines from Athens to Crete will not post schedules for August until Spring 2023.

We will begin to share informational planning emails as of January 2023 for your trip.

REGARDING REGISTRATION & REFUND POLICY 
* The $300 US Dollar deposit is non-refundable — make sure to secure all travel and Athens lodging with generous policy for any changes/cancellations.
*  Should you need to cancel attendance you will receive a refund for any balance paid minus the deposit if we are notified prior to June 1st, 2023. If you cancel attendance after June 1st, you will forfeit your deposit, and will only be refunded your remaining amount paid minus 20% of the total, OR you may also choose to apply this year’s unused tuition and deposit in full to summer of 2024 so you will not lose your full investment if you have to withdraw at the last minute.
* We will work as generously as possible with students experiencing unforeseen illness or travel issues that prevent attendance.  Usually this will be handled on a case-by-case basis. We understand there are many factors beyond your control with travel in the world these days, and we ask that you be up-to-date with all travel policy for entering Greece, your time in Greece, as well as requirements for your own country while traveling abroad.

We currently already have many students signed up for 2023 who pushed their attendance from 2022.  It is suggested to not delay 2023 registration to avoid disappointment.  

We hope to have you join us for this rare opportunity to learn iconography from master George Kordis in the beautiful and peaceful setting of Greece — for year two!

NOTE: IF YOU REGISTER AND DO NOT RECEIVE AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT LETTER WITHIN 24 HOURS, Please email Keri at info.writingthelight@gmail.com and/or check your spam folder as sometimes our letters and invoices go directly to spam.  

Thank you!