Princeton Academy of Art is a non-profit 501(c)3 art school teaching in the European classical and Russian Academic traditions of drawing and painting. We offer programs for children, teens and adults.

Mission & Philosophy

Our mission is to bring exceptional quality instruction to artists working in the classical disciplines of drawing, painting and sculpture.

Our curriculum connects students to a living artistic tradition rooted in Russian, Italian and French classical Academies. Our students are linked to an unbroken chain of training that began hundreds of years ago and has been passed on from teacher to student for generations. Continuing in this passage of knowledge, our institution brings rigorous training and research of the old master’s techniques together with the contemporary vision of personal expression.

We are not reinventing the tradition, simply continuing one that our instructors inherited by studying at the Russian Academy of Art in St. Petersburg. Just as the Russian Academies preserved the French and Italian Schools, we extend that preservation a generation further.

We provide a dynamic, collaborative, learning environment and seek to prepare emerging representational artists to become leaders in today’s increasingly complex and rapidly changing art market.

Meet Our Director

Anna Neis is an artist, educator and lecturer. Neis is a representational artist of contemporary myth working in a classical realist tradition. She holds MFA degrees from Moscow Art Academy and New York Academy of Art. With over 20 years teaching experience, Neis founded Gemma Art Foundation in 2005. Gemma Art Foundation was a non-profit educational institution dedicated to the education and promotion of fine arts and has now evolved into Princeton Academy of Art. Her works have been shown nationally and internationally including New York, San Francisco, Paris and Tokyo. Her work is in private collections, as well as the permanent collection of Arnot Art Museum in Elmira, New York.

“Teaching art is unique. Blending the didactic teaching of technical skills with the abstract idea of creativity is the most important part of helping students reach their potential.” Anna Neis

Our Staff

Operations Manager & Instructor: Kelsey Doherty

Facility and Location

Princeton Academy of Art's campus has 2 locations along beautfil Nassau St in the heart of Princeton, NJ. 

MAIN STUDIO & OFFICES: 138 Nassau St, FL 2, Princeton NJ 08542

STUDIO 2: 10 Nassau St, FL 2, Princeton NJ 08542