12 Aug Teach a Knockout Class: Aug 10, 2013
Artists! Teach a Knockout Class: Making Pies is Like Teaching Classes – The Proof is in the Practice, with Meg Davenport!
Demo in Review
Meg Davenport taught a rousing class last Saturday. Many questions were answered about teaching classes, demos & workshops. It got everyone thinking! Thanks, Meg!!
Here are some Demo highlights:
What do I want to teach?
What am I good at? What is my topic? What aspects of my art making do I want to share? What makes my work unique and interesting? (Is there something I don’t want to share, can I teach something in the abstract?) what are the time constraints on this teaching? Am I doing a demo, or a one time class, 3 hr, 4 hr? an all day class or a week long workshop, maybe once a week for 2 months? You decide!
Why do I want teach it? Intention! What is My motivation?
Am I working on getting comfortable with talking about my art making to others?
Do I want to have a way of diversifying my income as an artist? Maybe I want to practice promoting myself.i
Who is my audience? Who is interested in taking this class? How big is the class? What are my expectations of the students? What do they already know? What do they expect from this class? Have I taught them before?
Where can I teach the class? Can I teach a class in my studio? Is the space big enough? Where are other spaces available for classes? Will I have to pay a fee or is there another option?
What Materials are needed? Material Elements- What will I supply and what can the students bring? Is it easier in the activity for me to bring the materials or will students need to find their own? What would my material list look like? Can I put a student kit together? Do I need access to water for clean up, are restrooms close, will we have natural light? chairs? tables? easels? How about lunch…whats the plan? Is it hot or cold, windy or sunny in the classroom? How comfortable will students be in this classroom situation?
What, Money? What am I charging students? What is my cost for giving a workshop? How do I figure my time, what is a reasonable fee? What are the trade offs? How will I take sign-ups? Will I have a cancellation policy? Do I charge tax? How many students do I need to have so that I can still do the workshop? Would you do it for fewer students to get the exposure?
Timeline for Teaching; thinking ahead Project out and create a to do list of preparations to keep you putting things together, sending out press releases,and doing marketing way before you are under pressure to fill your class.
Is there a progression for teaching? How can I work up to a week long workshop?
When is the best time for me to teach this class? morning afternoon night, summer winter, fall spring? How am I going to get the word out?
When is your teaching successful?
What good teachers do you know and how do they teach? Evaluations/
For Artisan events, Submit the information below electronically:
For marketing your own events include this information on a flier and distribute.
- a good/catchy title
- a paragraph description of what you will cover, show and share
- a short, interesting bio of yourself
- website or links to further references
- recent photo of yourself
- images of the work you do related to the demo
Plan everything you can ahead!
Last minute problems could be about lighting, or materials, or electricity, heating , air conditioning. Your attitude in dealing with these issues is key. The students absorb your attitude. Take a few minutes to put yourself in these awkward situations and come up with solutions that could take the situation forward.
What is your own system of marketing your class? Flyers, gallery or city websites/ pages/ press releases, print, radio, tweets, facebook, friends. foot traffic sites ( bulletin boards)