How to Hold an Art Workshop or Art Class

Today is day 2 of Carol Marine's art workshop that I'm hosting in my hometown, Aurora, IL. I'll write more about her excellent teaching process at the end of the week, but since many people asked me how I put this together, I thought I'd share some tips about arranging an art class or art workshop.

WHO - I've taught a couple dozen classes but this is the first one I've hosted for someone else. The logistics are more or less the same. Even if you're not yet ready to teach, many well known-artists travel to teach workshops. Contact someone whose work you admire and ask what their schedule is like and whether they would be interested in coming to your town.

WHAT - Each teacher has their preferred medium and subject matter, and will let you know what they want to teach. If you're hosting and teaching your first class, consider your best or most well-known subject matter. It can be plein aire, still life, figures, portraits, drawing, printmaking... If you are good at something, chances are good somebody wants to learn about it.

WHEN - If you are new to teaching, or if you are asking local students to join you, consider weekend or evenings for convenience. If you are hosting a traveling artist and people are flying in to see them, a week-long workshop is not unusual.

WHERE - This is an important one. Small classes of less than 10 people may well fit in your dining room, especially if they are table-top projects like printmaking. Larger classes or traditional painting will require stable lighting, easy access, ventilation, parking, etc etc etc. Here are some guidelines:

1. For portrait painting, you're going to need a model stand, a model, lighting, and a room with light that doesn't drastically change as the sun moves around. Figure about 30 square ft per student for standing easels.  This might be less if you're providing easels and know that they're smaller or space-saving a-frames.  But if they're bringing their own easels, lot of people will bring those French boxes, which take a LOT of floor space and have that third leg specifically designed to trip you.  
2. For still life, you're going to need a lot of outlets, a lot of tables for set-ups, and more space per student because they're not all sharing a model - they each have a still life to account for. Plan on 2-3 people for each standard 6 foot banquet table, then an extra 4 feet all around for them to set up their easels.
3. For any kind of painting, the color of the light is a consideration. Anyone who takes a workshop knows that the light is almost never ideal. With drawing, the color of the light is not an issue. With portrait painting, cool steady northern light is ideal, but rarely found. 
4. For drawing, you'll need a lot of chairs (2 per person, or 1 plus a table). You can ask people to bring their own drawing boards. This requires less space and there is less concern about light color, but in general painting workshops are more appealing than drawing workshops.
5. If you do not have a space big enough to host your group, also consider local buildings like restaurant banquet rooms, hotel rooms, coffeeshops, park district community rooms, other artists' studios, public buildings, schools, and even vacant commercial spaces. Shop around, because there is a HUGE difference in both the cost and the requirements.  You might find a community space for $15/day or a hotel meeting space for $425/day. Be sure to ask about security, availability, insurance requirements and who is responsible for utilities. Ideally, workshoppers love to leave their stuff overnight so a locking room is better, but in classroom settings frequently everyone has to take their stuff home every night.

WHY - More art is more art, that's why! If you're bringing someone in, ask them their rate and then add 20-30% to figure out the fee. That might sound like a nice way to make money, but it's really not. Most of that will go to renting the room, credit card charges or paypal, advertising, and all the concierge-type activities you'll be doing while they're there. But it's better than digging ditches, and you might get a free workshop out of it. 

There's a lot more that goes into this but I don't wish to bore you - ask if you have questions. 

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