Trying Out 7 Virtual Art Workshops
Hey Frogs & Toads, Dr. Lemco here with another check-up.
You look a lot healthier than last week!
I’ve been attending a lot of virtual art workshops lately. I want to do my own version soon, so I signed up for as many free Eventbrite sessions as I could muster in order to steal all their good ideas! After 7 attempts, I ended up learning more about what not to do. I also gathered some interesting insights and intel:
For starters, the attendance of free virtual events varies drastically. It really boils down to marketing and how you get yourself out there. Just because it’s free doesn’t mean people will show up.
Some hosts were incredible, and some weren’t. I can already start to see what it takes to be good at this.
99.5% of all attendees throughout all the workshops I attended were women, with the vast majority of them being in a more elder category. I guess old ladies are just cool like that.
Here’s a breakdown of my free art workshop experiences…
I arrived a few minutes late to my first one. Imagine my dismay when joining a Zoom link, expecting to quietly slip in and virtually sit in the back row of a class in progress, and there’s just two people on the call. It’s like seeing someone is Live on Instagram so you tap to see what’s up, and suddenly you’re the only viewer and this person’s entire existence hinges on your attention. I can’t say I haven’t been there - it’s harsh. Faced with this modern day fight-or-flight scenario, I jumped in and introduced myself, apologizing for my tardiness and immediately becoming a main character of this thing.
The host was a woman in her 30’s or 40’s - she seemed nice, and I’m sure she was doing her best, but she also seemed kind of tired and not so interested in being there. In a monotone voice, she read a script off of her phone, giving us discussion prompts about what art means to us. The other attendee was an older woman who listened attentively and jotted down notes; she was clearly stoked to be there and we hit it off immediately. I started sharing my thoughts, and asking my questions, and before long, I kinda accidentally took over. It became a thoughtful discussion between two strangers about art & age, while the person who organized the event was also there. I definitely enjoyed the experience, although I’m not so sure what those sessions would be like normally, without me there hijacking them. Anyway, I hope that woman left feeling more confident about pursuing her creative curiosities.
The second workshop consisted of step-by-step slides that, if I’m being honest, looked very basic, like they were either downloaded off of the internet or made by AI. They were the kind of stencils you give a young child to keep them occupied at the bank. The host was a young woman, probably in her early 20’s, with a British accent. In fact, the other attendees all had British accents too, which led me to believe this was some sort of British thing. The thing is - the host barely even used the stencils, or mentioned them, or anything about art, really. The whole workshop sort of devolved into a group conversation about which shows and movies are good.
There were about 30 people in attendance, but only 7 or 8 were participating in the discussion. They definitely seemed to be friends, or at least know each other from previous workshops. Maybe I crashed a group of friends hanging out, I’m not sure. But the general vibe seemed pretty negative - people were expressing a lot of different frustrations about a lot of different things going on in the world, before veering back to another “have you seen…”. People could unmute themselves and talk whenever they wanted, which I didn’t like, because certain people could commandeer the conversation. One guy kept rambling and over-apologizing for rambling, and another woman brought up her alcoholic father out of context, twice. My major learning: the host needs more control. The energy of the event really flows from the host. This person would be great at hosting a podcast about tv, or a movie discussion club, instead of art workshops. She keeps talking about herself and what she’s currently watching instead of facilitating an art experience. Change it to the next slide already! At this rate, I will never finish this tomato.
The third workshop I attended was me and five white women in their 60’s. This one was led by a badass by the name of Denise. She’s the type of lady who has a corporate job, but likes to let her artist side out on nights and weekends. She’s from the suburbs of Maryland, but her and her husband were spending the month in Florida, and she was rocking the fuck out of a bedazzled jean vest. Her whole thing was about making small, positive artworks to leave places for people to find. I literally wrote down “I love this and will steal it from her.” She made everyone introduce themselves, and when it got to me, I was honest and said “I’m here auditing, seeing if I get any ideas for my own workshops,” and it definitely rattled her.
She went on to compare art to gardening, or hosting a dinner party, or dancing in pyjamas - they’re all forms of it. She was really well spoken and her aura was outstanding. She made art and kept talking throughout the whole thing, but she wasn’t just vamping - it was like she knew exactly what to say, the entire time. As it concluded, she thanked her production team (which raised eyebrow number one) and some sort of foundation that organizes these workshops (raising eyebrow number two, making me look shocked). Of course, Denise wasn’t just a sweet old lady getting together with her online gals for an art hang; she’s a hired gun. No wonder she was such a pro.
I realized about ten minutes into the fourth workshop that it was an improv comedy class; and I was just a stranger on mute with their camera off, making three people uncomfortable while they warmed up with improv games. I wrote in the chat that my dog had diarrhea (a Shakespearian equivocate at its finest) and left.
The fifth workshop was a five-person group discussion about how to stay creative in the dead of winter. One guy was from Minnesota, and the two hosts were from the Prairies of Canada, so it tracks. They were all pretty old, and the guy from Minnesota was unmuted with his tv on pretty loud, which made it tough to properly take in the conversation. I didn’t stay long, but I’m glad they have that.
The sixth workshop had over 100 attendees, all muted, old white women, watching this one lady draw. She hosted it well, like a How To program, or like a Bob Ross tutorial, only she was just drawing some bullshit. Like, it wasn’t anything real. She’s going “you do this” and “you do that”, meanwhile it’s just scribbly lines and random patterns that she’s clearly making up on the spot. She seemed really chill about it, though, and the attendees seemed to really enjoy watching her do it. I know it did. I liked her vibe - she kept reminding us that the mistakes don’t matter. Also, I figure if 100 people were down to watch this lady draw some nonsense while rambling, it gives me confidence in what I’m attempting to build.
The last workshop host didn’t show up, so I guess that's, like, where the bar is set in terms of the bare minimum. It can’t really get worse than that.
Would I recommend any of these art workshop experiences to you? No, not really. I didn’t find any of them particularly useful. I did, however, gain a bunch of valuable knowledge from trying them out, and it’s helped me venture further into the art workshop world. I’m in the process of creating my own experiences for people to enjoy, and want to make them awesome, so I’ll continue to gather as much intel as I possibly can, while constantly testing and refining. I’ll keep you posted when there’s more details to share!
I’m also in the middle of a little production sprint - I haven’t posted a new video to YouTube in nearly two weeks because I’ve been making some tweaks to what they are & how I’m making them. I’ll be back to posting next week, with a renewed focus that I’m excited to share! Subscribe to my channel and turn on notifications so you won’t miss it!
I’ll catch you at next week’s appointment. Your prescription: make art, have fun, feel good.
