Friday, October 28, 2016

The Workshop Experience


Not too far from my home I have book-binding and calligraphy workshops. Houston is the 4th largest city in the US, with many workshops each year or semester-long classes too. 

My thoughts on how to enjoy excellent art or craft workshops:

---Teacher attributes:
  • Handout with good instructions for what we are doing.
  • Thoroughly qualified - can respond intelligently to questions.
  • Shares about their background, perhaps with photos.
  • Provides samples of past work & samples of what we are doing.
  • Gives individual attention besides the group discussion.
---Group conditions:
  • Minimal amount of supplies needed; I’d rather have a supply fee than lug supplies.
  • Ease of participants talking quietly, but not too noisy either.
---Space:
  • Enough private area in front of each student.
  • A comfortable seat (I also bring a pillow).
  • Not too cold and not too hot inside (I dress in layers).
Wonderful book-binding workshops are taught at The Printing Museum, either paid classes or at meetings of the Houston Book Arts Guild which meets there too.

About 3 or 4 calligraphy workshops each year are sponsored by The Houston Calligraphy Guild; we have teachers from Belgium to California coming in to teach.

Please let me know your thoughts about workshops; what works for you?
©Anne Rita Taylor 2016

1 comment:

  1. A good suggestion for me - offline: The teacher should also have an excellent workshop description!

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