Upcoming Workshops

with JOHN BERTLES

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28  •  4:00 – 5:00 PM, with optional 5:00 – 5:30 PM Discussion and Q&A

Register by Tuesday, October 27 • 4:00 PM CST

Using an at-home instrument-building exercise as a model, this workshop will challenge participants to innovate their art form.

Simple but effective presentation techniques can transform online arts lessons into an immersive experience for students. Based around an at-home instrument-building exercise, this workshop will challenge participants to explore new ways to revisualize their art form and to accept and understand the limits of the technology while adventuring into a new world of creative possibilities.

with BEN LONG

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8  •  3:00 – 4:00 PM CST

Register by Friday, November 6 • 4:00 PM CST

Learn to take the best possible photos with your smartphone camera in this one-day workshop.

There's a saying that "the best camera is the one you have with you." While you might always have your smartphone camera with you, the fact remains that it doesn't matter what kind of camera you're using if you don't know the basics of making a good photo. In this course, we'll walk through how to get the most from your mobile phone camera. Starting with a look at what makes one image better than another, we'll consider basic compositional ideas and look at in-camera tools that can help you achieve those ideas. Next, we'll explore the typical automatic controls that smartphone cameras provide and investigate how to know when you need to override those controls and make some decisions on your own. We'll also look at the use of flash, how to photograph in low light, and what to do about those horrible color casts that you can get when shooting in gymnasiums or other common locations.

with MIKO LEE

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10  •  7:00 – 8:30 PM CST

Register by Monday, November 9 • 4:00 PM CST

This interactive workshop will delve into trauma-informed arts approaches that focus on student growth, agency and empowerment.

Last year, the Mental Health Services Administration noted that 1 out of every 4 children in the US was dealing with traumatic stress. Today, with the multiple pandemics (COVID-19, the impact of climate change and the unpacking of systemic racial inequities) all of our children are experiencing trauma.

Participants in this workshop will review Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and learn to recognize how trauma has impacted their students. Through hands-on theatre, dance and visual art activities, participants will develop strategies for increased engagement through student-centered creative outlets.

with BEN STUMPF

TUESDAYS, NOV. 10, NOV. 17, DEC. 1 and DEC. 8  •  4:30 – 6:00 PM CST

Register by Monday, November 9 • 4:00 PM CST

A workshop for high and middle school educators to inject new energy into their film programs, or design a new course.

As more students than ever are pursuing film and video production across the globe, the art and craft of teaching filmmaking is evolving fast. In this workshop, we'll discuss ways to improve our courses or start new ones. And with so many schools moving classes online, we’ll also look at best practices for teaching in remote and hybrid models. You'll be offered a trove of teaching materials: curricula, lesson plans, project ideas, and gear and software recommendations. We’ll look at best practices for in-person and online lessons about camera-work, lighting, sound, editing, and other techniques. We’ll discuss narrative and documentary forms, media trends, critique sessions, online resources, and the challenges and opportunities of teaching online. We'll explore ways to achieve higher production values as new affordable gear and software emerge. Finally, we’ll try out our favorite assignments, shooting and editing with the tools our students will use, and share our masterpieces with one another.

with SAMANTHA KING

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 5:00 – 6:30 PM  •  SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM  •  SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1:00 – 2:30 PM

Register by Thursday, November 12 • 4:00 PM CST

In this 3-day workshop, we will use the arts as a tool to consider other perspectives and strengthen empathy.

Empathy is a skill essential to social-emotional growth, classroom management, problem-solving, collaboration, and conflict mitigation. How do we strengthen our students' empathy and sense of community? This is a difficult task in the best of times, but especially now during a time of social distancing. Focusing on what we all have in common can alleviate a feeling of isolation and bring us closer together. The workshop will offer teachers strategies in community building, creative writing, visual art and drama. These strategies are designed to develop the skills of observation, evidence gathering, and creative expression while we stand in someone else's shoes.

with DAVID MODLER and ERIC SCOTT

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14  •  9:00 AM – 4:00 PM CST

Register by Friday, November 13 • 4:00 PM CST

Discover the creative possibilities of the visual journal and dive into your personal narratives as you tell your stories with words, images, paint, and more.

Part sketchbook, part scrapbook, and part diary, the visual journal is an authentic vessel for self-exploration and an art form for self-expression. We’ll discover the creative possibilities of this mixed-media format as we delve into our personal narratives and begin telling our stories with words, images, paint, and more. We’ll open ourselves to the potential of this process as we experiment with different media, techniques, concepts, and exercises and cultivate our creativity. We’ll find the space to stretch our imaginations out onto the blank pages as we confidently connect thoughts, feelings, images, and the written word to create a unique expression of who we are, what we believe, and what we hope. Join in for this one-day retreat and reconnect with yourself.

with BEN LONG

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14  •  10:30 AM – 12:30 PM CST

Register by Friday, November 13 • 4:00 PM CST

Explore exciting curriculum ideas for teaching photography online or incorporating photography lessons into your existing online classes.

Because just about everyone has a camera nowadays, and because photos are very easy and quick to move around the Internet, photography is extremely well-suited to online instruction. From delivery of camera instruction to performing group critiques of assignments, it’s easy to lead an engaging photo class online. In this workshop, we’ll look at a range of curriculum ideas and structures, examine a range of exercises, and discuss what you can expect from photography students of different levels. Whether you’re looking to lead a dedicated class or would like to spice up some other part of your curriculum, a photo component is ideal subject matter for online teaching and this class will give you plenty of ideas and guidance for pulling it off.

with BEN LONG

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21  •  10:00 AM – 12:00 PM CST

Register by Friday, November 20 • 4:00 PM CST

Stretch your photography skills by joining Ben and fellow photographers for a critique.

Few things will improve your photo skills as a solid critique session can. During the process of discussing images, you will come to a better understanding of how people respond to particular photographic ideas. More importantly, through this process, you will develop a vocabulary for identifying, labeling and analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of a photo. That vocabulary will go with you when you pick up your camera again and enable you to better identify what’s working and what’s not while you’re shooting. In this way, critique sessions directly impact the way you shoot, not just the way you look at specific images. Each member of this workshop will submit a few images, and we will spend the session evaluating them. If you’ve never experienced a formal critique before, the prospect can be scary, but this will be a comfortable, easy and fun environment in which to learn.

with BEN LONG

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6  •  3:00 PM – 4:30 PM CST

Register by Friday, December 4 • 4:00 PM CST

Build up your photography toolbox with this in-depth look at image composition.

Your composition skill has more of a bearing on the quality of your photos than any other part of your training. More than your knowledge of exposure theory or image editing, and more than your choice of which camera to use, your compositional choices will usually be the single factor that determines whether an image succeeds or fails. In this workshop, we’ll start with some simple compositional ideas that will immediately improve your images, and then we’ll build on those to give you a compositional toolbox that you can apply to a huge variety of images. Along the way, we’ll look at a lot of photos and delve into why some compositions are compelling and some are not. Aimed at beginning and intermediate photographers, this course will help everyone from snapshot shooters to dedicated enthusiasts.