Coronavirus (COVID-19): is it time to teach calligraphy workshops online?
In the days leading up to 16th March 2020, a flurry of emails from all manner of companies began to flood my inbox. My little girl’s school was to remain open, Sainsbury’s was asking for calm and courtesy, BabyBallet was still going ahead but with hands on hips, no hand holding.
At the European Pointed Pen Collective (EPPC), we had already cancelled our May workshop in Rome with John De Collibus, and now I was hearing unconfirmed rumblings that a much anticipated calligraphy workshop I was due to attend -- Cursive Italics with Gaynor Goffe -- could be cancelled.
I also saw calligraphy tutors asking others about how the Coronavirus was affecting their calligraphy workshops. Were teachers introducing stricter measures with cleaning materials? Asking students to cancel if they were unwell? How were people managing cancellations and refunds? What impact would this have on small calligraphy businesses who rely on workshops as a main source of income?
Then, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement on 16th March 2020 asking that the British public implement stringent social distancing measures, it became clear that non-essential socialising, such as calligraphy workshops, should not proceed for the foreseeable future.
Social distancing shuts down calligraphy workshops
With social distancing in force, for calligraphy workshop venues and calligraphy tutors, the decision to hold in-person workshops was now out of their hands. The options were to cancel calligraphy workshops or find a workaround.
It is likely that most UK associations and guilds will cancel their upcoming workshops in line with guidance and hopefully reschedule when they can. The South London Lettering Association (SLLA) says:
SLLA are monitoring the situation and cancelling events as and when we need to, giving members as much notice as possible. Please see the SLLA website for information.
Sally Taylor at Hemel Hempstead Scribes posted on Facebook on behalf of the group:
As a safety precaution, we have decided to cancel our summer term which was due to start on Friday 27th March. As we are mostly no longer in the first flush of youth and several have compromised immune systems, it seems safer to wait out what is likely to be the height of the infection and return for Autumn term in September. If the virus proves less troublesome than thought we will reinstate summer dates as appropriate. Keep well everybody.
The potential financial impact of Coronavirus for calligraphy teachers
For some calligraphy teachers, however, cancelling workshops would be crippling to their business and private calligraphy teachers are beginning to review how they offer workshops to students. From April to December 2019, an estimated 300 workshops took place around the UK. Factoring 10 students per workshop at £40 per person, the potential economic impact across private calligraphy tuition and guilds in 2020 could be in the region of £200,000. Teachers have to act swiftly to implement alternative measures if they rely heavily on their workshops as a source of income.
What effect will Coronavirus have on small calligraphy businesses?
“Having to cancel workshops and classes will have a great impact on my ability to cover monthly studio costs”, says Rosana from Love Calligraphy in Manchester. “I have asked my landlord if, under the circumstances, they would consider reducing my rent to half for the next two months. They will get back to me.”
While Rosana has ongoing commercial work, like many calligraphers (myself included) she is facing brand event cancellations and reduced workload, so cannot rely on regular business in lieu of workshop income.
Jenni Liandu, a Scottish-based calligraphy teacher, is grateful that she has recently expanded her business to incorporate a unique offering to the market: The Calligraphy Box, a monthly subscription box to learn calligraphy. With over 100 subscribers, Jenni is not only able to supplement her workshop income, but she also has had experience with YouTube lessons to help her transition to online teaching.
YouTube works really well for a larger group, where I’m able to demonstrate what students need to know, and respond to comments live; however I’m not sure if this would work for a smaller group where you need to really focus in on detailed feedback. I’m exploring this as a possible online option for my up coming classes, and welcoming my students to subscribe to the calligraphy box instead of attending a workshop.
However, many teachers have only ever provided in-person calligraphy workshops. Tina Warren from Alphabition Calligraphy hosts workshops in East Sussex for students of varying skill levels working on different scripts. This relies heavily on her ability to move from student to student and provide feedback that might otherwise be missed online. I’m also keenly aware that Tina provides her students with freshly baked cakes, and there’s no online training service in the world that can replace that.
In addition to baked goods, there are other practicalities to consider about moving calligraphy workshops online: Lyndsey Gribble from Wild Sea Calligraphy and Caitlin McKenna from Brahmin Lettering both considered how they would get supplies to their students. If you’re a teacher who always provides supplies, suddenly you need to think about how to overcome that.
Do you have to be tech savvy to teach calligraphy classes online?
Another big factor that teachers are considering is how tech savvy both they and their students are. Having to troubleshoot tech issues on top of calligraphy issues might be a step too far for some. Fortunately, there are many straightforward streaming services and here’s hoping everyone is being a little more patient with one another in these heady, unprecedented days of managing life around COVID-19.
From a technical standpoint, it would be ideal if the teacher could have someone alongside them who could iron out any issues, but this isn’t always feasible for everyone, and I don’t think it’s absolutely essential. I think if calligraphy teachers can help each other out with advice on what works for them, then a strong online calligraphy learning community will emerge.
It’s certainly not all doom and gloom, though, with Joyce from Artsynibs in Singapore reporting that after a very tough time in early February, they are not facing such strict impositions and she is able to continue, albeit with due caution, with her small workshop groups.
Services for going online if your calligraphy workshops can’t be held in person
It goes without saying (but I’ll say it?!), calligraphy workshops are interactive. Not only is the connection between teacher and student essential for progress, but the information you gain from working alongside fellow calligraphers is immeasurable. However, once-in-a-lifetime pandemics happen, and one must be prepared. Are you going to go online? And how?
Zoom
This video from Ink Me This is a fabulous run down of how Zoom works for online teaching.
Having successfully used Google Meet for live streaming our European Pointed Pen Collective workshops, I was keen to share what I’d learned with local teachers who really needed some options for moving their workshops online. On 17th March 2020, I held an informal Google Meet attended by six tutors. I was able to show them how they (like their students would) could access the video conference easily via a link in a calendar invitation.
Google Meet is great for allowing the teacher to see what’s on the camera of every student in the class. For calligraphy workshops, I suggest that students train their camera on their desk so that the teacher can click on each student’s icon and watch their work live. This requires students to be able to set their phone up with a tripod or some means of stabilising their phone to show their work. It also might mean the teacher allowing for more time to review and provide feedback in this way.
Although Google Meet does allow for chatting in the conference software, at our Live Stream workshops for The EPPC, we had a separate device with a WhatsApp group that students could send questions and images to.
Pros
Can visually see every individual student’s work if they set it up correctly
Up to 100 participants (basic subscription)
Good quality video (as long as the Wifi connection is strong)
Cons
Cost: a Google Suite subscription (currently £4.14/month)
People who don’t have a Google account can only join via browser (so may need an external webcam to arrange view of desk)
People must download the Google Meet app to participate via phone or tablet (requires a Google account)
Teachable
While my best calligraphy learning has always been done in person, sometimes there is just no course available that you can attend, and an online setting makes it possible to learn from some of the best. I have previously learned Trajans from Yves Leterm via Acorn Arts and Fearless Flourishing with Younghae Chung via Teachable. For both of these workshops, the teachers uploaded videos to a service that we could access over a number of weeks. We were able to take part in online chat commentary with the teacher and other students as well as uploading our homework for feedback.
Pros
Students can comment in a workshop forum, and upload images for feedback
Workshop remains online for as long as the workshop is available
Cons
Cost (£29/month)
Demonstration format / not live interaction
YouTube
In a 2020 research paper, Harvard researchers compared the effectiveness of online versus live lecture demonstrations, finding that “the students who watched the online videos learned more, and their self-reported enjoyment was just as high”, likely because students watching videos may be able to be more clearly guided in what to look at and learn from. This gives great opportunity to refocus how we approach learning calligraphy and how our online calligraphy demonstrations can complement (and, for now, substitute) the essential in-person learning.
YouTube allows you to host interactive, live video chats, which can be saved for later, either publicly (everyone), privately (only you) or unlisted (only people with the link). Jenni Liandu uses the last option to send out the unlisted link in advance only to her subscribers. It does require teachers to emphasise to students that they should not share the link: it’s not password protected, so really does rely on students’ discretion and good moral standing.
In addition to live demonstrations, YouTube allows you to curate a powerful channel of hosted video demonstrations. For example, in light of the Coronavirus, kids’ author Mo Willems has been taking to YouTube (via the Kennedy Centre Channel) for daily “Lunchtime Doodles”. While these aren’t interactive, it still gives access to the artist, to demonstration, and to something even more personal than you would get in a calligraphy workshop setting.
Pros
Free
Large groups of students can join and comment on live videos
Collate playlists of demonstrations to guide students in order
Cons
Have a YouTube channel set up
Have a webcam (if streaming via browser)
Unlisted videos cannot be restricted beyond the integrity (or ignorance) of those with the link
Facebook Groups
I’ve seen this employed for two different artistic ventures. While people are socially distancing, my little girls’ ballet classes will now be hosted via a private Facebook group. Their teacher will be online and ready for us to log in 10 minutes before the class, and will host a live video of her taking us through the class from the comfort of our lounge room.
In addition, Ashley from Arts Summit has created Isolartists group on Facebook (boasting 1k members two days after being set up) and has been doing painting demonstrations via the Live Video function.
In her email introduction to the group, Ashley said:
Over the next few weeks (or months?)...I'll be streaming live video every day in the Isolartists group. Grab your own art supplies and whatever project you're currently working on, and join me for some time to create + connect.
I watched one last night while I was knitting and it was great to see how informal but informative it was. Ashley had about 30 people watching live and making comments that she would respond to regularly throughout. Her husband was on hand to help out with any tech issues, and to manage switching cameras from one at desk height to focus on her face/torso, and an overhead camera that showed her desk as she drew and painted.
Ashley also invited students to upload photos of their own work to the Facebook group, which, you could use for calligraphy tuition by arranging into different folders to manage and critique.
Pros
Free
Ability to stream live videos as well as post demonstration videos
Students can upload work for feedback within the group
Students and teachers can take part in interactive commentary in live videos and within the group
Cons
All students must have a Facebook account to take part
Like Google Meet, WhatsApp allows for group video chats, where you would be able to see whatever the participants are showing on their phone. However, you are currently limited to four participants and with no way of focusing on each individual participant’s screen.
I consider WhatsApp a complementary service to other online methods. As I mentioned, at The EPPC, we used WhatsApp as a supplementary chat group to collate queries and images throughout a live streaming workshop. Rosana from Love Calligraphy is using WhatsApp for managing distance teaching. She says,
I will send students handouts via email, for them to print and continue their practice independently at home, they can send photos of their work via WhatsApp for my feedback.
Pros
Free
Cons
Limit to four participants
Cannot train screen on individual participants
The impact of Coronavirus is clearly making hosting calligraphy workshops in person very difficult, and it’s important that we find a way to both continue learning and support small businesses. While we are all uncertain about how long strict social distancing measures will be in place, we can call help keep up our calligraphy practice going by sharing what we know.
Can you share your experience with online teaching?
If you have experience using any of the online teaching services I’ve mentioned, I’d love to hear from you, and I’m sure many other calligraphy teachers (and students who are set to miss their class) would too. Any pros and cons, or other services I’ve missed. Please do comment below with your thoughts.
A huge thanks to Jenni Liandu, Caitlin McKenna, Tina Warren, Lyndsey Gribble, Rosana Ibarrola, Joyce Lee, South London Lettering Association, for their input for this article.