What does it take to be a virtual Artist-in-Residence?

It’s been 10 months since Arts Commons teaching artists started to navigate virtual instruction and adapt their livelihoods to the virtual realm. In a typical year, Arts Commons artists-in-residence will journey to schools in Calgary and to rural communities across Alberta to bring their expertise to the classroom. Whether this is music performance, puppet-making, song-writing, sculpture, dance…the list goes on and on, they are able to bring new creativity and inspiration into the classroom.

Now, unable to work directly with teachers and students in schools and onsite at Arts Commons or in their studios, and with a growth mindset in mind, artists-in-residence have started to develop new best practices for creating interactive, virtual arts education programs. 

We reached out to teaching artists from the visual and performing arts to talk about what sort of constraints they have overcome and new joys they have discovered in keeping children and youth inspired and connected through the arts.

Tara Wilson is the co-founder and director of Pulse studios and a long-time teaching artist with Arts Commons specializing in Hip Hop and Streetdance. Among many other things, she is working on best practice for virtual dance instruction with her instructors.

What is the biggest constraint you've had to overcome with teaching virtually?
For dance it has been the lag in movement and music, and not being able to really see the students work in real time, or even on the same time.

Once I discovered how to share computer sound, it helped somewhat as the students can hear the music better - but the lag is still there.

To overcome this, we just started to instruct our students to just move to the music that they hear and simply use what they see as a guideline, knowing that we are all potentially on different timings!

What joys have you discovered in continuing with dance education online?
As strange as it sounds, it is wonderful to connect even if it is on zoom. It feels like a real connection and people seem more relaxed in their home environment!

Also, you can reach people from all over who would otherwise not be able to participate.

Anita Perlau (pictured above) is a music educator whose passion for music has brought her a varied career as an elementary music specialist, choral conductor, sessional instructor, and workshop clinician as well as working as a teaching artist with Arts Commons.

What is the biggest constraint you've had to overcome with teaching virtually?
In an early childhood music class on Zoom, when all the children are muted, the biggest constraint is they cannot hear one another when singing. The essence of musicking together is lost. Their only source of sound is my voice rather than the beautiful voices of the community. My challenge was how to find meaningful ways to engage children in music making despite the obstacles. I had to reframe my expectations as to what an early childhood music class should look and sound like.

What joys have you discovered in continuing with music education online?
Despite the obvious limitations for music making when teaching virtually, I have been surprised by the successes along the way. I converted my dining room (who needs to entertain these days?) into a home studio complete with a xylophone, non-pitched percussion instruments, boomwackers, puppets, loads of singable children's books and a white board. I am delighted that Joyful Kids Music has given children and their parents an opportunity to enjoy music in their homes.

I was thrilled to watch the children, with colorful scarves in hand, dance for joy to Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite: Trepak. This week I shared Pete the Cat's Old McDonald Had a Farm with my preschool class. Before I could get through singing the first page, one of the children disappeared from the screen, only to return moments later with her version of the book. She then led the class in singing her book. THAT's the moment when I feel tremendous joy!

As arts education has become even more important than ever in a time of isolation and distance, Arts Commons continues to work with artists-in-residence to engage and inspire with creative learning moments for students, virtually to their own classrooms.

You can learn more about our artists-in-residence and the programs that Arts Commons offers for teaching professionals and their students at artscommons.ca/education.