Silvermine shapes itself for classes during COVID-19
NEW CANAAN — The coronavirus pandemic has wedged itself between people and many forms of in-person learning, but the Silvermine School of Art has adjusted.
“While we may have to be physically distant from each other, we remain a community that needs to be inspired and united through the power of creativity and art,” Silvermine CEO and Vice Chairman Barbara Lindarducci said.
Silvermine reopened June 29 for classes and summer camps, abiding by guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state officials. It continues to welcome students for in-person and online classes and workshops this fall.
“Silvermine has made significant investments in HVAC upgrades, PPE and daily cleaning procedures in order to safeguard our students, faculty and staff,” Lindarducci said. “These are extraordinary expenses, which we had not anticipated or budgeted for; coupled with the decline in income from class size limitations COVID has had a damaging impact on our financials. Despite this pandemic, we will emerge from this crisis even stronger and more deeply connected to our community.”
The art school has staggered start times for classes to facilitate social distancing and limits the number of classes, as well as the number of students in each classroom.
“The actual number of students in each class is determined by the size of the studio. Our smallest studio has a maximum of four, while our largest studio has a maximum of 12 students,” Lindarducci said. “This is more than half the regular capacity pre-COVID.”
Because of the smaller classes, Lindarducci said there are more people queued up.
“We have seen more classes with wait lists — many more than before because of the size limitations. That’s why we encourage our students to register early,” she said.
Masks are required indoors at all times and outdoors when social distancing is not possible, and the facilities are thoroughly cleaned throughout the day, she said. Silvermine Arts Center has also upgraded all HVAC systems with NBPI technology, which increases filter efficiency to fight COVID-19.
Traditional instruction in painting, ceramics, sculpture, photography, and printmaking is offered this fall, as well as a wide range of classes that cover specialized disciplines and skills.
But in some cases, COVID-19 has forced a reduction of hands-on instruction.
“In certain instances, the instructor may be less hands-on than they would normally be because of social distancing, but for the most part, our classes have remain unchanged,” Lindarducci said. “Students have their own supplies and materials and work independently.”
Online instruction has become the norm for the Silvermine School of Art, along with so many institutions.
“We shifted gears to bring the community online learning workshops through Zoom instruction with our esteemed faculty, for juniors, youth, teens and adults in a variety of mediums,” Lindarducci said. “Our offerings have become a regular part of our curriculum.”
And like other galleries, exhibitions are now mounted in cyberspace.
“In addition, we pivoted to Virtual Gallery Exhibitions,” Lindarducci said. “Even though we have since opened our galleries to visitors, we continue to present the artists and their work on our website for all the community to enjoy.”
Along with its painting and drawing studios and outdoor spaces for plein air painting, the Silvermine campus includes a woodshop, a metal-sculpture studio, a printmaking studio, and a newly built soda kiln in the ceramics building. Students can also be part of
an outdoor Sculpture Walk, historic buildings, and galleries currently exhibiting the 70th “AONE,” a national competition/exhibition that highlights the diversity of work that is currently being made by established and emerging artists.
“We have also been able to add outdoor glazing for our ceramics classes and moved work stations outside for our woodworking classes,” she added.
The School of Art has ongoing workshops and new classes that start at the end of October. Information can be found at silvermineart.org.