The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Creative crafting: Art studios adapt during the pandemic
When the pandemic hit Connecticut and businesses began to close for safety, many art studios in the state flexed their creative muscles, finding ways to keep the artistic outlets they offer available to their customers from the comfort of their own homes.
Although in studio sessions were halted, studios began to expand with take home kits and virtual classes to help the communities they serve, keep busy while socially distancing and staying safe at home. Now, almost a year since the closures and with businesses reopened, the question stands if there is a new need for these virtual classes and if they will last in a post-pandemic world.
The Pottery Factory in Brookfield, which has an additional location in Mount Kisco, N.Y., launched a take home pottery option from their website when the state closed nonessential businesses back in the end of March 2020.
“We did close to public access, but we were allowed to do curbside pick-up, we just couldn’t interact with people.” Owner Dan Feeley said as he discussed some of the changes that were made in the early months of the pandemic. “We even did home delivery during the peak of it last March.” Here artists were able to choose pieces of pottery and paints, which they could then craft at home. When finished the artist could bring them back to the studio in a drop box to be glazed and fired, for no extra charge.
Virtual painting classes also were a new option offered to artists, where a box of materials is delivered, and artists join a virtual session to follow a teacher through the process of painting. Feeley explains the importance of keeping the Facebook Live events they used to broadcast their virtual classes exciting to the viewers.
“We professionally broadcast with a lavalier microphone, so that you can hear well, we use multiple camera angles, so it is a little bit more of a sophisticated production.”
But these new options did
not come without struggles. Though, the virtual options did expand public interest, even going out beyond Connecticut to states like Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The question, are these virtual classes successful because there is no other option? Do people prefer to be in the studio creating? Feeley believes that is the case.
“You are coming in for the experience, that’s what these are experiences, Feeley said. “There is nothing better than being with people and making it fun that way. So, I
don’t think this has a long life after the pandemic.”
The Pottery Factory has since reopened, offering crafts from pottery painting, candle making, paint classes and seascapes, to name a few. The in-studio time comes with new safety precautions in place to make sure all the patrons stay healthy.
“Tables are all separated, plastic dividers where needed, masks all the time, no food and if any drinks are coming in, they have to be in a closed container like a hydro flask or a sippy cup type thing.” Feeley said of some of the new measures they have put in place.
Hannah Perry, owner of the Giggling Pig Art and Party Studio with two locations in Bethel and Shelton, shared some of her experiences with the new pandemic world. Perry launched a take home art box six years ago that art students are able to purchase and then follow along with videos online. With the pandemic Perry used it as a way to expand the virtual platform her studio already had and plans to continue expanding her virtual classes once the pandemic ends.
“It’s given me a chance to develop that part of the business more, so I am not going to stop doing it because now we have people all over the country taking part in live classes, not just locally,” Perry said. “So, we will definitely be continuing that.”
With a large offering from Mommy and Me classes, walk-in pottery painting, birthday parties, cooperative events and camps for kids, they have a little bit of something for everyone.
“We are open it both studios, but at a much smaller capacity and we are offering pretty much all of our classes online as well,” she said
Perry hasn’t run into many negatives when it comes to the virtual classes, but she does miss the inperson interaction with her students.
“We miss being able to sit and chat and have that interaction that we are not getting as much anymore” Perry said. Whether the virtual classes are only here till the pandemic ends, or they will become a new part of the art studios business, only time will tell. But one thing is for certain, these virtual classes are giving those stuck at home an outlet that is much needed during such a difficult time.
“I know that art has really helped some people get through the pandemic, with the little kids when they are creative and can just have that time to be messy and get their feelings out. It is so important,” Perry said.