Earlier in the month, I talked about teaching, and since so many of us do it in one form or another, I’d like to spend the next few days on the challenges of the Artist-Teacher, which I define as someone who makes his or her living both by teaching AND by working professionally in a chosen art. (Someone who is a published writer, who gets paying music gigs, who sells paintings, photos, or crafts, or who has an agent or a manager, etc., and who ALSO teaches.) I’m NOT talking about full-time teachers who do their art after hours on the side: Nor am I talking about the creme-de-la-creme of artist-teachers: College professors who are expected to teach a small number of serious advanced students, and who are given plenty of time to (and are expect to) create, write, concertize, practice, paint, act, or perform. That’s a great gig if you can get it. (Warning: it usually requires a PhD or a terminal degree).
In this article, I’m talking about the person who balances BOTH teaching and their creative work as an independent entrepreneur.
We all know the many reasons to teach our craft or our art: To share with the next generation, to get out of the house, to be part of a faculty community, to soften the sharp edges of freelance income fluctuations, to enjoy part-time work that has a schedule compatible with the schedule of an artist. Some artists enjoy teaching so much that they charge hardly anything at all for it; others are less enthusiastic, or may even see it as “something to fall back on” (which is not conducive to either good teaching or happy students).
If the idea of teaching intrigues you, you’ll want to consider the many options available. Here are a few:
- Schools. In addition to (or sometimes instead of) hiring full-time arts teachers, some schools hire part-timers to either teach a few hours a week, or to offer after-school enrichment programs in art, music, or creative writing. Programs might include classes, limited-size group lessons, or private lessons (in which case, the school generally takes a small cut of the lesson fee).
- Organized home-schooler groups. Homeschooling moms and dads know that they can’t effectively teach their kids math and science and art and music and reading, especially as the kids get older (How much trigonometry do YOU remember?). So they often band together to form little groups, and then bring in a teacher for a morning or an afternoon session. This can work well for private teachers who would like to fill middle-of-the-day slots.
- Community schools of the arts. These can be either for profit or non-profit. They generally pay you an hourly rate for classes you teach, and offer nominal, if any benefits. The pay is less than you’d make in your own private studio, but the percentage they keep goes to pay for access to instrument rentals, computer labs, photo labs, art supplies, recital halls, exhibit or performance space, along with clean studios, libraries, and booking and billing services.
- Community colleges and college enrichment programs. Courses and lessons may be offered for groups or classes, for credit or simply for enrichment.
- For-credit colleges. Adjuncts are often hired on a class-by-class basis.
- Music or art supply stores. Many music stores and some art supply stores have back rooms where they offer lessons. Sometimes, the teachers have to work in the store to get first crack at students, but if you teach something exotic like trombone, you might net an afternoon a week.
- Private art and music studios. Some fine artists offer classes in their studios on a weekly or monthly basis. Recording studio owners may use their studio space for lessons when it isn’t booked for recording sessions. Musicians often teach in their own homes, if zoning, neighbors, and the family situation allow.
- Students’ homes. If you’re a traveling teacher, be sure to charge for travel time; this option does not work in spread out rural communities where students will likely live far apart.
- City or town enrichment programs. Your town’s cultural council may offer a series.
- Classes offered by non-credit education prgrams such as the Learning Annex (which offers classes on hundreds of subjects in cities throughout the country).
- Your YMCA, Community Center, Church, or Senior Center may have a program, or be open to starting one.
- Internet programs. Education is a growing business on the net: Classes in writing are offered by writing sites such as www.Freelancesuccess.com or http://therenegadewriter.com/new-renegade-writer-classes/. (See my post at http://createworklive.com/2008/09/22/renegade-writer-classes/). For music, check out www.workshoplive.com. All of these places need teachers.
Check in throughout the week: In addition to a host of other topics, I’ll be talking about how to get teaching gigs, their advantages and disadvantages, how to try to match your teaching strengths with the right students, how to develop a teaching policy, and more.
