Grad school applications. The submitting, the waiting, the meeting of deadlines - the experience that leads to institutional access for artists, is again, quickly approaching. For prospective MFA candidates looking to broaden their graduate school experience with teaching, it can be challenging to understand what that looks like right now, mid-global pandemic. As an applicant during the last grad cycle, I considered the prospect of teaching to be a deciding factor. After much online research, I had only a limited view of what form painting instruction had taken on and less so of what a teaching assistantship might entail.
Good news. I landed at the University of Arkansas, and what I discovered as a first year MFA student here, is that painting instruction is thriving within online platforms and traditional classrooms simultaneously. Online students enter the physical classroom via projection on a studio wall while a classroom camera returns the in-person students to the virtual classroom. Behind this beautiful loop of continuous communication are two professors, Associate Professor of Painting, Kristin Musnug and Assistant Professor of Painting and Drawing, Neil Callander.
Each professor has graciously answered questions regarding their hybrid model of artistic instruction that includes Painting 1, Landscape Painting and Advanced Painting. My wish is that by sharing this short interview, we might assist prospective graduate students in painting a more complete picture of the possibilities and challenges that lie ahead in teaching.
Let’s start with the classes you are teaching and how those classes meet…
KM: An advanced class, mostly in-person - the students have individual studios, and Painting 1, also meant to be hybrid, but at this point most of the students are remote.
NC: This semester I'm teaching Painting 1 and Landscape Painting—both in a hybrid instructional model. We are trying to maintain as much in-person instruction as we safely can.
What are your main safety concerns and how do you address them?
KM: The safety protocols in place on campus seem pretty effective. The main challenge is getting a good sense of the students’ view of their source and their work from six feet away.
NC: Of course COVID-19 is the most concerning at the moment. In Landscape Painting we are able to hold class in-person most of the time because our classroom is outdoors. In Painting 1 there are the dual concerns of COVID-19 and teaching students how to safely paint with oil at home and in the studio. In both classes we are relying on Zoom, recorded lectures and tutorials, file-sharing software and lots of emails.
How important is flexibility right now and where are you finding it most necessary?
KM: Flexibility is absolutely required this semester, both for me and the students. There has been a lot of shifting in the first weeks.
NC: There is such a thing as being too flexible, and this semester has me walking that line. I don’t want to flex to the point that the curriculum has no clear structure, but have given in to slowing the pace and relaxing my attendance policy.
How do you keep students engaged when working remotely?
KM: Definitely a challenge. It’s harder for them to get to know each other when they aren’t working together in the same room. We break into small groups for remote critiques and discussions so that they get to know some people better and interact on a regular basis.
Instead of doing in-class demonstrations, in Painting 1 we are making tutorials that can be watched or re-watched at any time. It’s made me more conscious of how information is delivered and led to re-evaluating how I present things in order to be made more clear.
NC: Same as in-person; they need to feel connected to their classmates, trusting of me and excited about the material. I have genuine enthusiasm for painting which I am not shy about sharing. The connection to classmates is tricky; we keep our Zoom videos on, they present their classmate’s work, they hold court on the class via GroupMe. Unlike in the classroom, students can just turn to ghosts when working remotely - that’s definitely a challenge.
What are you most concerned about in regards to your students’ well-being and their education?
KM: Things are going to fall through the cracks - emotionally, financially, educationally. It’s hard to keep as close an eye on them. Most of the students are not as isolated from each other as they were last spring, so that’s a good thing. It’s still not the same experience, though.
NC: I think their well-being and education are inextricably linked. Happy, healthy people are people who are learning and growing. Learning a craft (such as painting) has such benefits (book recommendation: Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work), and I do worry about the loss of craft in our society generally. This semester has me feeling this acutely when trying to help students solve a painting problems remotely.
Based on your own experience teaching during a global pandemic, what advice would you give to those entering into an online teaching situation for the first time?
KM: Mainly, that it isn’t going to be the same as an in-person class. Things might need to slowed down and that’s not always a bad thing.
NC: I was extremely frustrated when mourning what I love about the classroom - Fall semester energy, painting with my students, working side-by-side students to solve painting problems - until I gave into the fact that this semester cannot resemble a normal semester. It’s its own thing.
What does a daily “win” look like to you right now?
KM: When the remote students are doing as well as the in-person students.
NC: It’s all about the students. If they show signs of life, better yet curiosity, better yet enthusiasm, and best yet passion, then all is well.