Introduction

Studio 56 organizes exciting vacation workshops in gorgeous locations around the world. Our goal is to deliver a fun learning experience that is in equal parts art instruction and a cultural experience. Our intention is to exceed our customer’s expectations by delivering an unforgettable vacation package that will motivate participants to join us again.

Instructing a Studio 56 Vacation Workshop is Fun + Profitable!

Studio 56 helps artists make a living from their art. All Instructors are paid the same per workshop participant with a minimum of 10 participants and a maximum of 15. Their economy airfare is paid. Transportation to and from the nearest airports and return is covered. Their hotel including breakfast is paid for the 6 nights of the workshop and 1 or 2 nights prior depending on time zone differences. Tickets for the instructor to all of the cultural activities are also paid. Instructors are not expected to teach more than one 2-3 hour workshop per day that can be divided into two sessions if preferred.

Required Qualifications of New Workshop Instructors

• Studio 56 Instructors must have previous teaching experience in their respective artistic area of expertise and enjoy teaching.
• They must be experienced travelers who enjoy traveling and learning about other cultures.
• They must have a robust newsletter and/or email list of previous and current students, and an active social media presence.
• Full- or part-time teaching artists are preferred over artists who work full-time in another field.

Promoting a Vacation Workshop

Studio 56 will make every effort to post regularly on social media and via their newsletter and email lists and will provide Instructors with promotional graphics that they can use to promote their own workshop, but it is the Instructor's responsibility to fill their workshop. 

It is expected that the instructor will make use of all their communication platforms for acquiring the minimum of 10 participants prior to the deposit deadline (150 days before the start of the workshop) so that the workshop can be greenlighted.

Selecting the Workshop Location

Studio 56 selects the workshop locations in collaboration with Instructors that are appealing to the Instructor, the Tour Manager and participants. Because Studio 56 is not a travel agency, we are not collecting a commission from hotels and are therefore not limited to specific locations and hotels. We will go anywhere our participants want to go!

Teaching Methods

Studio 56 welcomes the unique teaching and communication style of each instructor. Participants expect that each day the instructor will gather the students around them, will outline the subject for the day, will communicate the goal of the lesson, and will actively teach with demos and shared tips. The participants expect that the instructor will cheerfully answer questions and discreetly offer suggestions to individual students in areas where they could improve.

Participant Skill Levels

Instructors should expect that workshop participants could range from complete beginners to more advanced sketchers. All should be made to feel welcome. Instructors will discourage competition between participants as everyone is working at their own level. Some participants will easily pick up the tips of the instructor and others will struggle to absorb all the information. That’s ok. The Tour Manager and the Instructor will work together to manage the expectations of the participants.

While on Location

Studio 56 workshops are led by a Tour Manager and an Instructor who work as a team supporting each other and delivering an unforgettable experience for the participants.

Role of the Tour Manager during the Workshop

The Tour Manager tracks the whereabouts of the participants, arrives with tickets to activities, and keeps the group on a schedule (if that is important). The Tour Manager may also deal with solving problems that impact the experience of the participants such as ill health and the need for medical assistance, lost materials, changing hotel rooms, finding drinking water, and finding public bathrooms, etc.

The Tour Manager assists the Instructor in selecting the location of the 5 workshops in advance of the arrival of the participants. This is so that the locations can be communicated to the participants at the start of the workshop to ensure that everyone knows where they are supposed to be and when. The location of each workshop is the Instructor’s decision as the Instructor will be looking for a site/subject that is exciting for them to sketch/teach but the Tour Manager helps ensure that the chosen locations are spacious, in the shade, quiet, walkable and near bathrooms.

During the cultural activities, the Tour Manager will also communicate to the participants that the Instructor is now “off” and needs time to rest.

The Tour Manager will welcome participants at the Welcome Reception and briefly outline the activity plan for the week. At the Farewell Dinner, the Tour Manager will thank participants and the Instructor.

The Role of the Instructor during the Workshop

The Instructor teaches a 2-3 hour art class every day for the 5 days of the workshop. This art class can be broken up into two 1-hour art classes if the instructor prefers. While participants are encouraged to bring their materials to the cultural activities after the official art class (as there may be opportunities for sketching), the Instructor is not expected to teach all day. Neither are the participants expected to sketch all day as they may be tired in the afternoons and ready to move on to something else.

We know that participants arrive expecting to learn new skills, explore a new place and make new friends. With this in mind, the Instructor and the Tour Manager attend the cultural activities with the participants and are working together to develop a comradery amongst the participants and to deliver a very positive experience for our customers without favouritism for individual participants.

While the vacation package may be named for the instructor such as, “Amsterdam Vacation Workshop with John Smith”, the instructor and the Tour Manager are working together to serve the participants. It is the participant's vacation workshop and our focus is on the participants.

The Instructor will welcome participants at the Welcome Reception and may briefly outline the teaching plan for the week. The Instructor will thank participants and the Tour Manager at the end of the workshop during the Farewell Dinner.

Outdoor Class Locations 

While the Tour Manager and Instructor make every effort to select comfortable and inspiring workshop locations, things happen and sometimes the exact location of the art class needs to change without warning because of inclement weather or unexpected obstacles. The Tour Manager and the Instructor will work together to find an alternative location and to mitigate the expectations of the participants who have been told in advance that the exact locations are subject to change. The Tour Manager and the Instructor will work together to move the participants from one location to the next as a group. 

Let's have fun!

Vacation workshops should be fun for the participants, the Instructor and the Tour Manager. Let's keep the tone of the vacation workshop as fun and enjoyable as possible for the entire group.