Self-expression, lifelong learning, and sublimating your technical day job with online art classes.
A healthy byproduct of the pandemic is the plethora of classes and workshops available online. In the spirit of self-expression, lifelong learning, and sublimating frustrations from my technical day job, I took several art classes online that I would recommend. Taking these courses helped me develop skills, create new habits, feel more confident in my craft, and make friends.
Washington Studio School
I took Introduction to Painting A (Form & Value) and Introduction to Painting B (Color) with Martin Wall. I taught myself how to oil paint a few years before the pandemic but I needed these formal courses to close the gaps in my understanding of when and how to use solvents, how to stretch a canvas, and how to critically assess my work. I also learned that I love bringing humor to a still life.
Check out all of WSS' online courses.
Brooklyn Poets
I took Strange Forms: Poetry and Technology with Maya Salameh where we gazed back at surveillance technologies. Writing from the perspective of AI or in the format of a Communication Preferences Form was challenging and thought-provoking. This course helped me think about my poetry and technology differently, exactly its point. The highlight for me in these poetry exercises was reworking a favorite Rilke poem with:
I circle around connection, around the existential question. I’ve been circling and recircling this whole time and still I don’t know: am I an algorithm, a bumble bee, or a question already answered?
Check out all of Brooklyn Poets' online workshops.
School for Poetic Computation
I am currently taking TO THE STREETS! with Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo, Sarah Al-Yahya, Paige Fulton. This course explores making work in public spaces and with community. I will add what I create here when the course is complete.
Apply to the School for Poetic Computation, which features ample scholarship opportunities.
Honorable Mentions
I also took and enjoyed a Writing Flash Nonfiction Workshop with Alysia Sawchyn at Catapult (RIP) and I've been eyeing Brooklyn Institute courses. If you have class recommendations for me, please share them.