Despite the pandemic, the Phoenix Center for the Arts has managed to keep their programs accessible online.
The Phoenix Center for the Arts has experienced many challenges in the past year. They were forced to close at the beginning of the pandemic and since then have been caught in the unpredictable tide of closures that many other businesses have had to endure.
Last March the center had to quickly develop online programming to keep their students engaged.
Virtual classes are live so students can interact with other people in real time, which is a unique offering when other activities tend to be pre-recorded. Social distancing is also not a requirement when you’re learning from home, and the center says it is a great way to support local art while staying safe.
Jessica Valiente, the programs manager for the Phoenix Center for the Arts, said she has received a lot of positive feedback from students when they first reopened.
“When we opened for the first three weeks people were really grateful that we were there, it was their outlet and a way for them to leave their houses to come to classes,” Valiente said.
Back in November the center set up six weeks of very limited in-person programs that were cut short before the last three weeks when cases started to rise after Thanksgiving. Since then the center has continued with online learning.
Koryn Woodward Wasson has been teaching with Phoenix Center for the Arts for almost five years and while conducting her watercolor classes online has been an adjustment, she looks on the bright side of a new frontier.
“I had a class where my youngest student had just had her 20th birthday and my oldest student was 75 and that was very neat to see them in the same digital space,” Wasson said.
She acknowledges that the obstacles virtual learning presents have forced her to become more accountable to her students by being more prepared and accessible.
“I have had to become ten times a better teacher last year because of the pandemic,” Wasson said.
At first Wasson had her reservations about hosting her classes online via Zoom, since watercolor is a very tactile art form. However, now she embraces the additional services that teaching online provides.
“I have two students that use ASL and I never would have been able to teach them in class without an interpreter.”
Wasson currently hosts two online watercolor classes, “Around the World Urban Landscape in Watercolor” on Wednesdays and “Watercolor and Words Part II, telling a visual narrative” on Thursdays.
These live Zoom classes are over at the end of this month, however, a variety of new online classes start up again in the first week of March including: dance, painting, mosaic, anime drawing, ukulele, and piano classes.
Students need to register at least two days in advance in order to obtain the link and listed under each time slot are the materials required for each class in addition to needing a way to access the Zoom link through wifi and an electronic device.
The prices for each class vary, and for more advanced participants, there are some higher level classes offered, especially for instrumental learning.
In-person classes are scheduled to reopen outdoors March 8. Registration information can be found on the Phoenix Center for the Arts website.
Contact the reporter at smmorr21@asu.edu.
