ART + LIFE
Next classes
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“BY FAR THE MOST USEFUL CLASS I’VE TAKEN.” —Kristin Parker, New York Actor
Dear Actors,
I’m thrilled to present this year’s ART+LIFE groups. They start in December, and then skip 2 weeks to finish in January.
When you read below, please keep in mind – we address pretty much everything on that long list in the weeks of the classes; however, the tools & techniques are meant to continue to be unpacked at your own pace long after the class finishes. Past participants find that they return to the tools again and again to revamp, reenergize, and relaunch. See below for some of their takeaways and comments.
This class is open to artists of all kinds. We have had opera singers, standups, writers, musicians and dancers as well as actors, and visual artists are also welcome. The assignments and techniques are easily adaptable to other art forms, so please feel free to tell your friends.
—Karen Kohlhaas
Class size limited to 8.
Tuition $325
To Apply: email info@art-and-audition.com Please include pic/resume and your preferred group, and a brief statement about where you are in your art+life.
In ART + LIFE we learn creative ways to deal with, vanquish, and sometimes harness common distractions such as
• Drama (the bad kind)
• Perfectionism
• Procrastination
• Artistic despair
• Overwhelm
• Bitterness
• Helplessness
• Confusion
• Chaos
And replace them with…
TIME AND ENERGY AWARENESS
• Build flexible, creative routines that support the often erratic schedule of an artist
• Create systems and routines that prioritize your long term artistic success
• Make time & room for your art TODAY, while also building for the future
• Practice self-care that not only maintains, but builds your mental, physical, and emotional energy
• Learn financial practices that support your life needs and your artistic goals
• Be on time for life—out of your choice to be a pro, and respect for your own and others’ time & energy
CREATIVITY
• Separate perfectionism from true creativity
• Recognize and seize the creative opportunities in each day
• Use your creative gifts to address personal, artistic, business, and social situations/issues
GOALS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Clear, testable, updatable 6 month, 1 year, and 2 year plans
• Doing “brain cracks” — projects small & large that you’ve always meant to do
• Use a series of tools, worksheets, and maps to assess where you are and figure out where you want to go
• Schedule your progress toward your goals in a way that works for YOU, and, have techniques for modifying and updating goals (which is as important as the goals themselves!)
INSPIRATION & CHALLENGE
• Touch what inspires you on a daily basis
• Identify role models and “inspiration mentors” and research them (they might not be the people you’d initially think they would be!)
• Included in this part of the class is a personal challenge assignment: after getting to know you and your goals and dreams, I give a personal challenge to each artist that might be art-oriented or business-oriented or both. You can accept, reject, or modify the challenge, but you know it’s probably a good one for you if you are slightly terrified of it.
CRAFT
• Reflect, get feedback, and pinpoint where you are in your craft, i.e., which skill sets bring you satisifaction currently, and which you want to focus on and strengthen
• Develop bare-bones, no-matter-what, doable short routines that maintain and build your craft daily
• Identify who & what can help you build your craft
• Regularly see/hear/read others’ artistic work
BUSINESS
• Get savvy about the business of your art
• Develop thought-out strategies for increasing your business awareness
• Build business routines & systems
• Name clear business goals that support and enhance your artistic goals
COMMUNITY
• Meet regularly with other artists to support each other’s goals
• Develop community of artists who actively support each other’s artistic work and performances
• Find mentors, whether they’re people you know and meet with from time to time, coaches, or figures past and present whose writings/work you study for inspiration
PRESENTING YOU & YOUR ART TO THE WORLD
• If you’re an actor, you’ll find and rehearse a ‘Hello, this is me’ monologue that truly resonates with you and helps you show who you are to the show business world. (If you’re another kind of artist, we will discuss your equivalent to the Hello, this is me monologue.)
• Evaluate your wardrobe (with the help of our guest speaker & class assignments) and choose how you present yourself and your art to the world in various artistic & professional situations and events
• Have, or move steadily toward, headshots/professional photos that represent you well to the artistic and business worlds you work in and want to work in
ACTION IN THE WORLD*
• Identify which local, national, and world issues mean the most to you
• Explore and choose ways of participating in these issues; as a human and artist
• Know “who you want to be in this time” as an active choice, i.e., what you would like to look back on and know that you did/said/expressed with your art during this period in history
*The class does not follow a particular political ideology. Most of these assignments are private; this year’s ART+LIFE year will address the fact that we live in a very turbulent time that can often challenge our artistic focus, and we will look at ways to channel emotion/overwhelm into action and expression.
COMMENTS FROM PAST ART+LIFE PARTICIPANTS
Being asked to share and present material EVERY class [worked]. This kept momentum going for me. I couldn’t slack off, and it propelled me forward into the projects I wanted to accomplish after the class.
The class helps artists to think without any artistic/creative limitations. It helps artists feel free while still being productive by DOING. Also, it helped to trust that one creative thought can lead to another and that other thought can get us far, or can be the Project of our dreams.
-The brain crack lesson is huge.
-I also think that when we wrote down every possible way to work as an actor for different jobs and venues was very helpful.
-“Hello, This is Me” Monologue—super useful!
After the election I felt passionately about only doing women driven projects and that has truly shaped my year. I’ve helped develop a few plays, all written and directed by women, playing strong female leads. I’ve done two all female short play festivals, shot the pilot and just wrapped the first season of a webseries with an all female crew. And shot the lead in my first TV pilot (will air in December) that was part of a writing contest helmed by the mayor to get more strong female voices in film and tv in NY! These experiences, in the safety and creativity of female heavy spaces, have facilitated huge growth for me in my instrument and coming into my power as an actor (something I’ve shied away from for some time) This was all born out of going back to my ART+LIFE tools (satisfaction survey, evaluation questions, 1 year plan) after the election when I was feeling very lost in deep grief and had no idea what my role as an artist was anymore.
I feel as though I have gotten closer to understanding what kind of work I want to do. The discipline and long term planning your class taught me has given me a lot of inner strength to pursue my own artistic path in the theater world.
I made a video of my vision/goals and am able to watch it every day to remind myself of my direction. This has helped ENORMOUSLY. There have been some tough creative times over the last few months – times of tears, and more tears, complete despair, resistance, and total angst. It has kept me moving forward on the path.
I wrote a play and a webseries, directed a play, have been asked to perform my solo show, and got cast in an independent film!
I know where I want to be, and I have a map for getting there. So simple. So profoundly empowering as an artist. I know that even when I am not feeling motivated or inspired, I don’t have to climb the mountain, simply do the steps. I know where I am in my progress. I don’t have to reinvent the wheel every day.
This class changed my life. I have grown in my acting by facing one of my fears. It also got me to do one of the things I had been talking and thinking about doing for so long! If you are chronically late, messy, disorganized, crazy, afraid…this class will give you tools to face the world. It’s wonderful!
Two of my three mindmaps are coming true! I am going to LA for some pilot season stuff (which is SOOOO outta the blue and almost NOTHING to do with anything I tried to make happen!)….and I am in the process of moving! I LOVE THOSE FREAKIN MIND MAPS!!!
I made a video of my vision/goals and am able to watch it every day to remind myself of my direction. This has helped ENORMOUSLY. There have been some tough creative times over the last few months – times of tears, and more tears, complete despair, resistance, and total angst. It has kept me moving forward on the path.
The things I turn to over and over again are the evaluation questions, those questions that you send out before the class starts, satisfaction survey, braincrack, the plans, and fly lady especially the time management baby step aspect.
I think that in this time we are in, the greatest gift of this class is showing artists that even through our despair it is possible and vital to create and to create daily. Even if all you can muster is 5 minutes.
“I KNOW WHERE I WANT TO BE, AND I HAVE A MAP FOR GETTING THERE. SO PROFOUNDLY EMPOWERING AS AN ARTIST.”
—Julie Fogh, New York
“THE DISCIPLINE AND LONG TERM PLANNING YOUR CLASS TAUGHT HAS GIVEN ME INNER STRENGTH TO PURSUE MY ARTISTIC PATH.”
—Dan Vidor, New York