Teaching arts online is a great and easy way for students from across the world to learn

Koos & Antoinette

What is TeachinArt?

TeachinArt is an online school of art that was founded by Koos and Antoinette Badenhorst in 2015 in Saltillo Mississippi. Teachin is the way the Mississippians pronounce teaching and was a good starting point for a online school that originated in the South, but is also pronounced as teach-in-art.
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In 2015, the couple were teaching only Antoinette's porcelain e-courses from their website PorcelainByAntoinette. Antoinette's international students requested a greater variety of online workshops and suggested adding multiple professional artists to the school.

​What triggered the creation of the school? 

In 2013 Koos and Antoinette moved back from Chicago to Saltillo Mississippi, the first place they called home after moving to the United States in 1999. They looked at each other one day while still in Chicago, asking themselves what is the most important thing that Americans may need. They came to the conclusion that 3-dimentional (critical) thinking is in a serious decline. In a world in which Walmart and Home Depot with ready made products rule, it becomes harder to think creatively. They decided to explore online teaching of the arts.

When they started with the idea of creating an online class, they did not know where to begin and did not know if it may work; clay is such a tactile activity.

What is the objective of teaching an online school?

The couple wanted a platform where students can learn at their own place and their own time from a computer of their choice, while having direct access to the instructor for expert answers to student questions. They wanted to offer non-credit classes, with the content and substance of a college curriculum.

Antoinette's first e-class was Understanding Porcelain. This e-learning idea was very successful and they followed up with more pottery classes, some of which are not related to porcelain. Soon they received requests from their international art students for more specific workshops.
They realized then that there is big demand for professional online training where students can afford the teaching and do it from the comfort of their own place. No travel costs, no expensive workshop fees, being close at home and they can do it on their own time without sacrificing any of their existing project at home. They were on their way to an Online School of Art. With Antoinette as the only instructor, they had wide open opportunities to bring in more instructors. 

​David Voorhees from North Carolina joined the team with his 40 years of ceramics and teaching experience and in February of 2016 his workshop Porcelain tips for wheel pottery was recorded in Antoinette's porcelain studio in Saltillo Mississippi. David brought an interesting new challenge to the porcelain potters and shared with them different projects that really challenged their skills.

​The re-known Marcia Selsor who taught art at the Montana State University as well as the University of Texas became part of the teaching team when her Alternative Firing workshop was recorded in June 2016 in Antoinette's studio.

​Marcia shows students how to make their own raku kiln and use it then to do obvara, raku, ceramic and foil sagger firings.

​To close a very good year, Connie Christensen from Colorado came to the recording studio in October 2016 and presented her Faceted Teapots class that opened for registration in early 2017.

During the past 2 years they offered almost 400 classes to 250 international students.

​How are classes presented to the students?

​The classes are presented as videos that are supplemented with reviews, sketches and images. Questions from students are answered by the teachers and shared with all the students. Each week of an e-course represents about one day of a traditional hands-on workshop. They recommend students to follow all the steps and projects of the instructions and to create the projects in the convenience of their own workplace at their own pace. Students can choose to do the projects or just follow the demonstrations.

During the recordings of the classes, instructors and videographer pay special attention to details. Students can see hand positions and actions close-up and from all angles. TeachinArt online classes differ from YouTube videos and DVD’s because students have direct access to the teachers for the duration of the workshop. Students can ask questions about any part of the videos, in the same way they would in a regular workshop. 

Students may present images of their work or share personal problems regarding the work for commentary to the instructor. All students have the opportunity to mingle with other students while the class is running and have access to the group for as long as they choose.

Antoinette said "We are still in our infant shoes, with so much to learn, but this way of distant learning benefit students who work full time or who cannot attend a traditional workshop for some or other reason."

There is a gap of education between college trained artists and hobby artists. Therefor TeachinArt pay painless attention to creating quality courses for students who are interested in expanding their knowledge and expertise in the visual arts, without having to work through an extensive college curriculum.

With the first 2 years behind, 2017 is the first year that the school started overlapping classes in an effort to offer continuity in the programs. If everything works out according to the plan, they will produce between 6-10 new classes this year and hope to start adding jewelers, painting artists, sculptors and other fine arts and crafts in the near future.

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Links:
E-courses at TeachinArt
Art teachers at the online school
Preview the e-courses