Organizing an Open Studio Setting, Nona Orbach
- nonaorbach
- 3 days ago
- 8 min read
A Roadmap for Art Educators and Art Therapists
Art teachers, art therapists, and artists express themselves, among other ways, in the
language of materials, classification of the different media and tools, organizing furniture and shelves, serving as a text with its own intrinsic logic, which influences both body and mind.
Every shelf of materials can be perceived as a sentence, every cabinet as a paragraph.
They function as an alchemical, metaphorical basis supporting the creative process.
This environment has a deep impact on the educational and therapeutic processes. A functioning studio enables all to be involved in a more meaningful, continuous, creative, and healing time.
The organization of materials in the studio is, in itself, a nonverbal message, a secret component that determines whether the work process will flow smoothly.
Is the classification in your studio accessible, allowing each child or adult to find their way among the different materials?
Does the organization of the room allow for the child to select a suitable place to create, whether within the large group or apart from it?
Do you notice if students enjoy what they do?
Do children know where to find what they need?
Do you offer a variety of artistic modes of expression in your classroom?
Do children help and teach each other?
Are the works of art well-kept?
Do you enjoy your time with the children?
If an open studio setting is made possible, a magical phenomenon takes place: the students learn about their inner world and take responsibility for their choices. They
develop a personal process and share with their classmates what they learnt with less
competitiveness.
Instead of unruliness, we find curiosity, diversity, and the hum of creativity and joy.
Instead of conformity, we find a variety of visual expressions and mutual tolerance. When such a workshop is consistently active, it becomes the nurturing heart of the entire school, showering tolerance and joie de vivre around it. Conducting such a space means that the process is in the center rather than on the product.
For teachers and art therapists to run such a creative space, we must be conscious of its organization and strive for awareness of the classification of materials and their accompanying tools, as well as their logical placement, just as sentences and paragraphs in a composition.
Based on decades of experience and the setup of many studios, as well as supervising art teachers and therapists, I suggest a basic classification of materials, particularly for those wishing to set up an open studio. Such an organization promises a significant reduction in discipline issues, allowing you to focus on the most important things – education, enrichment, and individual mediation for each child.
In addition, as the presentation of materials would make sense on a deep level, clients
and students, even at kindergarten age, will be encouraged to be engaged in the
responsibility for keeping the space, and would naturally put things back in their
designated place. The place will become valuable for them as well.
Regardless of whether the materials and tools are classified and ordered on open shelves or behind locked doors, the organization is identical. Moreover, this order may repeat itself in the storage room as well.
Creating an open space studio
A classroom or any other space may be organized with open shelves, as participants of all ages are expected to choose and decide what they want to do. This approach can be combined with table centers that present the same medium most of the time. This is useful for many users who work simultaneously.
The space can be used in either way; the choice depends on the population and aims.
Such a work method also depends on your faith in the process, your trust in the participants, their learning the rules that make this possible, and your ability to be attuned to their different needs. This takes time to manage, but very soon you will notice how children become more confident and able to be responsible for the setting, share with others, and help and teach others.
Here are a few topics to relate to:
• Pleasant daylight lighting: The use of curtains for darkening the room during the screening of films and presentations would be useful.
• Painting wall - It’s a useful idea to give up the blackboard existing in many classrooms and replace it with a large painting wall made of soft board. Several children can work on it at the same time.
• Large soft boards are also hung out of class. Exhibiting children's artwork alongside a teacher's text about the process is a significant way to share their inner world with others, including peers and parents. In addition, it serves as a means to communicate the process and its significance to children and staff alike. This supports the essential pedagogical aim of engaging both staff and parents. It will create more involvement in your community.
• Group tables
Groups of approximately six children work well together. It is also a good idea to
place two or three individual tables, some facing the wall. For example, an intimate
sketching table for the use of a nib and ink, a pencil sketching space facing a mirror, and a reading and writing station. All tables are covered with a uniform light-colored cover with no patterns. Make sure to leave sufficient space to move around them.
Crowded transitions between spaces cause disquiet.
• Special work area suggestions
o Textile: sewing materials, yarn for knitting, fabric, felt, beads, cloth, scissors, threads, thread needles, wool, knitting needles, an iron, and a very small ironing table.
o A library: a little armchair, a table lamp, writing papers and pencils, as well as books.
o A small mirror hanging on the wall with a table facing it for sketching self-portraits.
o A small woodwork station: in a box, pieces of wood, nails, a hammer, a saw, a
screwdriver, pliers, and glue.
o A coffee and tea space
o A small toaster oven
Presentation of materials in table centers
At this stage, you already know what materials the children particularly like. Make
sure to present them in a comfortable, precise, and pleasant manner. You can
prepare trays in advance with paper and pencils, paper and pens, paper and oil
pastels, and place them in the center of a group table. Shoe box covers would
serve well because of their low edges that allow their contents to be seen. It’s a good idea to prepare several identical trays in advance and place an organized
tray for each class beforehand.
The presentation is the instruction.
Choosing media for table centers
Materials chosen for the table center are selected primarily based on the children’s age and developmental stage. However, the more you discover your students' interests, the more accurate your selections are, and they will respond with even more enthusiasm. A table centre may contain different types of pencils; another table centre may be devoted to oil pastels or to pasting with glue.
Pay attention to the specific things needed. Accuracy and neatness of presentation encourage creativity. Thus, when offered properly, the child comprehends through
bodily sensations, exactly where and what s/he can do with these materials. Furthermore, the children will naturally divide into groups based on the fascinations and interests they share.
Basic studio materials are divided into large groups.
Each group has a designated place with all the necessary tools to support and enhance its use: Dry materials, wet materials, and Three-dimensional. There is also a family of joiners-dividers, paper, and collected items from nature and industry.
Dry materials
Oil pastels, fixative, oil for spreading out paint, short brushes, cotton wool,
engraving tools.
Dry pastels, Natural and synthetic coal, eraser, fixative, rags.
Wax pastels
Pencils HB-8B
Pens of different types.
Felt pens and markers
Joiners, dividers, measuring tools
Stapler, thumb tacks, clothespins.
Glues: plastic, collotype, masking tape, glue gun, washi tapes with patterns.
Scissors of various sizes.
Cutting knifes
Strings, ropes, and wires of various types, and needles.
Ruler, compass, protractor.
A hair dryer for drying works.
Wet materials
Gouache, brushes, rags, sponges, rollers, water jars.
Aquarelle in the form of cookies or tubes. Soft brushes in different sizes, mostly round, fan-shaped brushes, rags, and plastic palettes.
Acrylic, hard-bristle brushes, palettes, water jars, and rags.
Ink and nib, soft, thin, and fan-shaped brushes, nibs attached to branches or bamboo, and feathers. Colored ink,
Materials from nature, industry, and recycling.
Feathers, sea shells, leaves, branches, seeds.
Plastic items and cords, electronic parts, glass, metal, mosaic, and ceramic parts.
Paper: all types, 180 gr., 240 gr..
craft paper, printer paper, tracing paper, cardboard surfaces made from flattened boxes that may serve as
substrate.
3D
Clay (in a closed bucket), wooden engraving tools, rollers, wooden
surfaces, Lazy Suzy, high stands on metal legs for sculpting.
Drying shelves, cloth for wetting during drying, and nylon sheets.
Construction from cardboard, a storage shelf for both process and display.
Glue-gun station: Small, leftover objects for the glue gun station, loose parts (the children collect and bring), and a display shelf.
Modeling paste, cardboard work surfaces, and a display shelf. Dough
Storage of artwork: a shelf or file for each class,
and shelves for three-dimensional artwork.
Step-by-step guide
The following steps, which include both thought and action, will assist teachers and art therapists who wish to organize or develop their studio. The basic assumption is the existence of a studio with regular workstations and materials for students’ or clients' choice and accountability. The thought and action process should be aligned with your needs and aims.
By following these steps, you will create a facilitating environment that aligns with your therapeutic or educational approaches. Moreover, your studio will become your main assistant. You might like to go through this procedure with a friend or colleague to get mutual feedback and support.
1. Journal
Answer the following question: What are your deepest and most fundamental aims as an art teacher or therapist? Take two days for this contemplation process. Writing your vital aims will focus you on the essence of your professional identity and will serve as a key for the next stage.
2. Visit your studio: Look around and notice how your workshop is associated with what you have written. To deepen your perception, check each sentence separately and examine how it is reflected in the space. Note whether it is linked to the organization, lighting, medium selection, or atmosphere. While in the studio, write down your thoughts, sensations, and feelings that come up.
3. Take photographs from different angles. It is also useful to take a few pictures from a child's height – it will show you what the children see. Printing them and examining them outside the space sometimes provides fresh insight. Glue them in your journal and write down, or draw any thoughts or ideas.
4. Take a few days to contemplate the images and your visit: You might like to share it with another therapist or educator, even if they do not know the space. They might have a fresh insight for you.
5. More Journal work: By now, you have gathered much information. Here are a few more questions:
o Which area do the children use and love most? Should this area be enlarged?
o Is there an area that is particularly non-inviting? Do you understand why? Should you give up on it or perhaps change something?
o Is your workshop cluttered with materials and used objects? Is there a need to put them away and create some empty space?
o Make a list of things to put away, and what needs to be out there on the shelves.
6. Visit your studio again: Make the changes needed according to your list. Organize all your objects and media on open shelves and in storage.
7. Document the process: Documentation is accompanied by explanations, arrows, diagrams, images, etc.
8. Journal work after a month of using the space:
o Do you now feel more comfortable in your workshop? What changed for you? What can still be changed?
o Does your studio support transitions and movement between classes and materials? How can this be made more effective?
o Take notes and photographs.
9. Teaching and sharing what you have learned will assist you as a professional in your workplace. If you teach it to others, you will internalize it even more.
Bibliography
THE SPIRIT OF MATTER: A Database Handbook for Therapists, Artists and Educators
by Nona Orbach and Lilach Galkin
Nona Orbach www.nonaorbach.com
Blog: www.nonaorbach.com/blog
