What do I mean by social studio?
Inspiration for a social studio came directly from the experience of enduring COVID in a nonprofit arts organization. With a very small team over a matter of months, we transformed a mosaic studio into an online creative space, adding skill-building and artistic opportunity for peer groups of kids, teens, and young adults.
A studio is a special place, different from an office, classroom, or conference room. It’s home to curious tools and unusual materials. The furniture is often specific to the task. The customs and habits of studios are made and maintained by their keepers, always an odd bunch. Studio spaces are imbued with magical thinking, places where common logic branches, flips, curves, explodes, and transmutes. Not unlike a garden.
Learning is central to most studio processes, and sometimes direct instruction (like a class) does happen. In other spaces, the learning activity is more aptly described as transmission or osmosis. curriculum-based teaching methods are less useful. Hands-on coaching is more common. A place to be and a for one’s songbird soul, I suppose.
In the upcoming studio circle, one tantalizing possibility is arising. What is it like to unfold our work side by side over time? I am always studying up on Quaker meeting practice and quilting bees as I prepare.
I imagined the online studio as if anyone could drop by like a neighbor. My life was full of such occasions at the Washington Writers Retreat, and among creative clusters in DC. It was that way in the Coronado District in downtown Phoenix years before, too. Corner office conversations on the front porch or in the shed out back. Quiet time together. Hands moving, hearts changing.
Circles and cycles organize our time in the studio. Each hour comprises three 20-minute movements. First, greet each other and chat at the top of the hour. Next, focus on a topic for 20 minutes in the middle. Then, mute ourselves to work quietly together to the end of the hour. Same time-cycling in the second and third hours with bio breaks in between. I leave the screen on, mute myself, and move about my space as needed. It’s odd at first, then becomes coffee shop cozy.
How to arrive in the circle?
Set your intentions for the session and be ready with your work at hand. It’s important to arrive at the top of the hour so our cyclical timing will work, and perfectly fine to step away anytime. Though I am a writer and the topics center on creative practice, it’s always an option to bring your handiwork and simply listen.
What does drop-in really mean?
Pretend you live nearby. You know I’m doing this process during these hours. Drop in when you have the time. Stay an hour, more or less. Come back each week, more or less. You are welcome in all cases 🙂
What should I be doing in the social studio?
Good question! Self-directed inquiry among friends is the point. Here are some places to start.
The Completing & Creating prompts are here.
Try taking the questions two at a time and working in Dynamic Duos
Examine the unfolding effects of Appreciative Inquiry. More evidence of My Love Affair with the Circle.
Ask yourself what Animating Tensions are at play.
Bring something to color or draw to the table, and sink into questions 3 and 4. Soothing patterns and shapes help me go deeper into where I missed the mark and what needs mending.
Anne L'Ecuyer 