COVID-19 Measures

Important information regarding COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

UPDATE: 5 April 2020

Easter School Holidays and Term 2 are now going online to our Virtual Art Studio.

Easter School Holidays

We are now taking the holiday art experience right into your home with fun new classes for all ages live-streaming from our Virtual Art Studio. Kids will get the same creative activities and excellent real-time tuition from our tutors. They will be able to learn a new activity step by step, ask questions and share their artworks using online video technology.

These are unprecedented times, and we know how important art and creativity are to everyone’s health and wellbeing. So we are developing some other ways to engage with our students including take-home art kits, online tutorials, Art Est for Kids on instagram. These are still being developed so please check your inbox next week for the fun and creative ideas that we have for you.

And if you did already enrol for a face to face class, let us know if you’d like to use your fees for our new Virtual Art Workshops, or for when we’re back in the studio, or if you’d like a refund according to our Terms and Conditions.

Weekend Workshops

All weekend workshops are now on hold for the time being and we hope to resume them again from July. If you were enrolled for any workshop between now and then that has been cancelled, we will hold your fees in credit so you can come back and enjoy an in-studio creative escape. If you’d really like a refund, please contact us with your request by email.

Term 2 Courses | 4 May – 29 June

Unfortunately our new normal prevents us resuming classes on site at Art Est until after 29 June. So we are changing our mode of delivery and will now be offering Term classes as Virtual Classes. We will keep in touch and let you know how these changes affect our schedule.We know how important attending art classes is to your health and wellbeing, but the responsible thing to do now is to limit non-essential interaction.

Term 1 Credits

Some tutors held virtual classes for weeks 7 and 8 to enable students to finish projects. If you’d really like a credit to apply against your future enrolment that’s fine, but instead I proposed we do something to support our tutors during this unprecedented time.

Art Tutors only get paid when they teach, so when there is no teaching there is often no income. Many of our tutors also teach at other places which are in the same situation as us. Galleries are closing, and exhibitions deferred. The ‘struggling artist’ will be more real for some than ever before.

Instead of a credit on remaining Term 1 classes, students have been invited to gift the value of their class credits as a special payment that I will make to your tutor to help them through this difficult time. This is in addition to (not instead of) their tutoring fees for the remaining classes they were scheduled to teach this term. It won’t cost students anything. But they will feel good about it too.

Term students have been emailed regarding this. If you can and would like to do this, please send me an email and nominate your tutor and class. Unfortunately as we’re not a charity/NFP it’s not tax deductible, just a really nice thing to do.

Your support has been overwhelming and we are all very grateful.

As news about the Coronavirus continues to develop, the health, safety and well-being of everyone at Art Est Art School is a priority. We are actively monitoring the COVID-19 situation and following the Australian Government updates to help mitigate the risk of this virus being spread to our community.

We can’t predict how this pandemic will play out, and everyone here at Art Est. is grateful for your support and understanding. We hope to make up extra classes and do some fun events here when we all come back up for air at the end of all of this.

Stay safe. Be kind to everyone. Wash your hands. Do a drawing every day. Appreciate the little things in life, and each other. Hug your pets.

As Picasso said, “Art washes away from the soul the dust of every day life” – if only it could wash away this dreadful coronavirus.

Jennifer McNamara
Director
Art Est. Art School