about

The Artists Club is an Online Art School where the education and growth of its members is its paramount purpose. The Artists Club is a supportive learning community of creatives, all creating amazing artworks, helping each other grow and develop.

Below are two videos to introduce The Artists Club and to give a guided tour of how it looks once you have joined.

art school

The primary purpose of an art school is to develop artists and their work in the creative practice of The Arts. This is done though education, both formal in courses, classes and exercises, and informally through a learning community. It is a facilitated educational organisation.

the arts

We take a broad definition of The Arts that encompasses: the visual arts, the literary arts and the performing arts.

As a community we encourage and support all artists working in a huge range of creative mediums. We actively welcome all genres of the arts in The Artists Club.

a creative learning community

Our learning community is a group of artists with shared learning goals who collaborate and connect with one another. In a community of artists that are focused on support and learning, interactions are both practical and emotional. Artists share knowledge and resources, as well as support, with emphasis on open, cohesive communication.

We are a:

• body of people with shared goals, motivations and values
• place to share ideas, problems and questions
• space for discussion
• collaborative environment
• source of inspiration
• network of fellow artists from beginners through to experts 
• focus on education

Our community is based around interests and action based learning. Our greatest strength is our members and their knowledge. We actively teach our members to be growth facilitators to encourage, educate and support each other.

philosophical education underpinnings

Creatives blossom in a supportive community. Just like a meadow of beautiful spring flowers. Creatives need a nurtured environment that is full of nutrients, water and sunshine, to grow. The spring flowering takes much preparation of the soil and maintenance of a growth facilitated environment. Mother nature does this so beautifully, but in a garden we need people to create and maintain this environment. One of the magical things about a bunch of flowers is the joy it gives to those who take the time to stop, look, smell and feel their inherent beauty. There is much to celebrate.

Our learning community is just like that garden. It is not a wild meadow, but one that is carefully facilitated by educational expertise.

We adhere to a positivist approach that is gleaned from the best researched educational practices we can find. We only offer improvement feedback when it is sought.

It takes a community to grow the most beautiful garden you can imagine.

Communities are built on friendships that are started with conversations, active discussions, and the sharing of artworks.

In our garden, poisons and pests are carefully removed. In our garden we nurture and support each other.

In our garden we are rewarded with incredible inspiration from our community when we share our artworks. There is so much to celebrate throughout this growth cycle.

teaching and learning

The Artists Club, as an Art School, encourages and supports peer to peer teaching. We teach members how to be more effective when giving feedback. We will train and support facilitators to lead groups. Facilitator lead conversations, challenges and exercises are used to stimulate creativity and healthy interactions between members. Our courses are developed by experts and taught by teachers.

Peer to peer teaching is one of the foundations of The Artists Club. Taking time to help another member learn, clarifies your own understanding. We believe that teaching it is a key step to mastery.

“The person who learns the most in any classroom is the teacher. If you really want to learn a topic, then ‘teach’ it.” ― James Clear

“I suspect that whatever cannot be said clearly is probably not being thought clearly either.” ― Peter Singer

“If you really want to master something, teach it.” ― Yogi Bhajan

inspirational content

The Artists Club encourages you to share and discuss the work of inspiring artists. This may be through books, exhibitions, digital images, and films. The Artists Club encourages you to share resources, techniques and approaches.

The Artists Club is a place to post your art to engage in meaningful conversations with other artists, and to form specialist groups around genres, locations, existing clubs, techniques, and creative mediums.

the artists club is:

• inclusive
• positive
• supportive
• non-judgemental
• gender inclusive

we are not:

• a social media site
• full of likes
• here to tell you what your art should be
• a place for misinformation or rumours
• a place for bigotry

we don’t accept:

• bullying
• racisim
• ageism
• sexism
• put downs
• negativity
• body shaming
• discrimination of any kind
• trolls

foundations

It could be argued that The Artists Club has taken a lifetime to develop, with it’s underpinnings in facilitation, learning and teaching. It started to take clearer shape over the past ten years with Len’s efforts to create online learning communities for his students at Len’s School.

Clair Reynolds and Len Metcalf have been working on The Artists Club since 2019, with our successful online community with Len’s Club. During that time we learnt from the members and have re-imagined the community and started again.

Len’s School

The Artist’s Club is a project of Len’s School. Len’s School is a photography and art school run out of Sydney Australia. It has been operating since 2005. It runs workshops and tours. For more information please click on the logo bellow.

Len Metcalf

Len Metcalf has a lifelong background in education, starting teaching before his teen years. He has a degree in Art (City Art Institute formerly Alexander Mackie, now School of Art & Design, University of NSW), a graduate diploma in Art Education (Sydney University), and a Masters in Adult Education (University of Technology, Sydney). Len has a diplomas in distance and elearning from Western Sydney Institute, TAFENSW.

Throughout his professional career he has been recognised as a leader in education. His expertise led him to becoming a leader in the field of teacher education and the training of facilitators.