Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1529095
THE ARTISAN WINTER 2025 • 13 CRAFT EDUCATION Go Alone Fast or Go Far Together B Y C L A I R E A L E X A N D R A D O Y L E | M A K E - U P C R A F T E D U C A T I O N P R E S I D E N T When people moved from typewriters to word processors, did we train them? Or did we tell them to "go learn on your own and figure it out"? My volunteer role with IATSE Local 706 as the Make-up Craft Education coordinator comes from a place of preserving the craft of the past, in the present, and for the future by creating demo-based education to our members. I enjoyed this quote from blogger Henrik Bromgen's piece titled, "Typewriters Understood Digital Education Long Before Us" (that) "We should not forget that as a new technology arrives, it is far from just a matter of continuing to do what we are already doing, only faster and cheaper. Instead, it's about achieving things we could not do before." My interest began with the Craft Meetings when an old high school friend, who worked in finance, reached out to his community of friends. His girlfriend had created a single product which he thought professional make-up artists would love; the lip balm Moroccan Magic. Growing frustrated with how (on the majority) Local 706 artists had been left out of PR invite lists, I felt this was a wonderful opportunity to start connecting our members back to great products, and brands that support us, directly. I enjoyed this opportunity to create community building engagement within our Local; and in result, ran for Make-up Craft President in 2019. I received a phone call notifying me of my loss and I took comfort in the lyrics to the song "The Future" on the Madonna album Madame X: "Not everyone is coming to the future, not everyone is learning from the past. Not everyone can come into the future, not everyone that's here is gonna last." In 2022, I was encouraged to run for Make-up Craft President again and I found myself turning back to that same Madonna album song with optimism in the lyrics; "You ain't woke. Come here woke and hear the broken. Come give hope, come give life. Only get one, so we gotta live it right. Come make peace, come with faith and inspiration. Come complete you. Advice, positive vibes, Open your mind. Open your eyes." Craft Education is a unique opportunity to build community within our Local and its members. Able to accommodate more artists in-person than some of our other education classes, Craft Meetings are events for our artists to engage, share information and showcase our crafts. We introduced hybrid Craft Meetings in 2022 by embracing technologies that fellow unions had already been using pre-pandemic. Along with my Make-up Craft Secretary Nicole Artmont, we continue to be observers of the current and future landscape in our industry by bringing brands and techniques that keep our attending members on trend. There have been learning curves and technical challenges, but we continue to push forward