Internet Startup Offers Virtual Art Workshops

Vicki Ross never planned to be an artist, or to start a dot.com business.

Her background was in graphic design and marketing, but life for Ross and her husband, Randy Ross, turned upside down when their 14-year-old daughter died in a house fire on Christmas morning of 2001.

As she struggled to work through her grief, her therapist recommended she take an art class. Over the next few years, she “dabbled” in art and eventually she and Randy, also an artist, started taking vacations to Europe to study art.

“I started getting more and more requests from people around here for me to teach, but that’s not what I wanted to do,” Ross said.

But thinking of all the great teachers she’d met, Ross decided “maybe my challenge is to create a place where those tutors can reach students who want to learn.”

The result was MyArtTutor.com.

Ross found a software company called Voice Thread that was created for online education, and adapted the platform for use in ecommerce. The software, which exists in the “cloud,” lets students ask questions and post their work for feedback.

“The classes morph,” Ross said. “You can go to your inbox once a week and there’s something new. It’s not static like a DVD.”

The Rosses started laying the groundwork for the company in February 2010, and went live with the website early this year. Five workshops feature topics such as still life, landscapes and sepia portraits.

Company CEO Ron Klein said the tutors are paid a “very high” percentage of the tuition received for their classes, which give them unprecedented access to students worldwide.

Klein said he doesn’t have sales figures yet because they are still developing the product line and marketing method.

“It has great potential, though,” he said. “There’s a real need in the marketplace for the kind of classes offered. The interactive aspect is what sets it apart.”