Joliet couple's income is art and music - and they're surviving the pandemic

Even before shelter in place took effect, the cancellation of events was enough to send Caleb King of Joliet into a panic.

Art – in its varied mediums – supplies the family income for Caleb, his wife Heather and their two children, whom they homeschool.

But the family is transitioning fairly well, Caleb said, and they are used to transitioning. Caleb and Heather were members of the now inactive Christian band Daniel’s Window and so are accustomed to the income fluctuations of being full-time artists.

Heather operates Simply Music Studios, with one location at her Joliet home and another in a commercial building in New Lenox. Six teachers work for the studios, including Heather and Caleb.

In early March, the Kings stepped up infection controls in their studios: disinfecting all items before and after each use and requiring teachers and students to use hand sanitizer before touching anything. The studio even had a handwashing station, Caleb said.

But after a week of it, Heather, concerned for the safety of her family, students, teachers, and their families, decided to temporarily switch to an online model.

Heather said she made the transition in just a week, after taking a week off from teaching for spring break. That transition included notifying families via email of the change and how to access lessons and then ensuring staff was trained to use Zoom.

“It was a very easy structure to follow and I had families thanking me because the process was so easy,” Heather said.

Virtual student capacity is within 5 percent of its numbers before the COVID-19 pandemic, Heather said.

“We’ve even seen some new families come over these last couple of weeks,” Heather said.

Heather said classes at Simply Music Studios will be completely online this summer and may switch to a hybrid model this fall, depending on the pandemic situation. She said families have been “amazingly supportive” about the changes.

“I’m still very much cautious about infection control for the kids,” Heather said. “I want to be very cautious and not rush back.”

On the other hand Caleb, a freelance artist who was an official artist on a Topps Star Wars Masterwork card set, said the demise of conventions dried up a lot of his potential sales and left him with less motivation to create new work.

In an attempt to seek new audiences, drive traffic to his website and not be “convention-dependent,” Caleb began live sessions on Instagram each week, where he paints and interacts with viewers.

Heather said she also sings and creates musical content for her church, Crossroads Christian Church in Joliet on a volunteer basis. In April, she and Caleb created all the musical arrangements for one of the church’s livestream services, she said.

As a plus, the pandemic has enhanced Heather’s skill with technology and various video program. So now Heather has her students to record themselves playing at home, which Heather then uses to create a video, which she posts on YouTube.

“My students are getting way more exposure on social media than before this pandemic,” Heather said.

Fall registration opens in July. Visit simplymusicstudios.com.