Here's a huge thank you to the Walter and Elise Haas Fund and Frances Phillips for believing in TAO, our mission, our leadership, our community of teaching artists and our founding member organizations. The Haas Fund has renewed our $10,000 grant for a second year, a tremendous vote of confidence providing much needed working capital for our services and programs. We look forward to demonstrating that their belief in us is well-deserved. Thank you!
Check out this feature article from Theatre Bay Area magazine in April. Titled "Subversives Unite: The Evolving Teaching Artist Field," and written by Sabrina Klein, it talks about TAO and the Bay Area scene.
This article also marks the beginning of an every-other-month column by, about and for Teaching Artists, (see June's column below or click here to read it at www.theatrebayarea.org.) If you've got ideas for August or later issues, or would like to contribute to another column later on, let us know at tao@teachingartistsorganized.org.
TEACHING ARTISTS: WHAT TO DO ON YOUR SUMMER VACATION BY SABRINA KLEIN
"What summer vacation?" That's the first thing I heard when I polled colleagues about recommendations for teaching artists to prepare for fall. As Cal Shakes director of artistic learning Trish Tillman points out, lots of us are freelancers, and we "get no paid time off from anything, so time off only equals no money, which means it's no good." Besides, summer is full of opportunities to work harder (or at least more intensively) than usual, because of hundreds of Bay Area camps and classes hire artists as lead teachers or guest artists.
Jessica Mele of SF Performing Arts Workshop notes that summer gigs are often more flexible than school-year work. "Summer sites are not restricted by the curricular needs of the school year, so artists often have more opportunity to collaborate with other teaching artists across disciplines." Mele offers as an example that "this summer [PAW] will pilot a combined creative movement and visual arts residency at a couple of pre-k sites." Pre-kindergarten and early childhood development are relatively new fields for teaching artists, so creativity and collaboration are open to fresh approaches.
Whatever your goals, make a plan and implement it for your summer growth. Things to think about include:
Professional Development Improve your résumé and network in the field. Make your own professional development pathway.
Nurture your artistry: do a show, take a class in your art form, or experience a new discipline to shake up your creativity.
Take a summer or online course in brain development or childhood learning.
Combine a family visit with a workshop with leaders in the field. Among many options: Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education offers workshops in New York, Chicago, Kalamazoo, MI, Los Angeles, North Carolina and Maine. The National Dance Institute offers two-week workshops in New York; California Institute for Dance Learning runs a summer institute right here. The Kennedy Center offers a three-day arts integration workshop in mid-July at the Wells Fargo Center in Santa Rosa.
If you can't go anywhere this summer, plan for next summer now. If you can't pay for tuition or travel expenses, ask the host institute about scholarships or apply for a Creative Capacity grant through the Center for Cultural Innovation.
Rica Anderson, Cal Performances education programs administrator, adds, "Summer's a great time to observe master teaching artists in camps and classes." She offers AileyCamp as an example. "We have an open-house day where you can check out what's happening in dance classes, and I'm sure other camps do too." If there's no public open house, ask if you can intern or observe. Most experienced teaching artists welcome observers.
Earn Some Money
"Some of us take on more in the summer to make ends meet and keep our hand in," says Tillman. Because commitments can be intensive--virtually full time for several weeks--you can try things you might not be able to do with a group of students you meet less regularly with. Look for these as well as short-term, guest artist opportunities on Teaching Artists Organized (teachingartistsorganized.org); San Francisco's Inside/Out directory (sfartscommission.org/insideout/); in Santa Clara, artsopolis.com; and in Alameda County, artiseducation.org. And of course, Craigslist.
Or, volunteer instead. Says Anderson, "Volunteering to be a guest instructor for a camp or summer program--even to teach one master class--is a great idea. A teacher from Shawl-Anderson volunteered to teach a class on Horton technique to our AileyCampers last year, and we all thought she was great. She got to know the staff and the program, and it definitely put her at the top of the list when we look for full-time instructors."
Read, Research, Reflect...and Write
Jill Randall of Shawl-Anderson Dance Center in Berkeley advises her teaching artists to "sit outside, enjoy the sun and catch up on reading in our field." She recommends the Teaching Artist Journal orJournal of Dance Education, or books like Framing Education as Art: The Octopus Has a Good Day. "To extend the impact of your reading, keep a journal or start a conversation with a colleague to ask: How does what you read inform your own work? How can you share some of these readings with faculty and parents at schools to further discuss arts programs?" Randall also challenges herself to stay on top of thinking in the field by writing some of it herself, another way to extend reflection, demonstrate professionalism, and build your résumé.
Get or Stay on Top of Your Professional Stuff
Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission's Erika Kraft encourages teaching artists to "get their promotional materials, artist samples and résumés in shape to take advantage of fall opportunities." She hones in on details that mark experienced practitioners. "This is the time to gather quotes and anecdotes from your student or teacher evaluations, put together some fresh video clips or stills of your teaching or artwork, and ask for letters of reference."
She also advises looking for community, school or arts festivals to promote yourself by having or sharing a booth. "By sharing space, you can make attractive, interesting displays of different art forms and show video loops of TAs in action to make community connections that produce gigs." Kraft adds that you should have business cards or arts-oriented takeaways with your contact information.
Finally. . .
Don't forget that vacations, at home or away, are critical to creating a life with some balance, reflection and rejuvenation. As artists, we need time to be creative, too. And as human beings, we need to remember we are also parents and partners and sentient beings living in a world full of people, ideas, mystery and beauty. Summer is not the only time we should nurture our whole selves, but it is at least one time when we should make an effort to ensure we do.
Published in Theatre Bay Area magazine, June/July 2010 issue. See more articles on theatre, dance and performance at www.theatrebayarea.org.
Introducing: Teaching Artist Support Collaborative (TASC)
TASC's over-arching goal is to establish Teaching Artists as equally valued peers with our partners in education, community and social services. We aim to professionalize and advocate for the field including apppropriate pay and benefits for teaching artists, quality professional development, mentoring and clear pathways for entering the profession. Our tools are shared information and resources, communications and networking. Supporting these efforts is a vision for the unique role of the teaching artist and the critical importance of an arts rich, arts-integrated education for all children.
TAO remains a regional Bay Area organization, notwithstanding its role in helping shape the statewide collaborative. We will keep you informed of TASC's evolution. As soon as the strategic plan is finalized, we will post it here; and as soon as TASC has its own communications hub, we will share the information with you.
TASC Steering Committee Members include:
Glenna Avila, Cal Arts Community Arts Partnership Susan Cambigue-Tracey, Music Center of the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County Lorraine Cleary-Dale, The Armory
Wayne Cook, California Arts Council Mary Kelly, Young Audiences Northern California Jan Kirsch, Inner City Arts Sabrina Klein, facilitator, Teaching Artists Organized Erika Kraft, Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission Betty Lee, Cal Arts Community Arts Partnership Judy Nemzoff, San Francisco Arts Commission Jennifer Oliver, Young Audiences San Diego Jill Randall, Teaching Artists Organized Jeannette Richardson, Kern County Arts Commission Sandy Seufert, Music Center, Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County Belinda Taylor, Teaching Artists Organized Melinda Williams, Music Center Elisha Wilson-Beach, LA County Arts Commission
News of interest: TAO has joined a coop work space. We are part of the HUB in downtown Berkeley, a cooperative work and meeting space where we can set up, meet up, plug in and plan on an as-needed basis. Write to us at
TAO needs you! We're in start-up mode and depend upon volunteers (lots of them!), seed grants, and donations--and we could use your support. We do not charge anyone to become a TAO associate and charge nominal fees for services. If you can support our early development, please click here and make a donation through our fiscal sponsor, Community Initiatives or go to http://cifunds.org/teaching-artists.html, Thanks in advance for your support.
See interview with NY State Association of Teaching Artists director Dale Davis here.
We are looking forward to hearing from you. You can contact us at our e-mail address: tao@teachingartistsorganized.org or call us at 510.493.7533.
