TAG Quarterly Issue 01 by Teaching Artists Guild

ARTS IN

CORRECTIONS Arts In Corrections has been a hot topic recently. We’re here to give you the skinny on what’s been happening in there.

A CAREER IN TEACHING ARTISTRY Teaching Artist and Entrepreneur Lynn Johnson talks about the business of Teaching Artistry.

NILAJA SUN TALKS ABOUT SUCCESS AS A TEACHING ARTIST

JOBS AND EVENTS Upcoming conferences, Teaching Artist Trainings, professional development opportunities, and your next job - it’s all inside!

ISSUE 01 #1

The Inaugural Issue: Welcome to the Field June 2015

Teaching Artists Guild Newsletter: Issue 01

Executive Director: Jean Johnstone Membership Director: Kenny Allen Teaching Artist Hangouts Producer: Lynn Johnson Membership Operations Manager: Beth Walker-Graham Social Media Intern: Christina Ball

National Advisory Board: Glenna Avila (Los Angeles, CA) Eric Booth (Hudson River Valley, NY) Lindsey Buller Maliekel (New York, NY) Lara Davis (Seattle, WA) Kai Fierle-Hedrick (New York, NY) Jon Hinojosa (San Antonio, TX) Lynn Johnson (San Francisco Bay Area, CA) Nas Khan (Toronto, Canada) Tina LaPadula (Seattle, WA) Miko Lee (San Francisco Bay Area, CA) Jessica Mele (San Francisco Bay Area, CA) Ami Molinelli (San Francisco Bay Area, CA) Betsy Mullins (Miami, FL) Louise Music (San Francisco Bay Area, CA) Nick Rabkin (Chicago, IL) Amy Rasmussen (Chicago, IL) Nicole Ripley (Chicago, IL) Sandy Seufert (Los Angeles, CA) Yael Silk, Ed.M. (Pittsburgh, PA) Jean E. Taylor (New York, NY)

THANKS Teaching Artists Guild would not be possible without funding from these generous organizations:

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Teaching Artists Guild is also made possible through the generous support of our members.

Teaching Artists Guild Newsletter: Issue 01

WELCOME TO THE FIELD

Hello Teaching Artists! Hello people who love them!

Welcome to Teaching Artists Guild’s (first!) National Newsletter. We at TAG are super happy to bring you what will be a quarterly communication about what is up all over the US in the world of artists who teach and work in the community. Did you know there’s a National Teaching Artist Collective? Oh yeah. The members are all working on amazing projects for the field, all over the US. Together we are building tools to make life as a Teaching Artist sustainable, impactful, and awesomer. This newsletter is a piece of that effort. Is it useful, informative, and occasionally funny? Let us know. I hope it is good looking, too. We want you to read us. We really want you to live your powerful life, the one where art, education, and community work intersect and inform each other; where you are well-remunerated and supported. We will do our very best to help make that happen. So! What’s in here? We tackled Arts in Corrections, and we hope to hear back from you on efforts you may be involved in. We’ll also look at a video interview full of amazing advice, good cheer, and insight from Emmy-award winning playwright, professional actor, and teaching artist Nilaja Sun. There will be business advice, events. Recipes (for success AND for seasonally

appropriate cocktails?!)! But mostly, we hope, a burgeoning sense of community. But let’s be clear: TAG is not sexy. Shocking! I know. What are we? Aside from building tools for the field, connecting you to the many excellent resources, organizations, and efforts afoot, and together building a movement (uhm, amazing), some of the most useful offerings available for artists who teach are completely and decidedly unglamourous. Like... discounted dental work (you know you need it) and insurance for Bill for the Cat (he really needed it). Check out the details in our Membership Updates section. Our unsexy but exciting selves, and the National Collective and our National Advisory Committee, will be with you every few months, building out this quarterly briefing. Please let us know what you’d like to see and know about. Enjoy, and welcome to the world of (supported, valued, engaged, amazing) teaching artistry. Cheers.

Jean Johnstone Teaching Artist Theater Person Executive Director, Teaching Artists Guild

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Teaching Artists Guild Newsletter: Issue 01

CONTENTS ARTS IN CORRECTIONS

LIVE INTERVIEW: NILAJA SUN

08 14

DEVELOPMENTS FROM THE FIELD

THE BUSINESS OF BEING A TEACHING ARTIST

JOBS!

WANT TO SUGGEST CONTENT? We would love to hear from you! The TAG Newsletter is a Quarterly publication for professionals in the field of Teaching Artistry. If you have an idea for content that you want featured in the next issue, please contact Teaching Artists Guildâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Membership Director at kenny@teachingartistsguild.org

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Teaching Artists Guild Newsletter: Issue 01

Ut poreped eosto cus dolorit que voluptatibus repero omnisquia atium, utae quos magnis magnien istorum et et ullamus. 1. Emporem poribus eos sume vellecearum qui re nobis earciam nos reria essum: faceprestrum ametur, ommos ut aut am, ipsam laute pere pro ma que velenias exerfero. 2. Estium net amenimus pos sed quiam quunt ut litia voluptatem: Ita debisquis et, quiant, ee volorrum et quamet in conetum qossed magnatur repe ellenim odignis. 3. Elit reicips anduscium haris et hitas adis magnatur ruatiis exercim corum: est a volorumendis velendam inctiam etur alit porem voluptatur, secto nimatem. 4. Quisquundame prae nam, nos se verspel ma perepel est debisse: ctibus et, comnisit ut offictam quiae cus exeribus illaborpores as voluptium quos et adisque. 5. Estium net amenimus pos sed quiam quunt ut litia voluptatem: Ita debisquis et, quiant, ee volorrum et quamet in conetum qossedet quamet in conetum qosset quamet in conetum qoss magnatur repe ellenim odignis.

Tatureri oressendunt: reribus elit laborporitat unt laut omnistendant quatesed ut laborerovid es inctusam a verspienis eturem qui ducimenis dictio te veriati ostrunt ulpa vendae ra quostio runtotat il egnati cus.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Teaching Artists Guild Newsletter: Issue 01

Summer is finally upon us! A busy time, to be sure. But also a time of change, as many of us switch from teaching in classroom residencies to teaching summer programs. Perhaps it is also a time for us to revisit some of the professional development opportunities and Teaching Artist training programs available. Summer conference, anyone?

Some events we would like to highlight include the Teacher Artist Training in Washington State and the Integrated Learning Summer Institute in California. The Washington State Teaching Artist Training is an eight-month professional development program taught by master teaching artists across all disciplines. Applications are open now, and the program runs from September 2015 through April 2016. The Integrated Learning Summer Institute is three days of dynamic speakers, workshops and leading edge practices that will help you to walk away with the tools you need to navigate the new era of public education in an environment that will fuel your creativity and reinvigorate your teaching practice. More information can be found on the next page.

Want us to feature your event? If you want your event included in the next issue of the TAG Newsletter, send the event details to membership@ teachingartistsguild.org before our content deadline of July 15, 2015.

Lincoln Center

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Teaching Artists Guild Newsletter: Issue 01

part of basic education in K-12 schools. Participants benefit from ongoing learning over eight months, individualized coaching from master teaching artists, connections to state and national organizations and peer learning and reflection. The TAT Lab cohort will include up to 32 teaching artists, working in all artistic disciplines and all regions of Washington State. Runs September 2015 April 2016. More info: http://www.sct.org/For-Educators/TAT-Lab/ Americans for the Arts Conference Chicago, Illinois - June 12 -14, 2015 Don’t miss your chance to attend the arts field’s number one professional development conference! Featuring more than 40 breakouts, three keynotes, three preconferences, two Workshop Intensives, a dozen ARTventure Tours, and an opening reception at the Museum of Contemporary Art. http://www.americansforthearts.org/ Photo Credit: Performing Arts Workshop

Inventing Our Future: Integrated Learning Summer Institute August 12-14, 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Chabot Space & Science Center The Integrated Learning Summer Institute is three days of dynamic speakers, workshops and leading edge practices that will help you to walk away with the tools you need to navigate the new era of public education in an environment that will fuel your creativity and reinvigorate your teaching practice. REGISTER HERE: http://ilsi.squarespace. com/ Lincoln Center Summer Forum July 6-24 Expanding on Lincoln Center’s unparalleled dedication to professional development for educators and artists, Lincoln Center Education is offering a fully-immersive summer experience that caters to the needs and interests of our local, national, and international audiences. During three weeks in July 2015, in addition to attending world-class performances and exclusive presentations

by renowned speakers, participants are able to tailor the Forum to their schedule and desires with 1-day, 2-day, 3-day and 5-day labs—ranging in topics from teaching artistry to arts and the Common Core, to LCE’s pedagogy for engaging students in problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. The Washington State Teaching Artist Training (TAT) Lab is an eight-month professional development program with a focus on supporting arts education as

MORE EVENTS We’ve listed all of the events we could fit here, but there are many more that get posted on our website each week, If you are looking for an event in your area, be sure to check out our calendar!.

Arts Education Partners Conference Virginia - September 1 - 2, 2015 The AEP 2015 National Forum: The Arts Leading the Way to Student Success is September 1 – 2 in Arlington, VA. Register now! http://www. aep-arts.org/2015-forum-registration/#id=101&cid=720&wid=301 Creative Youth Development Summit Seattle, WA - June 5, 2015 Creative youth development is an intentional process that combines creativity with development of life skills to support young people in participating successfully in adolescence and adult life. Denise Montgomery, a national expert on creative youth development, will outline the potential for community and after-school programs to reach their goals through infusion of creative youth development principles. This summit is for people involved in youth development, after-school and arts programs. More information here: shop.schoolsoutwashington.org/products/something-to-say-creative-youth-development-summit-seattle-june-5

FULL EVENT CALENDAR

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Teaching Artists Guild Newsletter: Issue 01

ARTS IN

CORRECTIONS IS HOT. WHATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S GOING ON IN THERE?

by Jean Johnstone

We all know there are hot topics that sway in the breeze of the funding organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pleasure. This is not to suggest these areas of focus are not valid, even extremely so, but indeed it is possible to notice the tides of interest shifting. Recently there has been more attention, and funding, given to efforts of Arts in Corrections, including Juvenile Justice. We rounded up a few noteworthy programs, and an upcoming national conference on the topic, to highlight the trend and the vital understandings and shifts in public opinion and policy that are beginning to take root to help serve this strange and complicated art-making and educating in oppressive places. We discovered something that had been there all along.

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Teaching Artists Guild Newsletter: Issue 01

San Francisco

I’LL BEGIN IN

CALIFORNIA

The California Arts Council meets in a beautiful, lit-by-sun-through-fog space at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. I am nervous. I’ve never spoken before them before, and I’m not sure whether I’m going to be asked questions I cannot answer. My coffee, under my chair, has long gone cold. I am presenting for a few short moments on a statewide effort called Creativity at the Core, which along with Turnaround Arts, were two headlining projects in statewide arts education, meant to make a big impact and really pack a lot of arts education “bang for the buck”. Together with our partner, the Alameda County Office of Education, we created a model preparing Teaching Artists for working within juvenile hall, and place them in week-long residencies, during intersessions when regular classes are not being held.

I speak. I talk about what we brought to the training, the way we vetted our teaching artists, making sure that there was a person on the panel that had been through juvenile hall or corrections themselves; about the social emotional learning, the research we’d done into other programs, about using sponges instead of paint brushes. We talked about Common Core and arts integration, but mostly about the power of the teaching artists and their

HOW DO YOU GET TO CARNEGIE HALL? Go to Jail. Carnegie Hall’s Musical Connections program, active since 2009, serves 1200 prisoners and guards each year at Sing Sing CorrectioNAL FACILITY

profound effect on the students and personnel in such a situation. Suddenly, I am the most popular person in the room. Everyone wants to tell their own story of a similar program. The Sheriffs Association is apparently pushing for further funding. This project isn’t even what my organization does, typically, but we were excited to take it on, and saw a real potential to build pathways and models of involvement for teaching artists; now my identity is sealed as the “juvenile justice arts” org. I drink my cold coffee. There are definitely worse things. The Prison Arts Coalition has identified 42 U.S. States with prison arts projects or programs; the list is topped with 27 different programs in California alone, and a whopping 31 in the State of New York (other States boast 3-7 programs on average). Just perusing, I think I can add a couple to that list in California, certainly, so consider these conservative numbers. Why, and from whence did they come? In California, as early as 1978, with the establishment of the California Arts Council, there was state funding for arts programs in prisons, “Arts In Corrections”,

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Teaching Artists Guild Newsletter: Issue 01

started by the incredible people at the William James Association. That went away in 2003 with the fiscal crisis, when the Arts Council lost 94% of its budget (and despite significant studies detailing the qualitative and quantitative benefits of the programs). Arts in Corrections was reinstated in 2014, with the first influx of budget increases (albeit small) to the Arts Council. California has had the lights turned back on. But in a sense, they were never off. During this state funding gap, many programs were created and funded by private foundations, theater companies, or universities, often spearheaded by a teaching artist who saw a need.

beginning, to turn nationally around the purpose of incarceration, and a deeper public knowledge and discourse is emerging on its inefficacies and wastes. The influx of interest and focus via the recent social justice and equity movements in the United States and the research and attention around the School to Prison Pipeline seem to have helped garner attention and energy to arts and

Many other efforts are afoot. The tides are beginning, just

education in prison. But perhaps another major reason for the recent shifts is the failing of the system itself. With prolific budget crisis in cities and states, and an average cost per inmate per year of $21,000 for state prison and $33,000 for federal, we are grappling with not just a philosophical issue of punitive versus rehabilitative sentencing. The US prison population has more than tripled since 1980 with over 2.4 million Americans serving time right now. Not only are their more prisoners, but in many cases they are staying longer; that increase has to do with mandatory minimum sentencing laws for drug-related crimes passed in various states. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder addressed this head on in

Some mighty fine programs from all over the United States of America: ACTOR’s GANG California group The Actors’ Gang, under the leadership of Artistic Director

CREATIVE JUSTICE Creative Justice is 4Culture’s new artsbased alternative to incarceration for

CARNEGIE HAll Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute Musical Connections program has

Tim Robbins, launched The Actors’

young people in King County, Washing-

offered composition workshops and

Gang Prison Project in 2006. For the

ton. Through collaboration with mentor

concerts at Sing Sing Correctional

past eight years, experts from The

artists, participants consider the root

Facility for the past 5 years. Through

Actors’ Gang have provided private-

causes of incarceration (as they inter-

songwriting, choral, and composition

ly-funded theater arts programming in

sect with racism, classism and other

projects, juveniles and adults in the

CDCR facilities. The current program-

oppressions) and focus on the positive

justice system build a positive sense

role youth voice can have in building

of self and strengthen bonds to family

will now expand to new institutions,

a more just and equitable society.

and community. A group of more than

providing theater arts and technical

Creative Justice was envisioned to ad-

30 inmate participants—many with little

theater programming to inmates. Prison

vance the goal of continuing to reduce

or no previous musical training—have

Project Director Sabra Williams.

the use of incarceration while simulta-

since developed as musicians and

ming of the Actor’s Gang Prison Project

neously eliminating racial disparities.

composers, moving from singing simple

The pilot year of programming is engag-

vocal improvisations to learning instru-

ing 48 youth and families involved with

ments and developing their knowledge

King County Juvenile Court (Seattle, WA). Aaron Counts, Lead Engagement Artist & Program Coordinator.

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of music theory. Manuel Bagorro, Project Manager.

Teaching Artists Guild Newsletter: Issue 01

FEATURED ARTS IN CORRECTIONS PROGRAMS 2013, announcing that low-level, nonviolent drug offenders should no longer be charged with offences which impose severe mandatory sentences. It should be noted that this “Smart on Crime” program is not a legislative initiative but an effort “limited to the DOJ’s policy parameters.”

The decrease in disciplinary actions reduced disciplinary administration time by 4,553 hours with a concomitant cost savings of $77,406

Savings of $228,522 in measurable social benefits (including $105,406 in taxpayer benefits and $123,116 in individual benefits) compared with a cost to the California Department of Corrections of $162,790 There is also, dare I say it, simply common sense (as if these sorts of studies just aren’t enough). Case in point: Pell grants for inmates were outlawed in 1994, undermining a notable federal effort aimed at offering higher education to prisoners, but in New York last year, Governor Cuomo proposed spending $1 million on college classes in prisons. He backed down under pressure from opponents, including Republican challenger Rob Astorino, who said he was saving to send his own son to college and “maybe we should sit him down and explain how to rob a bank.” Snark-worthy comment aside, It’s an emotional argument for a family saving up for their children to go to college. Why would we give nice things, like education, and

arts programs, to people who have done bad things? There are wonderful (and substantiated, qualitative) reasons to provide arts and education to those incarcerated, including social benefits such as saving the state and federal governments millions and millions of dollars, and preparing inmates to successfully transition to the workforce and have healthy relationships with their children and families. There is also the individual self-interest of the “average joe”, which I think is most in-line with the sort of reasoning which Astorino used against Cuomo. Here is Composer and Teaching Artist Daniel Levy (from Carnegie Hall’s Musical Connections program at Sing Sing Correctional Facility) in a video about their music program at Sing Sing. He references prison Superintendent Philip Heath as saying, “ ‘When these men get out of prison, they are going to be your neighbors. Who do you want as your neighbor? Someone who has been through a process where they’re learning to think and work and engage with life, or somebody that’s just been left in a cell

MARIN SHAKESPEARE

MUSIC AMBIA

PRISON PERFORMING ARTS

Since 2003, Marin Shakespeare Company has offered weekly Shakespeare classes at San Quentin Prison (California,) culminating in an annual performance of a Shakespeare play. The men also write and perform autobiographical theatre pieces inspired by their work with Shakespeare. In 2014, the California Arts Council chose Marin Shakespeare Company as one of seven recipients of its inaugural Arts in Corrections grant program. Funding now supports Shakespeare at San Quentin, as well as a program for Shakespeare at Solano Prison. Videos of most of the performances can be found on Youtube. Lesley Currier, Managing Director.

MusicAmbia is a New York based initia-

Prison Performing Arts (Missouri, serv-

tive establishing a network of creative

ing adults and youth) is a 22-year-old

music conservatories within the prisons

multi-discipline, literacy and perform-

and jails of the United States. Musi-

ing arts program that serves incar-

cambia draws much of its inspiration

cerated adults and children. Prison

from the values and immense success-

Performing Arts involves incarcerated

es of Venezuela’s Fundación Musical

youth and adults in the performing

Simón Bolívar, or El Sistema. El Sistema

arts to inspire intellectual curiosity and

promotes, throughout the world, music

personal development. They “nurture

ensembles (specifically the symphony

the discipline, teamwork and commu-

orchestra) as a perfect analog for a

nication skills necessary for successful

functional society. Nathan Schram,

re-entry into society. We encourage

Director.

members of the larger community

The knowledge that these arts and education programs are successful comes in many forms, quantitative and qualitative. Let me throw some numbers at you, grabbed from some of the many studies on the topic of arts in prisons: 70% of men who participated for the entire program showed “significant positive change in their relationship with peers and authority figures over a three month period”

to connect personally with program participants, and we offer continuing programs for participants who have been released.” Christopher Limber, Interim Artistic Director

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Teaching Artists Guild Newsletter: Issue 01

UPCOMING CONFERENCE California Lawyers for the Arts and the William James Association in collaboration with the University of San Francisco present a national conference:

Arts in Corrections: Opportunities for Justice and Rehabilitation June 16 to 19, 2015 University of San Francisco 2345 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco

This four-day conference will provide expert practitioners in the field, opportunities to showcase best practices, learn about current research models and results, and gain insights into new developments and challenges. The intended audience includes experienced artists as well as those who are new to arts in corrections, in addition to arts administrators, educators, and allied professionals from the mental health and criminal justice sectors, including psychologists, sociologists, lawyers, law enforcement officers, and elected officials.

For more information, contact: aic@calawyersforthearts.org To register, go to www.calawyersforthearts.org

SHAKESPEARE BEHIND BARS

THE ARTISTIC ENSEMBLE

Shakespeare Behind Bars, (Kentucky

The Artistic Ensemble at San Quentin

and Michigan) The mission of Shake-

(California) established July of 2013, as

speare Behind Bars is to offer theatrical

part of the Insight Prison Project, con-

encounters with personal and social

sists of a group of 20 men serving life

issues to incarcerated and post-incar-

sentences and four outside facilitators.

cerated adults and juveniles, allowing

Through movement, poetry, original

them to develop life skills that will

writing, song and music, The Artis-

ensure their successful reintegration

tic Ensemble members explore their

into society. SBB programming serves

personal journeys and connections to

incarcerated adults and youth using

systemic forces of power, violence, and

exclusively the works of William Shake-

migration. The Artistic Ensemble first

speare. SBB is the subject of Philomath

original evening length piece Waterline,

Films award-winning documentary

was performed in November 2014.

Shakespeare Behind Bars, 2005. Curt

The group is currently working on a

L. Tofteland, Founder & Producing

new piece which will be shown in July

Director.

2015.

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for 15 or 20 years?’ That’s a pretty compelling argument right there.” I’ll file that one under common sense. Then again, I’d say we need government funded higher ed and arts education for everyone. We can start with the arts in schools and communities and go from there. What do you say? Included in this article are just a few of the remarkable programs from around the US featuring teaching artists in both adult and juvenile detention facilities. Some old, some new, plus a noteworthy conference you can attend this June.

Go,

teaching artists,

go!

WRITER’S THEATRE For five years, Writers Theatre has concentrated some of its education programming in three area juvenile detention centers: IYC Chicago, IYC Warrenville, and Cook County’s Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. One of Writers’ pillar programs is the touring production The MLK Project: The Fight for Civil Rights written by Yolanda Androzzo. At two of the centers, Writers Theatre extended the engagement into months-long teaching artist “Write On!” residency programs in which students participated in writing and performance workshops. The students practiced self-expression, entered a process of editing and revising poetry, and built an ensemble that supported the sharing process and created group blocking for performance.

Teaching Artists Guild Newsletter: Issue 01

Further resources for you, the Teaching Artist, interested in this work : NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS - PROGRAM LIST

In 2014, the National Endowment for the Arts put out an annotated bibliography of US studies of prison arts programs, divided into two sections, focusing on incarcerated or adjudicated youth and adults. There are 48 entries from across the US. This is not an exhaustive list of programs, but rather of research papers about programs; it is extremely illuminating (and available here!)

PRISON ARTS COALITION - PROGRAM LIST

The Prison Arts Coalition has identified 42 U.S. States with arts programs in prisons. They are all listed here. This is an AMAZING resource. And if you are part of a program that isn’t on this list, get it on there!

SHAKESPEARE BEHIND BARS - PROGRAM LIST

Shakespeare Behind Bars, in addition to the programming they offer in KY and MI, compiled a list of current theater prison programs in place in the US as well as in Western Europe and Australia.

WILLIAM JAMES ASSOCIATION - FUNDING AND SUPPORT

The William James Association, which began the Prison Arts Project in 1977 as a pilot program at the California Medical Facility, a prison in Vacaville, CA. It is now a conduit and resource for funding and support to many other prison arts programs in California, including significant funding from the newly refreshed California Arts Council’s Arts in Corrections. These guys kept the torch lit, and are jointly bringing you the Arts in Corrections conference this month (June 2015.) Get there!

Article Citations: 1.) (Cleveland, W. (1992). Geese Theater: America’s National Prison Theater Company. in Cleveland, W. Art in Other Places: Artists at Work in America’s Community and Social Institutions. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. p. 51-73.) 2.) (Brewster, L. (1983). An Evaluation of the Arts-in-Corrections Program of the California Department of Corrections. Santa Cruz, CA: William James Association.) 3.) (Brewster, L. (1983). An Evaluation of the Arts-in-Corrections Program of the California Department of Corrections. Santa Cruz, CA: William James Association.) Note: These studies from Dr. Brewster in 1983 have been followed up repeatedly over the years; his latest from Feb 2014 can be found here: CALIFORNIA PRISON ARTS EVALUATION 2014. Note: These studies from Dr. Brewster in 1983 have been followed up repeatedly over the years; his latest from Feb 2014 can be found here: CALIFORNIA PRISON ARTS EVALUATION 2014.

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DEVELOPMENTS FROM THE

Teaching Artists Guild Newsletter: Issue 01

FIELD

Developments from the Field: Each quarter, we will be highlighting major developments from the field of Teaching Artistry in this section. If we want to advance as a field, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got to move forward together, and this will help keep us all on the same page. Be sure to contact us with any updates you would like us to have included in our next issue!

TURNAROUND ARTS:

The Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Committee on the Arts and the Department of Education recently announced that Turnaround Arts will be expanding, joined by Paula Abdul, Macy Gray, and Cameron Diaz among others. More info here: http://news.yahoo.com/cameron-diaz-paula-abdul-join-arts-education-program-111012648.html

ARTS AND EDUCATION JUSTICE FESTIVAL:

On March 8 the first Bay Area Arts and Education Justice Festival took place, bringing activists, teachers, and artists together around shared concerns about economic precariousness for artist-educators and broader social justice issues for workers and activists throughout the community. More information here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1576977432546361/

TEACHING ARTIST Awards:

Americans for the Arts has announced the recipients of the 2015 Americans for the Arts Annual Leadership Awards, and this year, the awards are going to Teaching Artists! Congratulations to Eric Booth and Lara Davis on their awards. See more at: http://www.americansforthearts.org/news-room/americans-for-the-arts-news/americans-for-the-arts-announces-six-recipients-of-annual-leadership-awards#sthash.pfJKwSBa.dpuf

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ATA’s 17th ANNIVERSARY

On March 28th, 2015, there was a celebration of the Association of Teaching Artists’ Seventeenth Anniversary and a presentation of ATA’s Distinguished Service to The Field Award to Jane Remer - photos are available on the ATA Facebook page.

TAD

(Chicago, IL) The Teaching Artist Development (TAD) Studio is a comprehensive training program for teaching artists. The TAD Studio initiative addresses an essential need in Chicago for systematic professional development of artists teaching in Chicago Public Schools. The TAD Studio for 2015 will serve one cohort for mid-level teaching artists. Applications wereaccepted in the Fall with participants selected before Winter Break. The course will began in early February and ran weekly through the end of April. TAD Studio 2016 will begin accepting applications (date?) The program provides 40+ hours of hands-on training and research covering teaching artist practice in curriculum design, inquiry-based learning, documentation and archiving, student assessment, pedagogy, investigation of teaching sites, investigation of teaching and arts practices, action research, classroom management, and collaboration. For more information, visit: http://www.colum.edu/ccap/aboutccap/programs/teaching-artist/index. html

Seattle CYD Summit

RITAC

The recently developed Rhode Island Teaching Artists Center provides a physical and virtual place for Rhode Island-based teaching artists to access resources and idea sharing, serves as a bridge between teaching artists and those in need of teaching artists, and builds the field of the teaching artist profession. For more information, visit their Facebook page (website under development) https://www.facebook.com/riteachingartists?fref=ts

Carnegie Hall - Toolbox

Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute is known for its ambitious commitment to youth development programs. It has recently launched the excellent Music Educators Toolbox, distilling years of indepth teaching artist/teacher partnerships in a New York elementary/middle school in Harlem into useful resources that teaching artists may want to use and adapt. The new website includes short sample lesson plans and activities addressing Rhythm and Meter, Form and Design, Expressive Qualities, Pitch, and Performing. The site includes links to related formative assessments (tools and rubrics designed to further the progress and development of students through reflection and revision) and summative assessments (culminating tasks intended to evaluate student progress at the conclusion of a unit of study). Go to: carnegiehall.org/toolbox. Click on the “Sign Up” link on the right side to get regular updates.

Seattle, WA - June 5, 2015 Across the country, hundreds of creative youth development programs are setting high expectations for young people, encouraging positive risk taking, promoting leadership development, and offering real-world opportunities to contribute to social change. Creative youth development is an intentional process that combines creativity with development of life skills to support young people in participating successfully in adolescence and adult life. Denise Montgomery, a national expert on creative youth development, will outline the potential for community and after-school programs to reach their goals through infusion of creative youth development principles. This summit is for people involved in youth development, after-school and arts programs. For more information, click here.

International Teacher Artist Training LCE, the education arm of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, is currently planning their second International Teaching Artist Training program to take place during their annual Summer Forum in New York City this summer (July 6-22, 2015). Open to TAs across the nation and the globe, this year they are offering a two-week intermediate session and an 8-day advanced level session. Recent Americans for the Arts Awardee, Eric Booth, is facilitating the Advanced session. For more information, visit their website.

KEEP US IN THE LOOP! We will share the biggest updates from the field, every quarter, through this publication, but there are going to be many updates that happen in between issues that we know you’ll want covered in the meantime. If you’ve got an important update about the field of Teaching Artistry and you don’t want to wait for the next quarterly issue of our newsletter to come out - contact us on Social Media and we will be sure to share it for you!

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“BREATH.” “It is when you walk into their classroom that they can actually link-in to their soul... when was the first deep breath you were asked to take?”

“Teaching is just another extension of you being an artist.”

HANGOUT WITH NILAJA

TAG recently aired the 6th episode of our “Teaching Artists Hangout” series online. The “Teaching Artists Hangouts” are a series of videos produced and hosted by TAG to promote the visibility of Teaching Artists. We are currently working our way through a series of hangouts that are focused specifically on Teaching Artists by industry. As a special treat, after the episode focused on Theatre Teaching Artists, TAG National Advisory Committee member Lynn Johnson sat down for a one-on-one interview with Teaching Artist, Playwright, and Obie Award-winning actress Nilaja Sun.

You can watch the full episode here.

WATCH NOW

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Teaching Artists Guild Newsletter: Issue 01

HANGOUT HIGHLIGHTS 8:00 Nilaja talks about how her career in Teaching Artistry began. 36:00 The importance of inviting your students to see your work. 44:30 “Teaching Artists are in the business of helping people connect.” 51:30 How do Teaching Artists balance life and work? 57:45 Nilaja talks about whether Teaching Artists should pursue formal TA training.

“We are responsible for the energy we bring into the room”

NEXT EPISODE Be sure to check out the next episode of our Teaching Artists Hangout series for more great conversations about the field of Teaching Artistry. You can find the schedule on the TAG website. www.teachingartistsguild.org

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THE BUSINESS

Being A TEACHING ARTIST This column is a place where weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll share valuable (and hopefully entertaining) advice on the Business of Being a Teaching Artist. If you would like to write for this article, suggest content, or request content, please send an email to membership@teachingartistsguild.org

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THE BUSINESS OF BEING A TEACHING ARTIST by Kenny Allen and Lynn Johnson

Business is hard. Art is hard. Teaching art… very hard. Making a living from teaching art? You can probably guess where I’m going here. Alas, nothing good comes easy. And since you and I both know that this is what you were born to do, we better get to it.

The business of being a Teaching Artist is a very large subject. We could write a book on it and still not have the space to cover everything (well, we have actually, and you can download it for free here.) We could fill several books with tips and tricks, lessons learned and “aha!” moments. But by the time those books were published, much of the information contained within them would already be out of date. That’s why we’re starting this column in the TAG Quarterly. The business of being a Teaching Artist deserves fresh, new thinking at least once every quarter - and we want to make sure you have the best, most up-to-date thinking on the subject. That way each quarter you can have a small, tangible way to improve your business without feeling crushed by the business. After all, we all want to get back to doing our art, don’t we? In the next issue of the TAG Quarterly, we are going to be exploring the business of Teaching Artistry in-depth, but we wanted to kick this issue off with some straight forward, onlytakes-a-minute-to-apply advice on the business of Teaching Artistry. So, let’s dive in!

work and make the career of your dreams, you must connect to and communicate with your tribe. This happens, for the most part, online.

(Excerpted from Lynn Johnson’s e-book. Read the full book here.)

A Website or Blog

“A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea. For millions of years, human beings have been part of one tribe or another. A group needs only two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and a way to communicate.” -Seth Godin, Tribes

Excuse my bluntness but, in 2015, you have to be online in order to effectively communicate your message, build your career, attract clients, and be professionally relevant. Period. End of story.

If you are wondering how important it is to actually have a website, the answer is: it is VERY important.

It is no longer appropriate or relevant to be “not really a tech person.” If you want to prosper in your

But don’t worry. There are many tools out there to help the technology-challenged among us that won’t cost you too much of your precious time or money. Setting up a website or blog that will connect you to your tribe does not have to drive you crazy. It basically comes down to 3 steps: 1. Choosing and buying a domain name for the site. The domain name is the name of

Teaching Artists Guild Newsletter: Issue 01

your site i.e. “teachingartistsguild. org”. Yes, most of the major blog sites allow you to set up a site for free without the purchase of a domain name. However, when you do that, you don’t have a unique domain name. You will have something like “teachingartistsguild.wordpress. com.” This is fine for a personal blog – one that you only share with friends and family. But a professional website should have a professional domain name. If you can get your own name, do it (I have lynnjohnson. org…lynnjohnson.com was already taken). It may take you a little time to find just the right domain name that works for you but, it’s worth it. And, you can get it for about $15 a year. Affordable, yes?

2. Determining the web host for the site. The web host is that special place in cyberspace where your website will live (so that you don’t have to own and operate your own servers). Don’t worry about how it works, just sign up and let them worry about that. The top 3 hosting sites that I hear the most about are Bluehost, HostGator and FatCow. They are all about the same price (just a few bucks per month), so just pick one and go for it. 3. Designing the site. Again, you don’t have to know anything about computer programming to design a site that works for you. All you have to do is go with a service that does all of that back end work

for you and makes it easy for you to update your own site as often as you need to. I’m a big fan of Wordpress for this very purpose. And the 3 web host sites above make it easy for you to integrate Wordpress so that you can just start designing right away. ... Read more about the business of Teaching Artistry by grabbing your free copy of Lynn’s e-book, today!

FREE E-BOOK Make. Teach. Prosper: The 12 Essential Business Tools You Need to Kick Start the Teaching Artist Career of Your Dreams was written by Lynn Johnson.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

FREE EBOOK Lynn Johnson is the previous Membership Director of TAG and currently sits on the National Advisory Board. She is a Teaching Artist and Entrepreneur.

Kenny Allen is the current Membership Director at Teaching Artists Guild. He is an arts administrator and is thrilled to be joining the TAG team!

MORE FIELD DEVELOPMENTS! Who’s collectively pushing the field of teaching artistry to the next level? Here’s four more projects you should know about:

1. The Teaching Artist’s Asset Map

Teaching Artists Guild is building an interactive asset map of the field of teaching artistry. The purpose of this map is to articulate and deepen our collective understanding of the field as well as document and promote the valuable and often underrepresented good work being done by Teaching Artists and our advocates. Read the Full Description and Add Yourself to the Map by clicking here.

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2. The Teaching Artist Career Pathways Tool

The Teaching Artist Pathways Tool or (TAP Tool) is a graphic mapping tool in which teaching artists can chart their career – past, present, and future. It will serve as a mechanism to provide information for people to better learn how to enter the field of teaching artistry. Read the Full Description here.

3. The Teaching Artist Ecosystem Rubric

Teaching Artist Ecosystem is a project focused on the development of a rubric communities will be able to use to assess the overall health of their teaching artist ecosystem. In addition to an assessment tool, this rubric will help communities identify gaps in their support of teaching artists and outline goals for strategically increasing their support. Read the Full Description here.

4. Lincoln Center Education

Building on their highly lauded National Teaching Artists Training Program, Lincoln Center is developing a Teaching Artists Certification Process as well as an international Teaching Artist Global Exchange Program. Read the Full Description here.