The Teaching Artist O NL INE C ERT I F IC ATE P ROG RAM
Bringing your art to others is an art in itself.
Becoming a teaching artist — or a more skilled one.
You know that your art is your life. What may be less clear is how to use your artistic skills in fulfilling — and rewarding — employment. An increasing number of practitioners in the fine and performing arts are finding the answer in becoming a teaching artist.
Interested? Good, you’re in the right place. The information here will tell you much of what you need to know about becoming a teaching artist.
As part of your quest, you should also know us. The University of the Arts has a Teaching Artist Certificate Online program that is designed to fit artists at virtually any level of experience, from recent graduates to practicing artists. Classes, other than your residency, are online. Cost is low and you can move though the program quickly, in just over one year.
The Teaching Artist, Defined
Alumni Spotlight
Today, the term teaching artist is generally applied to individuals working in their chosen field who are also able to bring their art to learners in the community. Learners can be found anywhere from community centers to hospitals, from after-school programs to shelters. But for the vast majority of teaching artists the focus is on reaching school Color Map, children in grades K through 12. 2009 48" x 36" oil, wax + collage on panel
The Teaching Artist, Discovered
Should you pursue a teaching artist certificate? Here are some criteria you might find helpful…
O
Artist Tremain Smith completed the UArts Teaching Artist Certificate program in 2011. Although Smith had been conducting art workshops for years, she wanted to teach more and with greater skill. “My interactions with my students deepened because of the understanding I now have of their developmental processes,” she said. Complimenting her professional success as a working artist, Smith wanted to promote artistic expression as a means to move and empower people of all generations and backgrounds. She believes the Teaching Artist Certificate program assisted her in attaining that goal. “It has renewed my excitement about education in general and given me the belief that all education leads to something new and expansive.”
O O O O
O
You’re an accomplished artist or performer who wants to expand your employment opportunities You’re a recent arts graduate looking for direction and professional fulfillment
You want regular work but still want to be free to pursue your art
You love sharing your creativity with others You’re a practicing artist who seeks more ways to share your skills, more ways to develop professionally, and more ways to earn a living
You’re already performing as a teaching artist but you lack formal training and credentials
Learning the Art of Sharing You already know your art. Step two is becoming proficient in sharing your talents with others in a way that instructs as well as inspires.That’s a skill that can be learned and our courses teach it. Here‘s brief look at the courses that will lead you to your Teaching Artist Certificate at the University of the Arts:
Foundations of Learning Theory
Explore various theories about how children learn and today’s best practices in classroom instruction.
Professional Practices
Learn the nuts and bolts of how to run your business. Everything from how to prepare presentations, to applying for grants, to keeping records.
Methods and Teaching Practicum
Learn how to use your art and teaching skills so they fit comfortably within a typical school curriculum as well as within state and federal teaching standards.
Child Development and Human Behavior
The way individuals learn changes as they develop, through the primary grades, middle school, and high school.You’ll learn the latest thinking and age-appropriate classroom teaching practices.
Arts Integration and Collaboration
Learn how to work with class room instructors and educational staff so you can integrate your art into the school curriculum and community programs.
Program Management and Assessment
You’ll learn how to measure success — in project planning, classroom proficiency, and residency programs — and how to refine your teaching strategies as a result.
Capstone Residency Project
We’ll place you under the guidance of a master teaching artist in a short residency. Following that, we’ll help you set up a 10-week residency of your own under the supervision of a mentor in a school or community site.
Your Support System: Our Faculty and Advisory Board Teaching Artist Certificate courses are developed and taught by a faculty of industry-leading teaching artists who share a passion for online teaching. Instructors include members of our Advisory Board, published authors, professional educators, and master teaching artists.They bring together decades of professional and educational experience to deliver excellent classes and online instruction. For a list of current faculty, please visit the Teaching Artist Certificate page on our website at cs.uarts.edu/teachingartist and click on the faculty link. Our faculty is guided by an advisory board of teaching artists who themselves have had notably successful careers. Our board includes: Eric Booth Teaching Artist Certificate Program, Chairman Actor, Author + Educator
David A. Flatley Executive Director, Center for Community Arts Partnerships, Columbia College Chicago
Danielle Brazell Executive Director Arts for LA, Los Angeles, CA
Richard Kessler Dean Mannes College, The New School for Music
Dale Davis Executive Director The New York State Literary Center
Tina LaPadula Education Director + Founding Member Arts Corps, Seattle, WA
Tom DeCaigny Principal Canopy Consulting, San Francisco, CA
Aaron Siegel Carnegie Hall Nilaja Sun Actor + Playwright
Your Support System, Part Two: The Student Cohort Each entering class of new students forms a student cohort, a group of students who, like you, are just beginning the program. Each cohort has a designated student advisor who acts as a guide throughout the program. Each cohort generates chat rooms, newsletters, and progress reports that inform and encourage the online student community.
The Teaching Artist, Certified. And more capable. Once you earn your certificate, where will you be? In a better place, that’s where. Here’s what your new landscape will look like:
O You’ll have the knowledge of educational methods necessary to work in schools and community sites. O You’ll have professional teaching skills developed through hands-on experience working alongside master teachers. O You’ll know how to design, implement and manage your own residency. O You’ll know the business of being a teaching artist and how it should be run. O You'll be considered an alumnus of the University of the Arts and receive the many associated benefits.
The Teaching Artist, Certified. And more versatile. When you complete your course, you‘ll have a university-issued certificate that makes you more marketable.
First, it can help lead to more interviews because it shows prospective employers you have the appropriate educational credentials. Second, it helps justify a new employer’s decision to choose you to be part of their educational curriculum.
Choosing to pursue a Teaching Artist Certificate makes sense. So does choosing us.
The University of the Arts was the first degree-granting institution in the country to offer a Teaching Artist Certificate program. And we offer certification across the arts: visual, performing, literary, media, and crafts. We are aware of no other institution that does.
The University of the Arts is itself unique. We are the only university in the United States dedicated solely to educating creative individuals in the visual, performing, and communication arts.
The art of education starts here. It’s easy. Start with the University of the Arts Teaching Artist Online Certificate program. To request an application, visit us online at cs.uarts.edu/ce or email us at ce@uarts.edu. If you prefer, you can call the University of the Arts Continuing Education office at 215.717.6095.
Bringing your art to others is an art in itself. You can perfect that art with us.
Our Arts in Education Partners Bringing the power of regional and national networks to teaching artists The Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership (PAEP) promotes learning in and through the arts working in collaboration with education and arts communities. PAEP builds excellence in arts in education practices through residencies and professional development programs and is a regional partner with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Arts in Education Division serving southeastern PA.
The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) fosters the excellence, diversity, and vitality of the arts in Pennsylvania and broadens the appreciation and availability of those arts throughout the Commonwealth. The PCA fosters educational excellence through participation in the creative process in schools and community settings, creating an honored place for the arts in lifelong education. The PCA’s Arts in Education partners recruit, select, train, place, and evaluate professional-quality artists for residencies in educational environments.
For information regarding scholarship opportunities visit cs.uarts.edu/teachingartist, email ce@uarts.edu or call 215.717.6095.
The University of the Arts Administration Sean T. Buffington, President, The University of the Arts Dr. Krik E. Pillow, Provost, The University of the Arts Erin Elman, Dean, Continuing Studies
Continuing Education Staff Rob Craig Coordinator Continuing Education
Contact Us 215.717.6095 (phone) 215.717.6538 (fax) ce@uarts.edu
cs.uarts.edu/teachingartist 320 S. Broad Street | Philadelphia PA 19102
Jacqueline Sutrisno Program Assistant Adult Programs