Remembering Barnetta Carter

Remembering Barnetta Carter

ATA Executive Director, Dale Davis informs us that her dear friend, Barnetta Carter, a former ATA Board Member, died on Thursday. 

A tribute from Eric Booth:

"When I met Barnetta, she was feisty, insistent and fierce on behalf of young people and their creative identity. As I worked with her for a couple of years, I had to bring her into working with some approaches she initially resisted, with appropriate and empassioned caution. Over time, she found her own way to working with "assessment and evaluation instruments"--as boring as that sounds--because she discovered how it helped young people learn and take ownership of their creativity. She learned more about this work, and faster, than any teaching artist I ever worked with. She was one of the most naturally gifted teaching artists I ever met, and her heart was as big as Montana. If teaching artistry is an art form, as I think it is, she was a master. It was a delight to know her, and be slapped into shape by her, and see the beautiful work that she midwifed forth from so many grateful learners."

To record your thoughts about Barnetta, go to http://www.barnettacarter.net/

Eric Booth: Why I Support ATA

Why I Support ATA

by Eric Booth

I just snail mailed my support check to ATA in thanks for all they do.

A few years ago, I was in a discussion at Harvard Project Zero about whether teaching artists should try to create a non-profit national service organization. We thought about what those service organizations actually do, and what it takes to sustain them, and it kept not adding up as a the right next step for our growing field. We asked ourselves, "What is it that we really need, and how can we provide that without creating another institution that doesn't feel like 'us'?"

The answer that arose was that for now what we needed most was information, ways to communicate with one another, and a responsive lead group that can prompt us as needed. We need time to authentically grow into what we want to become. At that time I realized that the ATA was doing exactly what the field needed, and doing it well. If we can support it well (and we haven't done that well to date--our ATA leaders work heroically without adequate support), we can grow authentically to become what we want to be as a field. Thank you ATA--my check is in the mail.

Eric Booth


Editor's Note:

Contributions to ATA are tax-deductible, and may be made here.

Thank you.

The Second Coming

Maria Johnson is a Brooklyn-based freelance flutist and teacher. Over at Maria's Blog, which is a cool place to hang out, there is much rejoicing over the arrival of Eric Booths' new tome The Music Teaching Artist's Bible: Becoming a Virtuoso Educator.

Reviews for the book are positive and the website of Oxford University Press is strewn with breathless testimonials from people like Bill Ivey, Steve Seidel, Richard Deasey and Robert Lynch, among others.

It's $99 (hardback) or $24.95 (paperback) from Oxford University Press.

I'll be reading.

Related: Eric Booth's Teaching Artist Guidelines (PDF) http://tinyurl.com/dy48dt

Unrelated: Monty Python

Now is the Time

Toward the end of last week's great debate, Eric Booth blogs:

"I believe we know more as a field than our current practice would demonstrate."

In TA parlance--I feel really close to that idea. 

One of the manifestations of this phenomenon in my life as a Teaching Artist comes when I am planning a 45-minute workshop. How to fit everything into that little window of time? Much of my innovation and creativity has to go into figuring out what to cut out, abbreviate or gloss over so we can make sure to get something done. 

I love the concept of "time management" because it is completely imaginary like a unicorn. 

Time will not be managed. 

Time unfolds and authentic learning is an individual process that cannot be rushed, right?

I think we may have to consider changing the world.

The Dangling Conversation

Do you read Arts Journal?

Last week they posted a marathon blog chat titled "A Debate on Arts Education: Will our culture suffer if we don't do more to teach the arts?" 

I think it's a trick question.

Featured 0n the blog were Eric Booth and Jane Remer. There's also a video of Peter Sellars!

If you didn't follow along as it unfolded, you probably want to start here or, better yet, start with David Shookhoff's reflections. 

Notice the Parenthetical

We are always figuring out new ways to talk about what we do.

By email, Dale writes, "Re: definition of Teaching Artist...It has always been interesting to me there is not a standard across the board definition."

Another take from Eric Booth is below. Notice the parentheses.

“A teaching artist (artist–educator) is a practicing professional artist with the complementary skills and sensibilities of an educator, who engages people in learning experiences in, through, and about the arts.”