A Holiday Message From ATA Executive Director, Dale Davis

A Holiday Message From ATA Executive Director, Dale Davis

On Friday, November 20 the National Endowment for the Arts presented a live webcast on http://www.arts.gov of a forum about America's artists and other cultural workers who are part of this country's real economy. Academics, foundation professionals, and service organization representatives came together to discuss improving the collection and reporting of statistics about arts and cultural workers, and to develop future research agendas and approaches. The agenda http://arts.endow.gov/news/news09/cultural-workforce-forum.html

The Archive will be available on arts.gov this week.

Today Ian D. Moss blogged on Fractured Atlas on the NEA Cultural Workforce Forum:

"The format was more academic research conference than industry gathering; each of the three “panels” actually consisted of a 10-minute presentation from each participant followed by a Q&A period at the end. The primary discussion took place among the invited researchers and several other guests granted spaces at a very large U-shaped table setup, but Sunil Iyengar, who ran the show for the NEA,made sure to solicit regular questions from the 30-40 onlookers aswell. The panelists hailed from a mix of academic institutions and nonprofit organizations of various types, though curiously only one, Ann Markusen, was from west of the Mississippi (and she made it byless than a mile)."

He highlighted some facts, including:

"We also had Nick Rabkin talking about his research on teaching artists. Quoting Eric Booth, he said that teaching artists are “experts in the verbs of art” - the process, rather than the product.

His survey showed that:

50% of teaching artists had a master’s degree or higher, and a majority worked for nonprofit arts organizations. Half of respondents had over a decade of experience. The median compensation was $35/hr, but the number of paid hours was not that high.

Median total personal income was $36,200, while the median income from teaching was just $17,850. 20% had no health benefits. On the other hand, they love teaching and see it as a calling."

When we take a close look at all the above, what is the message Teaching Artists are receiving? I would love to hear from you on this?

ATA's survey Teaching Artists and Their Work http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=F_2bJJwetasGgrnMZUcqQ99g_3d_3d clearly demonstrates Teaching Artists know what is necessary for the work of Teaching Artists to become sustainable. If you have not taken the survey, please do.

How many roads must Teaching Artists walk down http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFvkhzkS4bw

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dale Davis
Executive Director
The Association of Teaching Artists

ddavis@teachingartists.com

I and Thou

Hey, we started blogging exactly one year ago! Thanks for reading, it's been fun.

Also, an excerpt from I and Thou. Thank you Martin Buber:

"When I confront a human being as my You and speak the basic word I-You to him, then he is no thing among things nor does he consist of things.

He is no longer He or She, limited by other He's and She's, a dot in the world grid of space and time, nor a condition that can be experienced and described, a loose bundle of named qualities. Neighborless and seamless, he is You and fills the firmament. Not as if there were nothing but he; but everything else lives in his light.

Even as a melody is not composed of tones, nor a verse of words, nor a statue of lines--one must pull and tear to turn a unity into a multiplicity--so it is with the human being to whom I say You. I can abstract from him the color of his hair or the color of his speech or the color of his graciousness; I have to do this again and again; but immediately he is no longer You.

* * *

The You encounters me by grace--it cannot be found by seeking. But that I speak the basic word to it is a deed of my whole being, is my essential deed.

The You encounters me. But I enter into a direct relationship to it. Thus the relationship is election and electing, passive and active at once: An action of the whole being must approach passivity, for it does away with all partial actions and thus with any sense of action, which always depends on limited exertions.

The basic word I-You can be spoken only with one's whole being. The concentration and fusion into a whole being can never be accomplished by me, can never be accomplished without me. I require a You to become; becoming I, I say You.

All actual life is encounter."

From I and Thou by Martin Buber translated by Walter Kaufman

Check back here on Monday.

Also: Babette's Feast directed by Gabriel Axel.

Bohemian Raphsody

The New York Times reports on a new survey which finds that slightly more than half of American artists experienced a drop in income from 2008 to 2009. Two thirds of artists earned less than $40,000 last year, and while most of us have have college degrees, only 6 percent earned more than $80,000 per year.

Despite the gnawing feeling that creativity may not be an effective form of currency, the article goes on to quote unnamed artists who blithely report "I live in a recession all the time, so this downturn has really not been so different for me," and a Manhattan architect who is "enjoying" his unemployment because it is "allowing me to pursue things that I really want to pursue.”

Also: Joe Hill - Paul Robeson

Lasting Beauty

Monday should always start with something good.

Here's one.

Groundswell Community Mural Project creates high quality works of public art in under-represented neighborhoods across New York City. Groundswell's teaching artists work within communities to help people learn how to organize service projects themselves.

Take a look at this year's amazing public arts projects here.

Image attached to this post: What We Want, What We Believe (Acrylic on Brick Wall) Artists: Chris Beck & Clare Herron. Complete list of mural credits here.

Hands On

MOMA is offering free hands-on artmaking workshops in conjunction with the exhibition Bauhaus 1919–1933: Workshops for Modernity

"Bauhaus Lab is a new interactive space that reimagines the historic Bauhaus classrooms in which students and teachers of many forms of art experimented with innovative pedagogical approaches. Led by artists, educators, and art historians, an ongoing series of hands-on art-making workshops offers participants of all ages the opportunity to engage in techniques and processes integral to the Bauhaus, such as drawing, collage, graphic design, color theory, and mechanical construction."

On Saturday, November 21st, the workshop will cover Paul Klee and Johannes Itten: Bauhaus Curricula. Students will create works on paper using the artist's theories and techniques, including automatic drawing, which is fun, as I recall.

Admission is first come first served.

Join ATA on Facebook.

20 UNDER 4O

Edward Clapp is the editor of 20UNDER40, an anthology of 20 essays by "emerging leaders" in the field of arts education. In connection with the project, Americans for the Arts hosted a marathon blog conversation around the theme of "emerging leadership" earlier this fall.
Listen to a podcast interview with Mr. Clapp, here.

Also: William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet 3.2

Juliet
Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds,
Towards Phoebus' lodging: such a wagoner 1720
As Phaethon would whip you to the west,
And bring in cloudy night immediately.
Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night,
That runaway's eyes may wink and Romeo
Leap to these arms, untalk'd of and unseen. 1725
Lovers can see to do their amorous rites
By their own beauties; or, if love be blind,
It best agrees with night. Come, civil night,
Thou sober-suited matron, all in black,
And learn me how to lose a winning match, 1730
Play'd for a pair of stainless maidenhoods:
Hood my unmann'd blood, bating in my cheeks,
With thy black mantle; till strange love, grown bold,
Think true love acted simple modesty.
Come, night; come, Romeo; come, thou day in night; 1735
For thou wilt lie upon the wings of night
Whiter than new snow on a raven's back.
Come, gentle night, come, loving, black-brow'd night,
Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars, 1740
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.
O, I have bought the mansion of a love,
But not possess'd it, and, though I am sold, 1745
Not yet enjoy'd: so tedious is this day
As is the night before some festival
To an impatient child that hath new robes
And may not wear them.

Administration Is Creation

Sometimes, you have a big idea, and all you need is the funding. It happens all the time.

But how?

There are people who know about these things.

For instance, the Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training promotes the "connection between fundraising, social justice and movement-building." At their website, you can find free resources, as well as information about their workshops and consulting services.

GIFT says there are "three key things" to know about raising money. Paraphrased, these are:

1. People give when they are asked, and rarely give when they are not.
   
   
2. Donors are not ATMs. You need to thank them.
   
   
3. You can't raise all the money your group needs by yourself. You need a team.
   

GIFT offer some free articles that you can download, and others that can be purchased for $3.

Also: Learning One's Body - A Talk With Bill T. Jones in which he talks about what it meant to receive one of those mythical NEA Fellowships in the early 1980's. The program has since been eliminated.

NEA: What did it mean to receive the NEA Choreographers Fellowships in the early 1980s?

Bill T. Jones: There was a sense of suddenly being a part of the club—that literally, at the federal level, someone thought what we do was important enough to be funded. And on a psychological, emotional level, that was certainly a lift, and one begins to walk a bit more straight and upright and to think more seriously as an artist…. So that was what I think it meant. It also meant that we could begin to plan. We could begin to look for and attract administration [staff], which was rudimentary. We made lots of mistakes: we didn’t really know how to get a board of directors. We didn’t know how to get the next piece made. We were just going to do it on sweat and enthusiasm. But the NEA imprimatur was definitely important to us. And the perception in the funding world that you were somebody that should be funded was very important.

A Message From Dale Davis

A Message From Dale Davis, ATA Executive Director

As part of the Arts and Humanities Month and October as Arts Education Month, ATA asked you to help us celebrate the importance of arts and cultural organizations to the work of Teaching Artists. Thanks to the many, many e-mails and the responses contained in ATA's Teaching Artists and Their Work Survey, ATA has compiled a list of New York State and national arts and cultural organizations who you have let us know put the Teaching Artist first,understand the role of the Teaching Artist in education; honor Teaching Artists' contributions to education and the skills they bring to the classroom; offer competitive wages; are always looking for new opportunities for work for Teaching Artists; provide professional development opportunities. The list includes organizations from around the country, from Alaska to Connecticut, from Hawaii to Georgia, from California to New York!

Please help us spread the word and celebrate and thank those organizations paramount to the work of Teaching Artists http://www.teachingartists.com/TArtistsCelebrateArts.htm

ATA is committed to making Teaching Artists visible and educating schools and communities on their contributions. One way we do this is publishing writing on Teaching Artists' and their work on the website.

There are two new reflections on the website. Kristin Rapp of Rochester, New York reflects on founding ArtPeace five years ago and what it takes to establish, fund, market and maintain a small not-for- profit organization. This month Kristin, with ArtPeace, produced Nilaja Sun's "No Child" featuring Rochester poet, performance artist, and Teaching Artist Reenah Golden for a week's run at Geva Theater Center in Rochester. There is also essay by New York City Arts In
Education veteran Andrew Salgado, "Rediscovering Ourselves in Tumultuous Times." http://www.teachingartists.com/reflections.htm

If you would like to write a reflection for publication on http://www.teachingartists.com/ please contact me ddavis@teachingartists.com

Responses to ATA's Teaching Artists and Their Work survey continue to come in. If you have not completed it, please do and please let everyone know about it! The responses are powerful.

ATA, like all non-profit arts organizations, has felt the results of declining public funding in the current economic climate. Thank you to those who have contributed this fiscal year (July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2010), and we ask Teaching Artists, arts and cultural organizations and Arts In Education consultants who work with Teaching Artists to donate to ATA to help us with our mission to advocate, strengthen, and serve Teaching Artists from all disciplines in New York State and beyond. ATA needs your help as we look ahead.

Make a contribution.

Thank you,

Dale

Dale Davis
Executive Director

Save the People

Yesterday, card-waving members of the Teaching Artist Union gathered for the regular monthly membership meeting and open-house, which is held on the 3rd Sunday of each month at the Teaching Artist Union Hall at 1079 Grand Avenue in Brooklyn.

TAU's co-founder, Cassie Thornton, presented the organization's beta mission statement, which reads, in part:

"The Teaching Artist Union is composed of New York City artists who teach as a part of their creative practice. With this union, we aim to define the role of the teaching artist through developing a supportive community, celebrating and exhibiting the work produced in teaching situations, and advocating for the rights and needs of the teaching artist."

TAU membership is free for artists who teach.

Hey, that's you!

Also: Laura Nyro - Save the Country

Schooled

A recent issue of Time Magazine reports that Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who has never been a regular classroom teacher or school principal, visited Columbia University Teachers College and gave a speech in which he said to the students in training "By almost any standard, many if not most of the nation's 1,450 schools, colleges and departments of education are doing a mediocre job of preparing teachers for the realities of the 21st century classroom."

TGIF: The Galaxy Song (Monty Python) and ATA is on Facebook.

Viewing Habits

In a recent essay, Andrea Kantrowitz, who is a painter, a professional teaching artist, and the author of the terrific blog Zyphoid, makes a strong case for the inclusion of drawing across the curriculum.

"...the habits of artists, architects and designers, who draw as a means of exploration and investigation, can benefit students at all levels. Mental flexibility, the capacity to cope with ambiguity and uncertainty, to face the unknown with courage and hope, these are all needed skills, perhaps now more than ever. In my teaching practice, I often urge students to begin by drawing what is not there. This basic technique can be expanded into a metaphor that describes an essential part of what artists do: look for the gaps---in knowledge and understanding, between disciplines---taking advantage of those small openings where imagination and invention can thrive. Drawing seems to be a common thread that crosses gaps and connects concepts, themes and disciplines, including what is, for me, a difficult divide between teaching and making art. A person has to slow down to draw, to pause and consider. In so doing, one might notice what would have otherwise slipped by. Thinking through drawing, visualizing as well as observing, one can discover and refine relationships and associations, and invent new possibilities."

Read the entire essay, after the jump.

!!!

I think we should consider the possibility that art is the answer, no matter the question.

Super Models

How We Work is a new journal that will feature "working models of independent art spaces and groups."

Their website says:

How We Work is looking for artists and designers that don't fit into a discrete category...we are looking for text, research, ideas, stories, images and illustrations from artists at the forefront of interdisciplinary practice. This is a collaborative journal - we accept proposals for entire publications, issue thematics and individual articles and ideas for "print-based exhibitions".

The journal is produced by the Institute of Applied Aesthetics, an organization that was mentioned yesterday in a post about the Teaching Artist Union.

Also: William Pope L. from Robert Wilson's Voom Portraits (2:53)

A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes

It's Monday.

Isn't this exciting?

From the Teaching Artist Union

Dear Teachers, Artists, and People.

Last month we began a series of monthly events in our new Bushwick space in Brooklyn, NY.

From this day forward, save the 3rd Sunday of every month for an afternoon TAU Meeting!

The third Sunday of every month, come to Splinters and Logs (1027 Grand Street, 4th Floor, Brooklyn, New York, 11211) for a meeting at 1pm until 5pm.

NOVEMBER'S MEETING will be in the newly acquired TA UNION HALL. Come inaugurate our new home! (same floor as last meeting, different room)

Every month we will present a new expert who will teach us everything they know. Rain or shine, we will be talking, snacking, and learning great stuff.

LAST MEETING: For the first event in the series, we were introduced to the research of the Director of the Institute of Applied Aesthetics, Christopher Kennedy, as he explained what he has witnessed in his national study of ways that artists and organizations use systems of activating art in education and education in art. For a side dish, we helped him develop sociograms for his new publication called HowWeWork (http://applied-aesthetics.org/). Email artiscycle@gmail.com if you'd like notes on Mr. Kennedy's lecture, or if you have questions.

NEXT MEETING: On November 15, 2009 at 1pm, please join us for the inauguration of the TA Union Hall! At 1pm we will have a reception and welcome ceremony. Bring candles, snacks, pets, and party favors! We will have a meeting at 2 to discuss the TAU Manual, catch up on 'work', and practice, um, protocol. Afterwards, Colin MC Em, Master of None (http://www.emceecm.com/) will be sharing some kitchen techniques that could result in snacks AND learning. Come for the whole afternoon or for just stop by and say hi!

Until then.

Teaching Artist @ Facebook

|| Splinters and Logs
|| 718-877-5799
|| 1pm-5pm

WANT TO GET INVOLVED IN TAU?

WE NEED HELP SETTING UP THE UNION HALL! We're starting this week.
IF YOU KNOW HOW TO HANG A DOOR, PAINT A WALL OR A FLOOR, HANG A CHANDALIER, OR INSTALL SHELVES, WE NEED YOU!

We are currently seeking organizers, inventors, teachers, artists, and anyone who likes to teach and learn in their lives or for their professions.

We need your participation! We are working to:

-explore rights and benefits for NYC Teaching Artists (healthcare, training, backup)

-advocate for fair institutional practices involving art educators

-create a network for support and umm... fun

-develop a web presence so TA's can find us

-offer skillshares at monthly meetings

Mission of the Teaching Artist Union:

The Teaching Artist Union is composed of NYC artists who teach as a part of their creative practice. With this union, we aim to define the role of the teaching artist through developing a supportive community, celebrating and exhibiting the work produced in teaching situations, and advocating for the rights and needs of the teaching artist.

We work in many different kinds of environments: for non profit arts organizations, schools, museums, and other agencies. Because we believe that art can invigorate, agitate, and reorient stale institutional habits, we want to develop a lastingstructure to support the happiness and health of every manifestation of Teaching Artist.

|| www.teachingartistunion.org

org || 718-877-5799 || teachingartistunion@gmail.com ||

Also: Spring Awakening - My Junk

The Loop

It's Friday.

Stay in the loop.

Here's one that will throw you:

Cultural Arts Resources for Teachers and Students

CARTS Web site is a virtual extension of City Lore's educational programs and its National Network for Folk Arts in Education. As you explore the people, places, and traditions that turn communities into classrooms, stock your cart high with the many useful resources available inside.

Become part of the CARTS Education Network! (email contact)

Teaching Artists: If you are interested in City Lore's approach to arts-in-education and are based in New York City, please mail your resume to: School Programs Manager, City Lore, 72 East 1st Street, New York, NY 10003. Contracts for in-school programs are dependent on outside funding and school requests. Our teaching artists reflect the ethnic diversity of New York City and we encourage artists from new immigrant groups to apply. We review resumes once a month.

Also:

Welcome to Chicago Teaching Artists Collective
The CTAC is a network of artists from all disciplines working together to build the field of the artist as teacher on local, national, and global levels.

The CTAC is equally interested in the material as well as the aesthetic concerns of the Teaching Artist; and living a functional lifestyle as well as pursuing the pedagogical, philosophical, spiritual, and social implications of our work.

Chicago Teaching Artist Collective is on Facebook.

Hey, so is ATA.

Come hang out!


Also: Donny Hathaway - Someday We'll All Be Free

Birds of a Feather

I mean, where do all the professional teaching artists hang out?

ATA ONLINE

The Association of Teaching Artists' on Facebook

Teaching Artists Organizations

The Association of Teaching Artists' Listserv

Top 10 Funding Sources for Arts Education

Research on Teaching Artists

What is a Teaching Artist?

Who are Teaching Artists?

New York Foundation For The Arts' Teaching Artists Source

Health Insurance Resources for Teaching Artists in New York State

Arts Advocavy

In California:

TEACHING ARTISTS ORGANIZED

Home
News
Contact
PD & Workshops
Jobs in Arts Learning
Services & Resources
TAO Associate Form

From a series of websites maintained by Chicago Artist Resource

Dance Education

Music Education

Theater Education

Visual Education

In Washington, D.C., the Kennedy Center is Changing Education through the Arts. Their website says:

"Hundreds of TEACHERS in the Washington, D.C metropolitan area learn ways to teach in, through, and about the arts. SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS learn ways to harness the power of the arts for learning. TEACHING ARTISTS learn ways to be more effective in their work with students and teachers."

We are all over the place.

A Dollar and a Dream

Perhaps you'd like a little art before you begin your busy day of job hunting? If so, why not visit Contemporary Art Daily. It's bite-size.

Now, to the business at hand:

@ Idealist.org key word "arts in education" brings back 140 results! Isn't that exciting?


@ NYFA Classified we get what I would describe as "a variety."

New York Art Studio New York, NY, USA	Instructor Part-time permanent Read Complete Description Approved on 10/29/2009
Art21, Inc. New York, NY, USA	Art21 Development Intern Internship paid Read Complete Description Approved on 10/28/2009
chashama New York, NY, USA	Programming Associate Part-time permanent Read Complete Description Approved on 10/28/2009

@San Francisco Inside Out, there are a sizable number of local and national listings for jobs in the arts, including these:

Director of Teaching and Learning

Location:

New York, New York

The Center for Arts Education (CAE), a nonprofit, public/private partnership, was founded in 1996 to stimulate the systemic return of arts education in New York City's public schools. CAE is committed to restoring quality arts education as an essential part of every child's education.

• National

• Read more

Part-Time Instructors 2010 Artists in Education (AIE) Program

Location:

San Francisco, CA

TEACH AT SOEX
Southern Exposure is hiring two Part-Time Instructors for its winter 2010 Artists in Education (AIE) Program.

• SF Bay Area

• Read more

Teaching Artist
Location:

San Francisco, CA

Teaching Artist Job Opportunities
Southern Exposure is hiring two Part-Time Instructors for its winter 2010 Artists in Education (AIE) Program.

• SF Bay Area

• Read more

Sustainability Arts Specialist
Location: San Francisco, CA
Interested in social and environmental change?

• SF Bay Area

• Read more

Back again, we remember that on the ATA Yahoo Forum job listings are posted nearly every day of the week. Have you signed up?

Also: if you are trying to figure out how to represent yourself online, Professional TA Dennis Baker shows you how it is done. Visit him @ Dennis Baker LLC.

And: The New York Times says incumbent Michael Bloomberg "won" a third term as mayor of New York City, and it only cost him $90 million.

Finally: Angie Stone - No More Rain

Vote!

Today is Tuesday.

It's Election Day.

Take sides.

Beautiful Things

At some point, you wanted to create art, or we wouldn't be having this conversation.

New Residencies at The FAR Space: Applications due Friday, November 13

Field Artist Residency
❀ 45+ hours of rehearsal space
✿ One individual consultation

Emerging Artist Residency
❀ 65+ hours of rehearsal space
✿ Creative and career workshops
❀ Performance at The Kitchen

Guidelines & Application Form

Also: Community Arts Network promotes information exchange, research and critical dialogue within the field of community-based art.


And: What is a Teaching Artist?

Finally: What is a budget?

Ready, Set

It's Monday and, sometimes, you're rushing to get it all done.

Last Friday, I promised that this week's set of posts would be all about the joys of finding work as a professional teaching artist in the middle of a "jobless recovery."

Are you ready? Today, we're not really going that far. Our destination is a page on the resource-laden website of the Association of Teaching Artists, which has a slew of tips that have been compiled by ATA Executive Director, Dale Davis.

You might start with this useful introduction; or you could call it a review. It depends on how long you've been around:

What Do I Need to Know to Become a Teaching Artist?

Wait!

Nearly everything is more fun when there's dancing.

Go!

Music: Stand by REM

The Last Sad Song

It's been a rough year for employment. For those teaching artists who depend on money for things like food and rent, gigs may be harder to come by.

Luckily, it's both necessary, and possible, to think that things are getting better all the time, and no one can stop you. Next week, the plan around here is to post more jobs, and daily links to resources and information about things that we professional teaching artists can do to not starve, all while delivering high quality teaching and learning in the arts.

Also, today is Friday!

Here are some random items, and a terrific disco hit to hum while polishing up the résumé.

In Politics: Next week, if you live in NYC, it's time to vote. Voting in citywide elections is a great way to show how much you care about arts education.

In New York State: Please respond to the latest NYS Arts Advocacy Action Alert! Gov. Paterson proposed billions of dollars in spending cuts in the current 2009-10 budget seeking to close a deficit for this year that he projects at $3 billion. Tell your politicians how you feel about their priorities. Send a letter.

In the Health-care Debate: The New York Times says hopeful Democrats present their health-care legislation. Republicans disagree completely. But the San Francisco Chronicle says the "Public option isn't much of either."

In Books: The miraculous Marilynne Robinson tries her best to rehabilitate John Calvin, and she nearly does. The Death of Adam: Essays on Modern Thought

In Education: At Education Week, a new report (pdf) questions Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's presiding over the closing of dozens of failing schools during his tenure in Chicago. He's touted this as an achievement, but the actual students saw no benefit, says the study.

In Disco: Donna & Barbra - No More Tears (Enough is Enough)

360°

Panorama.dk is a photography site that can take you places you may never go.

See the world in 360°:

The Great Wall of China

The Taj Mahal

Mount Everest – also called Sagarmāthā

Also: The Jerome Foundation, created by artist and philanthropist Jerome Hill (1905-1972), makes grants that support emerging artists in the creation, development and production of new works. The economy has taken a toll its toll. The Foundation will announce whether or not it will offer a 2010 Travel and Study Grant Program in early December 2009 in a posting on the Foundation’s website.

Find out if you are eligible to apply for a grant using the Jerome Foundation's interactive eligibility worksheet.

Get information on the foundation's current funding status (pdf).

From Memory

Artist Stephen Wiltshire is drawing a panorama of New York City from memory in a gallery at Pratt, and it's astounding. The whole thing reminds me that I need to finish reading The Colossus of New York, Colson Whitehead's hymn to the city in his mind. A brief excerpt from the book's opening essay City Limits reveals that Mr. Whitehead prefers not to let the rules of punctuation cramp his writing style:

No matter how long you have been here, you are a New Yorker the first time you say, That used to be Munsey's, or That used to be the Tic Toc Lounge. That before the internet cafe plugged itself in, you got your shoes resoled in the mom-and-pop operation that used to be there. You are a New Yorker when what was there before is more real and solid than what is here now.

He doesn't even use quotation marks!

Freewheeling passages like this inspire giddy questions.

How strict do teaching artists need to be about enforcing the rules of grammar and punctuation?

Should I toss out my copy of the Elements of Style?

The Real World

Real World Educators for Action Learning posts an interesting dialogue between Dr. Alice E. Ginsberg & Dr. Raquel Rios on building relationships that transcend race, class and gender.

Ms. Rios argues that transcendent relationship-building may be riskier for individuals who do not belong to a "privileged group" than it is for others.

"One of the primary risks of forming such alliances across race, class and gender etc. is the risk of vulnerability. I find that the greatest vulnerability for those of us who do not belong to a privileged group is that of livelihood. Survival is one of the most powerful human basic needs and forming alliances across race, class and gender really puts into question our fundamental belief system about survival. Many individuals and groups, especially within the context of a capitalistic and patriarchal society, begin to adopt a polarized perspective of lack vs. abundance. Individuals and groups that have historically been victimized by oppression often see the world through the filter of scarcity, or the fear of lack. This simply means that if a person is concerned with their basic needs, it is difficult for them to engage in an alliance across privilege because they will constantly feel dependent and needy on the relationship for personal gain. This relationship can be within the context of an organization. If there is a threat to the individual’s job stability, the “alliance” to the issue of social justice will often take back seat. If the person is coming from a position of privilege, speaking up and fighting for an issue of social justice is less risky. The level of risk involved will often dictate how each behaves facing adversity."

The Work

I am not kidding when I tell you that I just went to idealist.org and entered the search term "Teaching Artist" and there were only five actual jobs listed.

Here are the results of this weekend's impromptu, and statistically irrelevant, survey of the number and type of job postings on idealist.org.


JOB SEARCH TERMS and RESULTS FOUND ON 10/25/09

• "Teaching Artist" 5 results found
  

• "Teacher" 282 results found

• "Gardner" 2 results found

• "Administrator" 122 results found
  

• "Artist" 14 results found
  

• "Education" 1276 results found

• "Coach" 129 results found

• Accountant" 78 results found

Who Knows?

The College Board is a not-for-profit membership association whose mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. Perhaps their best known, and least loved program, is the SAT--but they do much more. For example, they have an annual conference for professional educators that focuses on something important. This year, the conference is about "Education and the American Future."

As part of a session on ways to motivate students to stay in school, Dale Davis, ATA Executive Director, read a few stunning poems written by young men who were not actually adults when they were "tried and convicted as adults."

As educators, we need to find more effective strategies for keeping young people engaged, and in school. Perhaps, as the New York State Literacy Center has already done, we should ask a few of the thousands of children in our prisons what they think about the schools, institutions and adults that failed them?

Imagine the answers we'd get.

Also: A Quick History of the Young Lords - Documentary

Events Unfold

Unfortunately, we live in interesting times. Luckily, Teaching Artists on both coasts are taking charge of their professional lives, and spectacular things are happening--many of them free.

Hold tight!

COMING UP IN NEW YORK CITY

The New York City Arts in Education Roundtable presents

By Teaching Artists for Teaching Artists

A chance to examine best practices & work one-on-one with fellow TAs to share & strengthen your lesson plans.

Join us for a professional development presented BY Teaching Artists FOR Teaching Artists

Workshop


4:30 – 7:00pm

Wednesday November 18th


Brooklyn Arts Council
55 Washington Street
Suite 218
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Click Here to Register!

COMING UP IN THE BAY AREA

Second Workshop (part one took place Oct 3rd: Mind Your Own Business)

Saturday November 7th 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Online and In-the-Know: Educational Resources for Teaching Artists

A half-day workshop (including breakfast snacks) led by Megan Simmons of the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education. This interactive, hands-on workshop will engage participants in finding, using, and modifying high-quality, free, and freely available online resources. Participants will reflect on their own processes and experience how Open Educational Resources (OER) can impact their teaching, using OER Commons (www.oercommons.org) and web-based collaboration tools, such as wikis and nings. Web resources from such services as the National Endowment for the Humanities, Library of Congress, Lincoln Center Institute, Kennedy Center’s ArtsEdge, and other arts-rich, education based sites.

About ISKME The Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education is an independent, nonprofit research institute located in Half Moon Bay, CA, that helps schools, colleges, universities, and the organizations that support them expand their capacity to collect and share information, apply it to well-defined problems, and create human-centered, knowledge-driven environments focused on learning and success. ISKME's OER and Arts Education Project, supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation, engages teachers and teaching artists in trainings around collaborative learning strategies and shared online resources and processes.

Fee: $35 for TAO Associates/$15 if you already attended TAI Workshop on Oct 3rd Mind Your Own Business..

REGISTER NOW!

Also: Janis - Get It While You Can

Your Share

Over at Arts Ed 411, the blog of the Califonia Alliance for Arts Education, an article by Mark Slavkin of LA's Music Center blasts the "arts as charity model" and makes some other fine points. Mr. Slavkin says it's time to " embrace a vision for a “shared delivery model” in which classroom teachers, arts specialists, and community arts resources collaborate and coordinate their efforts so that kids gain access to a truly comprehensive program."

In the midst of an economic crisis that has devasted school budgets in California, and the rest of the country, sharing does seem to be the best course of action.

Quick, someone tell the Lords of Equity. Maybe they can be convinced to give back some significant portion of their recent astronomical earnings?

Sing Out

he Center for Arts Education Staying in School (pdf), a highly anticipated rdicates that you may indeed be doing something meaningful with your life in art.

"High schools in the top third of graduation rates were more likely to have offered students an opportunity to attend an arts activity, such as a theater performance, dance recital, or museum exhibit, than schools in the bottom third."

The CAE report in "dedicate resources to support arts instruction," and

This report collides head on with Governor David Paterson's massive $3 billion deficit reduction plan for New York State. Education will take the force of the blow—losing $480 million of its budget between now and the end of the fiscal year on March 31, 2010.

Tell everyone.

Sing-along

The Shock of the New

On the ATA listserv, I read with excitement a posting about something called an Emerging Leaders Salon at ARTSBlog:

"Join the Arts Education and Emerging Leaders Council of Americans for the Arts and the 20UNDER40 anthology for the Emerging Leaders Salon on ARTSblog http://blog.artsusa.org/category/emerging-leaders/ the week of October 19-23. Fifteen diverse arts professionals from across the country will discuss the question of generational leadership in the arts and it is through your comments and questions that this dialogue can grow."

Gosh, it all starts today.

Also: Good Morning - Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor.

In Performance at the White House

This week, PBS will broadcast In Performance at the White House, a concert hosted by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. The show will be on the South Lawn, and performers include: Marc Anthony, Jimmy Smits, Gloria Estefan, José Feliciano, George Lopez, Los Lobos, with Sheila E. as the musical director.

Check local listings and read more about the program at PBS.

Starting tomorrow, you can also view the show online.

After the Fall

The New York Times reports the obvious--the number of affordable apartments in New York City has fallen precipitously as a result of gentrification and rent deregulation. The number of apartments considered "affordable to low-income households" decreased to 991,592 from 1,189,962--a drop of nearly 17 percent--from 2002 to 2008.

FYI, according to the study quoted in the Times, a "low income household" is one that earns less than $37,000/year. Last year, about 42 percent of the city’s households could be categorized as "low income." Who knows? Perhaps you are living in one of them? Or, maybe you are new to the city--just graduated.

Let's say you have been educated, graduated, done the round of interviews, and been offered a gig as a TA. Now, you are a lucky professional teaching artist with a respectable, imaginary, nearly full-time gig at a leading cultural organization in New York City. You might have middle class aspirations, or even be from a middle class background. That would explain your expensive college degree, and your fortitude. Now, in a city in which the average monthly rental is $2801 per month, suppose you earn $125/day for a five-hour workday as a TA. That's $25 per hour, or $625 per week, before taxes. Imagine, if you had this imaginary job, and worked 52 weeks out of a year--which is unlikely, because it's imaginary--you would earn $32,500, before taxes...

You're going to need another imaginary job.

Also: City of Aspiration (pdf) - A study released by the Center for an Urban Future

The Candidates

If you live in New York City, you might be following the race for mayor. In case you aren't, you should know what the candidates are up to.

First, in order to clear the way for his attempt at a third term, incumbent Michael Bloomberg urged the city council's controversial decision to do away with voter approved term limits. Mr. Bloomberg has already spent more than $65 million dollars on this campaign, primarily because he can afford it. His opponent, Democratic mayoral candidate, and NYC Comptroller, Mr. William C. Thompson, has not spent anywhere near as much money as Mr. Bloomberg, mainly because it's so much money and where would he get it?

At their first televised debate, video of which is posted at NY1, Mr. Bloomberg criticized Mr. Thompson's tenure as president of the Board of Education, saying he spent his time "arranging deck chairs on the Titantic." In turn, Mr. Thompson reminded voters that by pushing to overturn term limits, Mr. Bloomberg failed to "adhere to the rules."

The Green Party Candidate, in case you were wondering, is Mr. William Talen, otherwise known as Reverend Billy. Mr. Talen has spent much less money than both of the other candidates, and I suppose that may be partly why he was was not invited to debate.

Life's Work

Over at Glitter & Razz Blog, teaching artist and entrepreneur Lynn Johnson writes a terrific post about a recent panel she sat on for Teaching Artists Organized (TAO). Ms. Johnson reports that she joined a gathering of teaching artists at California Shakespeare Theater to "share our visions, our story of becoming artists entrepreneurs, our marketing strategies, and the professional paths that have led us to the place we are now."

At the start of event, which was part of TAO's annual Teaching Artist Institute, facilitator Sabrina Klein offered participants a series of reflective prompts--one of which was to "Describe the time in your life when you realized this would be your life’s work."

That reminds me, have you taken the latest ATA Teaching Artist Survey yet?

Also: Tracy Chapman - Give Me One Reason

New Money

Over at Arts Journal, Richard Kessler reports on U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan's announcement of a $650 million dollar Investing in Innovation Fund.

Bloomberg.com says that "School districts and nonprofit groups would have to team up with private-sector organizations to qualify for $650 million in stimulus grants..."

It appears that the administration of Nobel Peace Prize Winner, President Barack Obama is looking to solve the most intractable problems of our broken school system, once and for all. Mr. Duncan describes the kind of innovators our new leaders are looking to invest in:

"Some will find ways to establish a network of new schools or develop models that turn around low performing schools. Others will find new ways to use technology. Others might explore how to engage children in the arts to help them improve. We want the best ideas to move us forward. We will be investing in great work to scale up existing programs that have already shown success, can validate ones that need to establish evidence of their success or to develop new ideas to determine their potential."

Also: 16-year-old Derrion Albert's beating death was captured on video last week.

And: Eurythmics - I Saved the World Today

Visiting Day

Here is a set of links to blogs maintained by professional Teaching Artists. These have been compiled by ATA Executive Director, Dale Davis, and they represent a wide range of disciplines and perspectives.

I think it must be true that artists are individuals, or they aren't.

These are.

Teaching Artist Judith Tannenbaum
Prison Arts Coalition
Lizzie Hetzer's Unlocking The Classroom
Richard Kessler's Dewey 21C
Carrie Edel Isaacman
Carla Ching's Minutiae and Flux
Urban Arts Resources
Dennis Baker
Richard Jenkins
Georgia Popoff
Marty Kelly
Peter Markus
Dancing Perfectly Free
Community Arts Murals

Happy Friday!

Taste

I heard the other day that it might be a good idea to let go of the idea that students have to enjoy a particular art form, or experience.

Learning requires us to live through things we might not dig. I don't enjoy every play I see, or every piece of music I hear. Why should I expect students to appreciate everything equally?

I am liberated by this idea.

Also: The Aesthetic and the Artistic in Aesthetic Education by Maxine Greene

At the Creation

Sometimes, things are so daunting you just don't know where to start.

Say, for instance, that you want to create theater for young people?

In that case, I'd maybe take the The Field's upcoming workshop:

Pitching to Presenters
Laura Colby, Tuesday, November 10, 6:30-9pm
$40/$25-Field Members

Learn how to pitch your show to theaters, venues, and producers. What are the important elements that should be squeezed into this critical 30-second or 1-minute communication? What are the best practices for creating this opportunity and for following up? Participants will create and practice their own pitch in the workshop.

Individual artists might find money to seed a project from their local arts council:

Brooklyn Arts Council
Bronx Council on the Arts
Queens Council on the Arts
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council

The New York State Council on the Arts has a Presenting Program that encourages the presentation of innovative work for young audiences. They are interested to know what the critical issues are from the artists who are creating work in New York State. If they hear from you, perhaps your input can help them set their funding priorities? Who can say?

In related news, the deadline for The New York Foundation for the Arts 2009-2010 Artists' Fellowships in Playwriting/Screenwriting is November 2, 2009. Click here to apply.

If you are producing theater in New York, you should also know about Actors Equity Association, because we are theater professionals, and professionals have contracts.

Say Something

I know I've told you this before, but I worry. Recently, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Governor’s Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices released the first official draft of the college- and career-readiness standards.

Comments on the draft are only being accepted until October 21, 2009.

I hope you've told them how you feel.

To learn more about the common core standards initiative and provide feedback, please visit the Common Core Standards website at http://www.corestandards.org/.

Control

Electronic books have become something of an everyday convenience because they are profitable. On the website of the New York Times, Lewis Hyde, who wrote The Gift, one of my most favorite books, says an upcoming copyright case will give Google an inordinate amount of control over the catalog.

Advantage Google By LEWIS HYDE Published: October 4, 2009 Nothing in the history of copyright permits the treatment of “orphan” works spelled out in the proposed settlement between Google and the Authors Guild.

I wonder how this, and other radical technological changes like the PC Tablet, will impact my future teaching practice?

Also: XBox LIVE

Public Art Network

Is there a public art problem you need assistance with? Do you have questions about best practices, or copyright law? Please don't ask me. I have no idea.

You should email the Public Art Network*.

They have the answers.

PAN Manager.

...........
*Americans for the Arts' Public Art Network (PAN) is the only professional network in the United States dedicated to the field of public art.

At the Zoo

The Central Park Zoo is uniquely exciting.

No other organization offers a Snow Leopard, and a Wildlife Theater for young people.

It's spectacular, and so close to home--especially if you live here.

A blurb on their website explains everything:

Wildlife Theater is…

• a Central Park Zoo-based theater company that inspires audiences to learn—and care—more about our natural world.
• a group that works with schools, community centers, hospitals, camps, special events, and private events.
• an interactive and audience participatory performance using drama, puppetry, games, and songs.
• a completely self-contained performance group. We provide our own sound equipment and necessary items for the show. All we need is a working electrical outlet.
• a theatrical experience. No live animals are featured in our shows.