"Improbable Beautiful"
The Teaching Artist Questionnaire
1. How long have you been
a teaching artist?
I have
been teaching art things and thinking for almost 25 years (yikes that makes me
old!)
2. What discipline(s) do
you teach?
Community arts, public
arts and design thinking, Graduate Advisory, Teaching and Creative Practice,
Curriculum Design, and other things from time to time includng Stop Motion
Animation. I teach college, Graduate students and support classroom teachers
3. Describe the setting(s)
in which you teach.
College
and with teachers in K-12 settings, Also special projects with kids as well but
all project base learning in collaboration with classroom teachers - not a
classroom art teacher
4. Who shaped your initial
thinking about teaching art?
It was
a spontaneous thing when I got out of college and was looking for a job years
ago and was offered a job to teach middle school art at a private school - did
not need a credential so decided to try it out!
5. Describe the
relationship between your personal art practice and your art teaching?
It seem
mostly seamless to me - they both feed and have become an integral part of
each other! For me my teaching is part of my creative practice.
6. How do you sustain your
art while teaching?
It is
hard but I work on more project based stuff so I usually do the work when the
project is going and then can have longer break in my work until another
project starts but I am always doing something it seems - writing or some kind
of creative practice...reading things that peak my interest, research etc...
7. What training in the
arts and/or education have you had?
BFA and
MFA and years of practice and other professional development through collaboration
and collective thinking
8. What are the biggest
challenges you face as a teaching artist?
Funding,
job security, health insurance, exhaustion
9. What are the unexpected
rewards of being a teaching artist?
Living
and working a creative life, making art and thinking through creative lenses to
make a difference in others and in the world, working with a rich engaging
community of other artists and educators!
10. What advice do you
have for other artists interested in teaching?
Go
for it but find balance and set limits around pay and time commitments so that
you have a balanced life, become engaged in contemporary art practice and keep
making room for your own creative thinking and work.
Please share one anecdote
of a memorable Teaching Artist experience or your favorite resources for
lessons.
Oh
my so many hard to sort it out right now - I love the project zero stuff for
teaching. We are so lucky we live in a time when there are so many rich
resources online and easy ways for us to connect and share.
http://www.pz.harvard.edu/
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