Hello Friends,
One of the challenges of working in an “emergent” field is that practically nobody knows exactly what you do. I often get asked, “What exactly is a teaching artist?” I sometimes wonder if I should describe it like a recipe:
Add equal parts artist, advocate, and educator in large bowl. Knead well until smooth, working out any cracks or bubbles. Season to taste with a dash of entrepreneurship. Work in freelance writing, community development, directing, and fundraising as needed, kneading again. Form into small chunks and serve appropriate mixture.
As if that challenge isn’t enough already, I find myself drawn to places where you don’t always see teaching artists. Don’t get me wrong; we all love our theatre companies, our education nonprofits, and our cultural councils. They do great work that is worth doing, and we should continue to work there, especially so that more people know what “teaching artist” means. But I’d like to pose another question, and the Write Teacher(s), with its eclectic mix of artists, educators, activists, and go-betweeners seems the place to ask it.
I think we need to ask, “Who Needs Teaching Artists?”
Last school year I was working at a youth shelter. I was placed there through AmeriCorps, with the official title of “Volunteer Teacher.” This meant that I did anything that needed to be done for our education and recreation departments. I proctored tests, I tutored students, I substitute taught, et cetera. And when our director said, “We want to grow our after-school programs,” I jumped on the opportunity to create a theatre club. It ended up being a wild success, and it gave me the start I wanted as a teaching artist. What I mean is, it started me out in virtually unheard-of territory.
Until I pushed for it, there was no consideration there of having an ongoing theatre program. Teaching Artists I know that do work in prisons, homeless shelters, and the like also have to give that push (see above where I mentioned ‘advocate’ and ‘entrepreneur’). These are the sorts of places “on the margins” that can really benefit from theatre and other arts programs. Add a bit of creative placemaking, and you as the teaching artist have a rich repertoire of personal stories to work with in creating a piece. It’s not impossible; it’s just not common enough.
All I’m trying to say is that we, as teaching artists, should continue to think outside the worn-out box. Or in the words of Frank Lloyd Wright, “destroy the box.” There are places out there — and I’m still finding them — that would never think to hire a storyteller or theatre teaching artist to create something for them or with them. But if you offer, they might just say yes. There are plenty of places that tell stories, even in the most informal of ways. Shouldn’t we get on board with that?
So my answer is, “Everywhere needs teaching artists.” And yes, we ought to be everywhere. What if every prison had a teaching artist working with the inmates? Or if there were teaching artists in every nursing home working with our elders? What would happen if every shelter for our homeless, abandoned, struggling young people had teaching artists to help? How might that change our cultural landscape? Or redefine what we mean by “education?”
I’m of the opinion that if we want to really make waves, we ought to go into uncharted waters. As an artist, educator, activist, teaching artist, whatever you are, ask yourself — where else should I be going to do what I do? The Write Teacher(s) has great conversations that run the gamut on books, literature, the arts, and education. Readers here know already how interconnected in our minds these conversations are. So, how can we push that outward, upward, beyond?
Go grab your mixing bowl, find your ingredients, and start kneading it all together. Don’t be afraid of getting it under your fingernails. You will have to figure your own ratios for yourself, but that’s okay if you give it time. Add a dash of this or that, depending on what you need. Then find where to serve it up, and be sure to enjoy.
Live, Love, Learn,
* Caleb Winebrenner is a teaching artist based in Tempe, AZ. He blogs about the challenges and rewards of being a teaching artist, and tweets.
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