The Teaching Artist Guild (TAG) imagines new pathways to create work for teaching artists. We believe teaching artists should learn from one another and lead professional development for other arts educators in the field. TAG supports a national network of facilitators and organizations who are available to create and lead professional development opportunities for arts organizations, businesses, teaching artists, schools, and more. Specifically, organizations can hire TAG staff to consult on organizational structure, pay rate structures, research, professional development, and more.
We’ve worked with numerous organizations across the country, including Arts Washington, the Entertainment Community Fund, the International Teaching Artist Collaborative, Arts Education Partnership, amongst others.
Sample PD: “Teaching Artists: A Creative Workforce”
We are teaching artists! Dual cultural and community education workers in communities, schools, correctional facilities, businesses and cultural organizations. Did you know that cultural work makes up 8.6% of Washington State’s GDP? But being a cultural worker is more than just creating art-work. Teaching artists use creativity to nurture youth to the top tier of the ladder of youth participation providing students with opportunities for agency and voice. Learn about how teaching artists strengthen community through workshops and community art building, and provide opportunities for youth leadership, expression, and social-emotional learning. Join Co-Executive Directors of the Teaching Artist Guild Miko Lee and Heleya de Barros for an interactive workshop showcasing the many avenues for artists to bring their creative work to communities through the teaching artist profession. Explore various pathways and entry points to the field and learn about important work that artists give back to their communities.
Sample Research: The Entertainment Community Fund
In 2022, TAG staff performed an assessment and evaluation of the current arts education and teaching artistry offerings through the Entertainment Community Fund formerly the Actors Fund and provided recommendations for areas of needed expansion and opportunity. This included a synthesis of TAG data already in hand from our previous work as well as interviews with stakeholders in both urban and rural settings, focus groups, introductions to arts education organizations across the country, and outlining a pipeline of career development opportunities through the Entertainment Community Fund Career Center. A final report of this research will be available in 2023.
How it works: Contact TAG today for an initial planning meeting. We will discuss your organization’s needs, who in the field might best fit those needs, and how we can implement the best professional development for your organization.
Why us? TAG staff are uniquely qualified for consultation as we are the only national advocacy organization for teaching artists, led by teaching artists. We have substantial regional and institutional knowledge that directly serves the needs of teaching artists nationally. We are connected to arts education stakeholders across the country, a number of whom serve on our National Advisory Committee. Our reach is unparalleled. Additionally, as a national organization focused on social justice and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work, we are able to identify specific areas that affect and are of interest to marginalized populations of artists in the field.
