Teaching Artist Philosophy

As a teaching artist, I create and facilitate arts experiences for young people. Whether in a classroom, rehearsal room or community space, I utilize drama and theatre to engage in visual, kinesthetic and collaborative storytelling and as a way to make meaning of individual and community experiences.

Though my teaching artistry takes many forms and lives in different physical spaces, in every creative process I am to:

• Honor multiple perspectives and diverse voices
• Cultivate collaborative environments and partnerships
• Reflect on artistic activities to inform future choices
• Draw on the lived experiences each participant brings into the room
• Have fun!

These values deepen my fascination with how others experience art. I facilitate arts experiences that resonate with young people in developmentally and culturally relevant ways.

It is my responsibility as a teaching artist to provide a place where everyone feels welcomed, valued and safe to express him or herself. I am a facilitator. I am a guide. It is not my job to tell students what to think. Young people have brilliantly creative ideas, and I want to create ways for them to express these ideas at any age.

Whether my students grow up to become professional artists proves irrelevant. My hope is that, by facilitating arts experiences that engage, challenge and captivate, students will develop the tools to be empathetic, creative, collaborative people. What matters is that they are motivated to create something that helps them make meaning in the world. What that turns out to be is up to them.