Introducing: Teaching Artist Support Collaborative (TASC)
TASC's over-arching goal is to establish Teaching Artists as equally valued peers with our partners in education, community and social services. We aim to professionalize and advocate for the field including apppropriate pay and benefits for teaching artists, quality professional development, mentoring and clear pathways for entering the profession. Our tools are shared information and resources, communications and networking. Supporting these efforts is a vision for the unique role of the teaching artist and the critical importance of an arts rich, arts-integrated education for all children.
TAO remains a regional Bay Area organization, notwithstanding its role in helping shape the statewide collaborative. We will keep you informed of TASC's evolution. As soon as the strategic plan is finalized, we will post it here; and as soon as TASC has its own communications hub, we will share the information with you.
TASC Steering Committee Members include:
Glenna Avila, Cal Arts Community Arts Partnership Susan Cambigue-Tracey, Music Center of the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County Lorraine Cleary-Dale, The Armory
Wayne Cook, California Arts Council Mary Kelly, Young Audiences Northern California Jan Kirsch, Inner City Arts Sabrina Klein, facilitator, Teaching Artists Organized Erika Kraft, Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission Betty Lee, Cal Arts Community Arts Partnership Judy Nemzoff, San Francisco Arts Commission Jennifer Oliver, Young Audiences San Diego Jill Randall, Teaching Artists Organized Jeannette Richardson, Kern County Arts Commission Sandy Seufert, Music Center, Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County Belinda Taylor, Teaching Artists Organized Melinda Williams, Music Center Elisha Wilson-Beach, LA County Arts Commission
News of interest: TAO has joined a coop work space. We are part of the HUB in downtown Berkeley, a cooperative work and meeting space where we can set up, meet up, plug in and plan on an as-needed basis. Write to us at
TAO needs you! We're in start-up mode and depend upon volunteers (lots of them!), seed grants, and donations--and we could use your support. We do not charge anyone to become a TAO associate and charge nominal fees for services. If you can support our early development, please click here and make a donation through our fiscal sponsor, Community Initiatives or go to http://cifunds.org/teaching-artists.html, Thanks in advance for your support.
See interview with NY State Association of Teaching Artists director Dale Davis here.
We are looking forward to hearing from you. You can contact us at our e-mail address: tao@teachingartistsorganized.org or call us at 510.493.7533.
