What is TAO?
Teaching Artists Organized is a membership organization established by a group of founding arts and education organizations in 2004--California Shakespeare Theater, Berkeley Rep, Creative Education Institute (formerly at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts), Theatre Bay Area, Dancers Group, Community Network for Youth Development, and a group of individual artists. With fiscal sponsorship from Community Initiatives, we began operating as a not-for-profit public benefit advisory group in 2008.
In 2010, we hired our first regular staff members and created a leadership Executive Committee to move us forward. Meet the TAO Executive Committee.
What have we been up to till now?
TASC -- Teaching Artist Support Collaborative Belief Statement
With funding from the Alameda County Arts Commission (from the California Arts Council), TAO took the lead in three statewide conversations between Nov 2008 and Nov 2009 to explore the field of teaching artistry in California.
Our first meeting resulted in a shared Belief Statement about our work, which begins:
We, the undersigned, share the belief that the purpose and value of the education system is to build a healthy and equitable society. We believe this happens through equitable classrooms in which every child learns in the way most meaningful to him or her.
Classrooms should teach children to:
1. dispel ignorance, through inquiry;
2. see what is; and then,
3. imagine what is possible.
While there is a certain anxiety in brokering in inquity, and most people would rather deal with certainty, artists (like scientists engaged in primary research) know that the mysterious place of inquiry is where the possible resides.
See the entire belief statement here. CA Beliefs about TAs for CAC.pdf
The document was signed by representatives from the following organizations and presented to the Commissioners on the California Arts Council:
Alameda County Arts Commission
Alameda County Office of Education Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership
California Institute for the Arts
CCA Center for Art and Public Life
Fresno Arts Council
Humboldt Arts Council
Community School of Music and Art
Armory Center for the Arts
Sacramento Metro Arts Commission
Cultural Council of Santa Cruz
Sonoma Arts Council
Music Center, Performing Arts Center for Los Angeles County
Young Audience of San Diego
CSUSM Foundation, Center ARTES
California Poets in the Schools (North)
California Poets in the School (South)
TAO has always been an active member in the Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE) Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership.
Teaching Artist Institutes
As part of our work with the Alliance, we created the first 3-day Teaching Artist Institute in 2007: Partnering Successfully in School Today. Nearly 100 teaching artists participted over 3 days on the California College for the Arts' Oakland campus in a curriculum co-created with master teaching artists from the Creative Education Institute (formerly at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts), Museum of Children's Art (MoCHA), Luna Kids Dance (now Luna Dance Institute), Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, Cal Performances, Opera Piccola, and a panel of independent teaching artists.
Members download free copy in Members Only tab!
By, With and For Teaching Artists: TAO Professional Development Workshops
Since 2009, we've offered an array of workshops and day-long events to our members, including:
Arts Teaching Methodologies Speed Dating
Visual and Performing Arts Standards
Classroom Management through Theater
Visual Arts Integration Strategies
Multiple Intelligences: Teaching to the Ways People Learn
Mind Your Own Business: Managing the Business Side of Freelance Teaching Artistry
Online Resources for Teaching Artists (with ISKME)
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