Adam Natale

If School of Rock taught us anything, it’s that art can have a major impact on students’ lives, and that even a slacker musician can inspire the next generation.  What it also showed us was that maybe the world of teaching artists is too ad hoc and doesn’t really have any form or professionalization to it – someone can just walk in to a classroom, hook up an amp, and start jamming (ahem, teaching).

Well, that film debuted over 10 years ago.  In the last decade, we’ve surely seen a surge not only in the professionalization of teaching artists, but also in the field as a whole.   With organizations such as the Association of Teaching Artists (of which I am a board member) providing resources and research to the field, and certificate programs popping up through university continuing ed programs, teaching artists have far more resources available to them than they had even five years ago.  Even within many arts organizations, programs led by education directors are focusing on the training of teaching artists as opposed to the simple execution of lesson plans. 

That being said, we still have a ways to go.  There is still the looming question of whether or not teaching artists should be certified.  There is still the lack of a national service organization that would assist individuals and oversee the field (though the Association of Teaching Artists tries its best to fill that gap).  And there is still the stigma that teaching artists are simply those who can’t get paid for their artistry otherwise.  When I last checked – from anecdotal evidence and survey data I collected while working at Fractured Atlas -- over 60% of artists in the field teach in some capacity.  I would surmise that the vast majority of the faculty of the School of Visual Arts (my current employer), amongst many other arts colleges, are practicing artists.  So, even as the field professionalizes and establishes itself further – just as being a teaching artist is finally coming into its own as a viable career choice – it’s important that we continue to invest further in the field and give it the attention and resources it needs in order to thrive.