YA and NJAEC Presents Series of Free Workshops for Teaching Artists throughout NJ

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:          

Date: July 1, 2020 

PRESS CONTACT:

Samantha Clarke

609.984.7019

[email protected]

Teaching Artist Josh Campbell leads classroom educators and teaching artists in a lesson on social justice.

Young Audiences Arts for Learning NJ & Eastern PA and New Jersey Arts Education Collective Presents Series of Free Workshops for Teaching Artists throughout the State

PRINCETON, NJ; July 1, 2020 — As schools in our region prepare for the fall, New Jersey’s arts education partners are preparing to offer robust, engaging, and relevant arts experiences for students by offering professional learning for teaching artists. Initiated by Young Audiences Arts for Learning NJ & Eastern PA (YA), the New Jersey Arts Education Collective (Collective) will be facilitating a free series of professional learning opportunities entitled the Teaching Artist Summer Series. This series of four workshops and webinars are available for teaching artists who work within the state of New Jersey.

The Teaching Artist Summer Series is presented by YA and the Collective, a partnership of arts education organizations whose mission is to provide the highest quality professional learning for teaching artists and the arts education community. In the past, the Collective has presented the Connect Conference, a day where teaching artists throughout the state could experience keynote speakers and workshop leaders on topics such as social justice, arts equity, and inclusion practices.

This summer’s Teaching Artists Summer Series will begin on Thursday, July 16 and occur each Thursday until its conclusion on August 6, 2020. Workshops begin at 3:00 PM and range from one to two hours in length.

“All educators, including teaching artists, are being called on to deliver arts education in new ways, and to address the significant challenges our students are experiencing,” Michele Russo, President & CEO of YA. “At YA, we recognize our role in preparing professional teaching artists for the coming school year and are excited to lead this initiative, with the partnership, expertise and support of our colleagues in the field.”

During the Teaching Artist Summer Series, a member organization of the Collective will present a weekly workshop or webinar featuring topics that address the opportunities and challenges that teaching artists face this school year. Session topics include Virtual Learning in the Arts, presented by Morris Arts (July 16, 3:00 – 4:30 PM); City Verses and The Virtual Voice: Pivoting In-Person Instruction for a Virtual Community, presented by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (July 23, 3:00 – 4:00 PM); Natural Links: How to Curriculum Mine for SEL, presented by Appel Farm Arts & Music Campus (July 30, 3:00 – 4:00 PM); and Antiracism in the Arts Classroom, presented by Young Audiences Arts for Learning NJ & Eastern PA (August 6, 3:00 – 5:00 PM).

Registration for the Teaching Artist Summer Series will open on July 2, 2020 at 12:00 PM at njaec.org. Participants are welcome to register for any number of events. Video playback will be sent to each of the registrants at the conclusion of the workshop and will be made available for a limited time to registrants who could not attend the live experience. For more information on program descriptions, speaker information, and requirements, visit njaec.org.

Lead sponsorship for the Teaching Artist Summer Series is provided by Young Audiences Arts for Learning NJ & Eastern PA (YA). Co-Sponsors for the Teaching Artists Summer Series are Arts Ed NJ, Morris Arts, New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), and Perkins Center for the Arts. Presenting sponsors include Appel Farm Arts & Music Campus, Morris Arts, NJPAC, and YA. Additional support for the Teaching Artists Summer Series comes from Count Basie Center for the Arts and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

For more information on session topics, content, or how to register, contact Samantha Clarke at [email protected] or by calling 609.984.7019

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The New Jersey Arts Education Collective is a partnership of arts education organizations whose mission is to provide the highest quality professional development for teaching artists and the arts education community.

The Collective believes teaching artists offer a unique contribution to the lives of students, teachers, and communities. The Collective envisions a network of support between teaching artists and arts education specialists to develop skills, share resources, and strengthen the field to benefit New Jersey’s students by providing essential/critical learning of and through the arts.

About Young Audiences Arts for Learning

Founded in 1973, Young Audiences Arts for Learning NJ & Eastern PA is the premier arts education partner in the region, collaborating to provide high-quality performances and artist-in-residence programs to schools in all 21 counties of New Jersey and the 7 easternmost counties of Pennsylvania. Young Audiences’ extensive professional teaching artists represent all art forms—from dance and theater to music, language, and visual arts. YA programs are designed to be child-centered, outcome driven, and effective, providing children with the opportunity to experience quality art; understand the art form and its cultural context; create their own original art; and connect art to their own life and learning. Since its founding, the organization has reached over 15 million children with essential arts education experiences.

A not-for-profit organization, Young Audiences’ mission is to inspire young people and expand their learning through the arts. YA’s programs are accessible to all socio-economic, ethnic, cultural, and geographic communities, and are designed to strengthen the arts in schools, meet local and state curriculum standards, involve families in arts activities, and enrich cultural life in New Jersey and Pennsylvania communities.

Young Audiences is the first arts education organization designated as a major service organization by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and, as part of the national network of Young Audiences, Inc., was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Clinton. Young Audiences programs are made possible in part through a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State and Pennsylvania Council of the Arts. Additional funding comes from foundations, corporations and generous individuals. To learn more, visit www.yanjep.org To be “social” with us, join us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram and Twitter @yaaflorg.