About the Teaching Artist Opportunity

Call for Teaching Artists

The Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) is seeking two (2) teaching artists to participate in a paid professional development training program that will serve older adults living in senior apartment communities through residencies. COA will provide best practice strategies for working in the field of creative aging. The two teaching artists will work closely with a master teaching artist whose artistic discipline is songwriting. The two participating artists will each bring their own arts discipline into the process.

Teaching artists are individual practicing artists who specialize in teaching both in the classroom and in the community. The passion and commitment, experience, knowledge and skills that teaching artists bring to the classroom and to the community help to engage students (of all ages) in authentic arts and arts integrated learning, and to advance creative and critical thinking. 

While teaching artists are teaching partners, there is no requirement for teaching artists to be certified teachers. 

Timeline

Application Deadline	July 1, 2021
Application Review / Interviews	Fall/Winter
Training / Residency Planning	January 2022
Residencies	Late Winter/Spring 2022
Evaluation and Wrap-up	Spring 2022
	All dates are subject to change

Be sure to review the submission details to learn more about the program before you submit your application.

Teaching Artists inspire students of any age. Students of any age thrive in environments where teachers communicate, collaborate, and engage critical thinking skills. The READI to Age opportunity includes the training of two (2) teaching artists; followed by one 10-day residency (as an apprentice with the COA Master Teaching Artist); then develop and conduct a 10-day residency of your own under the guidance and support of the COA Master Teaching Artist. Each 10-day residency may take place over several weeks with each session not to exceed 90 minutes. An expanded definition of a Teaching Artist Residency is included in the Additional Notes section below.

At this time, we anticipate conducting in-person residencies with the understanding that activities may shift to virtual at any point during the project. Teaching Artists must plan and be prepared for both in-person and virtual residencies.

Key Responsibilities of the Teaching Artist

• Participate in required training/planning sessions in August of 2021
  • Session One – approx. 1.5 hour Cultural Sensitivity Training
  • Session Two – Master Teaching Artist will facilitate a planning session for the two selected Teaching Artists for residency preparations.
• Observe/participate with Master Teaching Artist conducting initial 10-day residency projected to take place in September of 2021.
• Conduct your own 10-day residency with the support of the COA Master Teaching Artist. Residency projected to take place between September and December of 2021.
• Engage in follow-up discussion(s) and project review to document program successes and challenges to inform future programming.
• Additional meetings between Master Teaching Artist and other Teaching Artists as required. 

Terms of Service

Teaching artists are considered independent contractors and will receive training and compensation for their services as noted below:

Training sessions (2 sessions each at $100)	200
10-day residency with Master Teaching Artist	2,000
10-day residency as Lead Artist	2,000
Post-residency report-out session(s)	100
	$4,300

• Teaching Artists will enter into a contract with the State of Connecticut and will be required to:
  • supply proof of current Connecticut residency status
  • submit a W9 and state vendor form
  • sign a state contract confirming compliance with program eligibility
• Tax Liability - awards are taxable. If concerned about tax liability, please consult with an accountant. COA does not provide tax assistance.

Documentation: COA will be working with the Master Teaching Artist, the staff at the assisted living apartments, and Video and written documentation will be captured throughout the project.

Teaching Artist Residency: Residencies may take many forms.  They may be short term (3-5 sessions) or long term (6 sessions or longer) with the same group of learners.  Some residencies may span an entire summer or even a year.  A teaching artist residency is different from a performance or workshop in that the teaching artist and the presenter (person /organization hiring the teaching artist) determine what measurable goals they would like to accomplish by the end of the residency, and each session builds on skills and knowledge acquired in the previous session.  In addition, each residency should have an evaluative component to track and assess progress of the learners.  Most often a residency occurs over an extended period of time.  For instance, a 10-day residency may occur two times a week for 5 weeks.  Likewise, a 5-day residency may occur once a week for 5 weeks. The number and frequency of sessions, and length of time for each session within a residency is determined by what the artist and the presenter agree is an appropriate amount of time to accomplish the goals they have set as well as consideration for capacity of the learners.  For instance, a session for pre-school children may only be 20 minutes while a session for adults may be 2-4 hours.