Teaching Artists

"A Teaching Artist is a professional visual, performing, or literary artist who works in schools and in the community. The Teaching Artist may perform for the students and teachers, may work in long term or short-term residencies in classrooms or in a community setting, or may lead in program development through involvement in curricular planning and residencies with school partners. The Teaching Artist is an educator who integrates the creative process into the classroom and the community." – The Association of Teaching Artists

Master Basket Weaver Alice Ogden teaches
4th grade students at Madison Elementary School
about historical and cultural uses for black ash
baskets. Working with teacher Cynthia Robinson,
Alice draws connections between harvesting
black ash splints for baskets and the
local logging industry in Madison.

Many Traditional Artists across New Hampshire regularly share their knowledge and skills in educational settings both during school hours and in after school settings. Through artistic traditions students learn about other cultures as well as their own. They develop empathy and understanding for the expressions of other cultures as well as reaffirm what makes their own community unique. Sharing the cultural and artistic traditions of a community allows youth to engage in hands on experiential learning and to make connections to their own culture and heritage through the arts. These connections can be used to support the curriculum of many subjects including social studies, history, citizenship, earth science, English language arts, mathematics, and of course the visual arts, music, dance and theatre. Traditional Artists can help foster learning connections beyond the school day and for lifelong learning.

Resources

Guide to Traditional Artists working in School Settings 
This guide is a compilation of resources that can help New Hampshire classroom teachers, subject teachers, and traditional artists see the many ways traditional arts, music, and dance can support K-12 curriculum while aligning to the Common Core Standards. The guide also helps to break down some concepts and vocabulary used in educational settings that might be unfamiliar for traditional artists, like "What exactly is the Common Core?" The guide includes checklist and resources that breaks down the artist in residence process by providing checklists for partnerships between a classroom or subject teacher and a traditional artist.