Earlier this year the ITAC Collaborative invited six innovators to administer projects adding tools, resources and connections to support the field of teaching artists.
Creative Generation was selected to produce the “Knowledge Sharing and Digital Learning Project.” This project will address the gap in research and resources produced by and for the field of teaching artistry. The project will engage volunteers in the teaching artist field from a cross-section of countries to collect, validate, and disseminate tools, resources, and creative/scholarly research in a number of capacities. These include retrofitting the existing knowledge shared through the 2019 Think Tanks, building each into a digital learning module; cataloguing, publishing and disseminating research and resources shared through the 2018 and 2020 ITAC conferences; and devising a sustainable and scalable framework for a clearinghouse of new tools and resources created by and for the field of teaching artistry to be located within ITAC’s digital platform.
As part of this project an international Advisory Committee has been assembled. From a tremendous response from practitioners around the globe, the below committee has been selected to contribute to this project.
Bonface Beti is international artist, multidisciplinary academic and practitioner who specializes in application of theatre-based peace education tools with communities to transform conflict and create a story of peace. Since 2004, working with Amani Peoples’ Theatre and now with the Green String Network he has utilized such processes in Kenya, South Sudan, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, US and Canada among others. He utilizes all these approaches in a culturally relevantway working with communities to reflect deeply on complexities of historical trauma and social conflicts. The main objective for groups or individuals attaining critical emancipatory peace where communities reclaim their humanization. He holds two MA degrees, one in International Relations from United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya and the other in peacebuilding from the University of Manitoba, Canada and a Graduate Certificate in Use of Arts in Peacebuilding at Canadian Peace School. He’s currently admitted into PhD program in use of Expressive Arts in Conflict transformation at European Graduate School in Saas Fes, Switzerland.
Clara Bloomfield is an award winning freelance international theatre-maker, lecturer and socially engaged artist from Scotland. She specialises in creating socio-politically engaged performance exploring the stories of the everyday and is presented both in theatres and in non-traditional spaces. Clara has created work with and for organisations such National Theatre of Scotland, The Grande Blue, Lille France, Theatre NI (Northern Ireland) Youth Theatre Ireland, The Hamilton Arts Festival New Zealand and The National Theatre of Great Britain. Clara is Scotland’s Catalyst for ITAC (International Teaching Arts Collective), who alongside the other 13 International Catalysts to advance Teaching Artistry Globally. In 2019/20 Clara will be working across Singapore and Delhi as an ‘Arts for Good Fellow’, fostering a community of practice that harnesses the power of arts and culture to create positive social change. For further information visit www.clarabloomfield.com
Olisa Enrico (Johnson) earned a BFA in performance in 2007, from Virginia Commonwealth University, Magna Cum Laude. She went on to earn and MFA in Theater Pedagogy with a dual focus in Acting/Directing with the use of Ritual Poetic Drama Within the African Continuum as originated by Dr. Tawnya Pettiford Wates and Voice/Speech using Archetypes for the Actor as designed by Frankie Armstrong and Janet Rodgers from Virginia Commonwealth University. Olisa believes that artists and art are vital to the state of education and should be incorporated into all areas of learning. Olisa works with people of all ages and stages. She is a founder of a not for profit organization that uplifts the stories of Black Womxn. She is a member of an anti-racist theater company that uses challenging dramatic work to start open and honest dialogues about racism in America in order to repair it’s damaging legacy. Her business offers professional development, curriculum development and theater infused workshops and classes. As an educator and facilitator she incorporates principles of community, collaboration and shared responsibility.
Daniel A. Kelin II is an artist, educator, scholar and playwright who lives in Hawaii and (usually) travels a great deal. He has been the Honolulu Theatre for Youth Director of Drama Education since 1987. Daniel is on the Teaching Artist roster of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and the roster of Fulbright Specialists. A Fulbright-Nehru Fellow in India in 2009 and 2019, other fellowships include Montalvo Arts Center, TYA/USA, the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America and the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. Daniel has been affiliated with theatres, schools and youth organizations in American Samoa, the Marshall Islands, Pohnpei, Guam, and India. Honors and awards include: the American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE) Youth Theatre Director of the Year, AATE Lin Wright Special Recognition award for work with pre-service teachers, the 2015 AATE Distinguished Book of the Year for his latest book, The Reflexive Teaching Artist: Collected Wisdom from the Drama/Theatre Field, the Aurand Harris Playwriting award of the New England Theatre Conference, an NYU New Plays for Young Audiences staged reading of his play Sing a Porpoise Home, and winner of the Old Miner’s Children’s Playwriting Contest for the play Donnie Q: Knight of the Third Grade. From 2011-2013, Daniel served as president of AATE, and was on the board of directors for many more years. Most recently, his solo play Shipwreck’d on the Body Beautiful, which he wrote and performed, had its world premiere at Kumu Kahua Theatre.
Carmen Olaechea has been working 30 years with the Latin American civil society in developing conceptual and strategic frameworks; designing and implementing collaborative learning architectures; designing, developing and supervising projects and programs; evaluating local and international projects and managing risks at both operational and strategic levels. In the last 10 years the main focus of her work has been related to art and social transformation, conflict transformation and sustainability. Carmen is chairwoman of Fundación Cambio Democrático, an organization specialized in dialogue and conflict transformation, member of the advisory board and international counselor for Crear Vale La Pena, an organization specialized in the field of arts for social transformation and co-responsible for Learning Exchanges actions in IMPACT: a platform for Art, Culture and Conflict Transformation (ACCT). Her publications include two co-authored books on art and social transformation, and three children’s books. In addition, Carmen is an independent advisor.
A choreographer, director and researcher, Marco Pronovost explores the relationship with the public and challenges the fourth wall. Mr Pronovost is a Fellow of the Global Salzburg Seminar in Austria and manifests his interest in social art in other professional spheres — curator, mediator, consultant, instructor, lecturer and author. He is one of the few specialists who address issues of cultural mediation and public engagement as both an artist and a theorist. He graduated from the Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland, majoring in development studies. Mr Pronovost is also the curator of Tangente, a contemporary dance presenter in Montréal, Canada. He’s also a Teaching-Artist as a freelancer around the world and with Place des Arts in Montréal. He’s written one book on Social Art and edited a second titled Curating Live Arts. He’s currently Co-President of the International Community of Performing Arts Curators.
Ling Tang is a New York City based dancer, educator, and arts manager. With professional training in traditional Chinese and contemporary dance styles, Ling has performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Harman Center for the Arts, Smithsonian institutes among other venues and festivals. As an educator, Ling currently teaches through Young Audiences New York and Flushing Council on Culture & the Arts, specialized in offering dance and cultural workshops for K-12 schools, colleges, and community centers. Her teaching credits also include Dance St. Louis, The Museum of the City of New York, SUNY Purchase College, Washington Performing Arts, etc. As an arts manager, Ling held the positions as a program officer at the Asian Cultural Council and an intern at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She has consulted and managed various cultural exchange projects for Smithsonian Folklife Festival, National Dance Institute, China Arts and Entertainment Group, etc. Dance/USA Journal and Dancer Magazine have published her research papers. Ling holds an M.A. in arts administration from Columbia University, a B.A. in dance and intercultural performing arts from the University of Maryland-College Park, and a teaching artist certificate from Teachers College Columbia University.