Young & Emerging Leaders Forum Spotlight: Thea Martin

YELF is jointly hosted by Creative Generation (CG) and the International Teaching Artist Collaborative (ITAC) to bring together and recognize young practitioners from across the field fostering a collaborative learning environment based in critical reflection intended to interrogate, mutually share and learn, and radically reimagine future possibilities for one’s work.

Thea is a teaching artist and violinist living on Kaurna land (Adelaide), seeking to invite their community into artistic experiences through a creativity and participatory-centred pedagogical practice. They hold a Bachelor of Music (Advanced) Majoring in Music Education and Pedagogy from the Elder Conservatorium of Music, teach music in local schools and created the collaborative composition workshop series A Room of Her Own Workshops, which invite young people to explore what it means to develop mental and physical spaces for creativity, through the work of living femme artists and composers. As a violinist, Thea has collaborated on improvised music projects with dancers, theatre artists and musicians across genres of contemporary classical/art music, experimental, jazz and post-rock as well as curated a workshop/performance on text scores through community organisation MUD. Thea is interested in exploring listening as activism and self-care as well as providing accessible entry points for the community into art-making experiences.

How do you personally define leadership?

I'm still developing my understanding of leadership, but what feels best to me at this stage as an emerging leader, is to begin from a place of listening deeply to the people you are working with, and using that understanding of their perspective to support, facilitate, shape and create space for everyone to work towards shared goals. Constantly looking for better ways to share responsibility, accountability and seeking flexible and accessible ways of working are some of my leadership goals.

What is a driving question you have?

How can we move beyond capitalist/productivity centred project outcomes, to find ways of measuring impact that better reflect the depth/energy of our work?

What titles/terms do you like to use to describe your work?

I describe myself as a teaching artist and a violinist primarily. I also play around with the words participatory artist, writer, score-maker, creative producer, facilitator and musician more broadly, depending on how I am feeling and what I am working on. It very much depends on who I am speaking to or what I am creating. I also describe myself as being interested in listening as activism and self-care.

What is something (in your own work) you are particularly proud of and why?

I am proud of my impulse and drive to centre creative agency in all projects I take on - both as a teaching artist and when I am creating improvisatory text scores. I think deeply about how people will feel when they step into a space/workshop/environment I have facilitated, and want that experience to be one where people feel valued, heard and that they have the freedom to explore creative decision making and meaning making in ways that feel good for them.

What makes you excited to work at the intersection of the fields of Arts, Cultural & Education?

I'm excited that I've found a world where I can intertwine my two greatest cares in the world - music and education, in a way that feels truly meaningful and impactful. I believe that the arts are one of the most accessible and exciting ways for us to find and build connection in our communities, and I am determined to keep expanding my skills and understanding of what it means to work as a teaching artist.

What is one change you would like to see made in our field?

Greater connection between artists and arts organisations! I'm from Kaurna Country (Adelaide), Australia - and here the field is quite small and disconnected. I would love to see more arts organisations and artists come together to build a connected community of artists working together to achieve social impact goals. That may involve some dismantling/overhauling of what currently keeps us apart.

If you had a superpower, what would it be and why?

To live multiple parallel lives.. . there are so many things I want to do and be!