From April 2020 – December 2021, Creative Generation was named an ITAC Innovator and focused on developing an infrastructure within the International Teaching Artist Collaborative (ITAC) to address the gap in research and resources produced by and for the field of teaching artistry. The project engaged 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; formulating a strategy to catalog, publish and disseminate research and resources shared through the 2018 and 2020 ITAC conferences; and researching and recommending 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. Read more about this project there.
From this work, ITAC hosts monthly Think Tanks, where a host from a different part of the world shares insights about their work, and in discussion with attendees, digs deep about the ways this could help you develop your own practice. The Think Tanks are edited, archived, and connected to additional resources across the sector.
Check out the latest archives here:
Social Engagement Through Crafting (April 2019)
Jessica Howarth (United Kingdom)
What impact can crafting have on individuals? Communities?
In April of 2019, Jessica Howarth and several of her crafting colleagues from Scotland, United Kingdom came together for a round table discussion. Over the course of the session, each teaching artist spoke to the impact that crafting can have on participants and communities, especially those who are typically underserved. In doing so, they highlight the ways in which the arts can positively impact mental and physical health. Above all else, the discussion around the empowering nature of choice in craft because there is no wrong or right in what is being made. Just what you feel.
The session showcased the collegial community of practice among Scotland’s crafters and makers.
Evidence To Prove The Practice (May 2019)
By: Brad Haseman (Australia)
How can artists and teaching artists better represent the impact they have in the communities they serve?
In May of 2019, Brad Haseman provided a brief overview of his work in Papua New Guinea (PNG) with Life Drama. Since 2007, a group of researchers and teaching artists from Australia have been collaborating with PNG colleagues to set up a sustainable infrastructure for designing, implementing, and evaluating a teaching artist program addressing sexual health issues, particularly safe sexual behaviors, for young people in PNG.
While explaining his work, Brad questions the value of traditional impact analysis and explains why quantitative and qualitative data do not really serve the work of artists and teaching artists. Instead, he posits that performative data must be folded into the mix to better interact with funders.