Teaching Artist Development Studio

The Teaching Artist Development (TAD) Studio is a comprehensive training program for teaching artists. The TAD Studio initiative addresses an essential need in Chicago for systematic professional development of artists teaching in Chicago Public Schools.

The goal of the TAD Studio is to provide teaching artists with a strong foundation of knowledge and skills for teaching in and through the arts. This second pilot year of the initiative will be open to all teaching artists who wish to work in or out of school settings with K-12 Chicago Public School students.

Timeline and Participants

The TAD Studio for 2013 will serve one cohort for new and emerging teaching artists. Applications were accepted in the Fall and participants were selected for an early February start. The course will run weekly through early May.

The Curriculum

The program provides 40+ hours of hands-on training and research covering teaching artist practice in curriculum design, inquiry-based learning, documentation and archiving, student assessment, pedagogy, investigation of teaching sites, investigation of teaching and arts practices, action research, classroom management, and collaboration. Click here for more information about the TAD Studio curriculum.

"Teaching artists do an important job of nurturing self-expression and creativity for Chicago's children and youth. The TAD Studio is a valuable new resource that will equip teaching artists with the necessary skills and training to do their job even better."

-Michelle T. Boone, Commissioner of the City of Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events

The TAD Studio program is supported by generous grants from the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation and the JPMorgan Chase Foundation.