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Guide to Bringing an Artist Residency into the Classroom

one partner school plus one arts organization plus teaching artists

  • How do we know this model works?

    We tested it. Here's how the IAC framed the ten pilot programs.

    Partnership1 Highly Skilled Teaching Artist  + 1 Active community partner Arts Organization + 1 Engaged local elementary school with high needs. (High needs is defined as higher than state average participation in free and reduced lunch, and lower than state average passing of state standardized tests.)
    ParticipantsElementary students in schools grades 1-5
    DurationUp to 3-year partnership to implement an annual residency of at least 20 weeks
    DataAssessment data was collected and evaluated annually on five measures: Art Knowledge, Art Skills, Writing Skills, Engagement/Attitude, Interest in the arts
    • Plan Development: the partners spent the first semester planning – from brainstorming and refining to curriculum development. What would a three-year program look like to benefit these students?
      • “Let’s have dance classes choreographed to poetry they write and revise.”
      • “Let’s take a field trip to the local performance for the students to see and write about.”
      • “Let’s publish a book of the students’ writing and illustrations based  upon a theme.”
    • Scheduling: The arts integration curriculum and schedule for the artist visits are established for every classroom in one grade level (3rd, 4th, or 5th)
    • Implementation:
      • The artist begins weekly visits for a minimum of 20 weeks.
      • The teacher and artist meet monthly for check-ins to make adjustments to the plan as needed.
      • Students, teachers, and the artist begin to build trust and get to know each other’s strengths.
    • Growth over time:
      • The students benefit with increased learning and engagement in school.
      • In the second and third years, the artist moves up a grade level and stays with the same group of students.
      • Extra field trips, events, activities and expansions of the program blossomed over the three years. Some schools expanded to three full grade-levels of classrooms.
    • Beyond PACE: All of the schools continued some version of the partnership even after the PACE program ended.
  • Who is paying for this & what does this cost?

    An in-school residency for one classroom, for one semester, could cost somewhere between $1,000 and $3,000; for the full school year, between $5,000 - $10,000 depending on many factors like materials, number of teaching artists (if an ensemble or troupe), mileage costs, and whether there will be additional experiences like a performance or field trip. This budgeting can be part of the initial planning conversation with the arts partner.

    It’s important that you start where you’re comfortable. If the idea of a whole-year residency and a $10,000 budget overwhelms you, start smaller. Start with a week-long residency and see how that works for your classroom then grow the plan from there. One of the key lessons we’ve learned with PACE is that this is a long-term investment in your students. It will take time to find the right rhythm with a visiting artist program.

    • IAC strongly advocates for any participating artist to be paid for their time, both in planning and leading sessions. Sometimes mileage costs are paid to the artist depending on where they live relative to the school
    • Teachers who plan outside of their school day may need compensation too
    • And don’t forget materials may need to be purchased

    Where to look for funding:

    Grants are a good option if your arts partner is a nonprofit, but grants can take a while to process. Think about applying for grants at least a year ahead of when you want to start the project. Grants can come from education or school district foundations, your county’s Community Foundation, local or national family foundations, and some big national corporate foundations like Crayola, just as a few examples. For more quick turnaround projects consider sponsorships from local businesses, fundraising through crowdsourcing like Donors Choose, the PTO, or ask your arts partner if they have fundraiser ideas for your project.

  • What makes the PACE model work?

    It really all comes down to three things:

    • Consistent, long-term partnership – a residency that has the artist visiting weekly for many weeks.
    • Skilled Teaching Artist – an artist who has teaching skills and experience can be a great complement to your work in the classroom
    • Planning together, artist and teacher – strong, frequent, ongoing communication between teacher and artist ensures all are getting what they need out of the partnership.

You’re excited and can’t wait to start planning!  But, before you go tooooo deep into planning, getting buy-in is a critical first step. Maybe at your school it’s the principal; maybe it’s a lead teacher in your department. Whoever holds the keys to unlocking this new opportunity, start by getting them excited about the idea too.

Need some resources to help make the case?  The case studies are meant to be shared as inspiration. There are videos, quotes, and photos all meant to inspire and show you this is possible in a school like yours. The case study schools are all over the state of Indiana, so you should have a great example near you to share for inspiration.

Research to support bringing Arts to your school:

Your arts partner will be your ally in the community who can help:

  • Find the right teaching artist for your classroom,
  • Find funding for the project, and
  • Guide you to new aspects of the arts you’ve never known about before.

They live and breathe the arts and can share in your excitement to bring creative learning to your students.

Not sure how or where to find an arts partner? Think about art centers, performing art centers, theatre groups, museums, dance companies, art galleries, etc from your community, county, or region. When reaching out to potential candidates:

  1. Ask the organization if they do community outreach work or other education programs,
  1. Ask if they are a nonprofit organization since that can impact funding opportunities, and
  1. Ask if they already have funding for community outreach projects.

Finally, make sure the arts partner is able to connect with your students. Are they the right partner who will understand the communities your students live in?

After almost a decade of working with the PACE school-artist partnership, the one key ingredient we found that makes every project work is PLANNING. It’s essential that you schedule plenty of time to plan before the residency even starts. Understanding the goals of each person, finding a schedule that works for all, and creating experiences that really connect with the students are important outcomes of solid pre-planning. And then continue to plan, and re-plan, and change the plan as the program goes on to make sure you’re continually hitting the mark on the students’ needs.

Fire drills, holidays, testing windows, snow delays…there are many reasons why artist residency sessions get interrupted throughout the year. For this arts integration model to work, you have to stay consistent with the visits even when it’s hard. For students to build trust in the artist and build their skills in the arts, they need consistent engagement in the experience. This will not be easy, but it will be worth it.

The absolute best part of this model is when the partnership really begins to work and the possibilities (and fun) expand exponentially. After the first year, the partnership will begin to feel more comfortable. In the second year, there will be interesting ways to find new connections to the curriculum and new ways to relate to the students. In the third year, the program always blossoms into something spectacular, with a clear understanding and trust with the students, a clear understanding and trust with the teachers and artists and a new passion throughout the whole school for creative learning. Let the sky be the limit as you plan new ways to leverage the arts in your teaching.

Big Takeaways:

The arts can be a game-changer for students.
Communication is key. Planning, brainstorming, debriefing with the artist is the best way to make sure it works for everyone.
You can do this!