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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

The Arts Commission offers a large variety of professional development programs for teaching artists. Most workshops are free, but require pre-registration in order to attend. Check out what we have to offer!
Teaching Artist Workshop Series -- Sign up Now!
Pre-Qualified Teaching Artist Pool
Arts Education Networking Meetings
Workshops and Technical Assistance

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Teaching Artist Workshop Series (TAWS)

TAWS is a series of workshops on a variety of topics of interest to artists who also want to teach and/or build careers as teaching artists. The series is developed and presented by the Arts Commission’s Education staff with regional and national presenters from the visual, literary and performing arts and education fields.

ANNOUNCING OUR 2011-12 WORKSHOP SERIES
Want to learn more about this season's workshop presenters? Click here for biographies on each presenter.

Saturday • May 5 • 9:00 AM-2:00 PM • $15 includes lunch
Documenting Your Work as an Artist: Telling Your Story with Images Register now!
Grant applications, marketing materials, calls-to-artists, archives – there are many reasons why you need quality images of your work as an artist and a teaching artist. But often, these needs are greater than the resources available to get the job done. And even if you have the means, how do you know which images will best tell your story? In this workshop, you will learn to use simple video and photo equipment to document and market your work in an effective and compelling way.
Robert Ansell, Gary Dinnen & Chelsea Greninger, Presenters.
Location: S. Natomas Community Center (2921 Truxel Road - map)

Past Workshops:

2011-2012 Series:
Creating Effective Arts Assemblies for K-8 Students, Part 1*
Converting your work as a professional artist or arts organization into an effective arts learning experience for students is itself an art form. How do you engage large groups of students? How many (and which) facets of your art should be addressed? What common assumptions, myths, and mistakes should you avoid?
Designed as an introduction for artists and organizations developing their first assembly, this workshop explores the elements of an effective arts assembly for school settings, from the ground up.
John Bertles, Kennedy Center Presenter.

Creating Effective Arts Assemblies for K-8 Students, Part 2*
Building on the concepts presented in PART 1, this workshop will look at ways to strengthen your existing arts education assembly through examining some live examples.  John will engage us in reflection and discussion about our educational offerings as we experience segments of programming from pre-selected local artists, applying the principals he has developed through 20 years of touring in school settings throughout the country. 
John Bertles, Kennedy Center Presenter.

Classroom Management for Teaching Artists*
Classroom management can often be a source of anxiety for teaching artists, but a culturally responsive approach, a lot of planning and a little practice are the keys to success.  In this workshop the focus will include encouraging student engagement by preparing for a wide variety of contingencies and outcomes.  
John Bertles, Kennedy Center Presenter.

* Workshop sponsored by and developed in association with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and is partially underwritten by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Committee for the Performing Arts. It is offered as part of Sacramento’s Any Given Initiative.

Home is Where the Art Is: Making Art that Makes Connections
How can we use art-making to find connections with every student and classroom we work with? This question, foundational as it is to our work, can sometimes stump even the most seasoned teaching artist. In this workshop, we look at the work of regional artists of color who explore concepts of home, self and history in their work and discuss strategies for using free media resources to bring these artists and their work to life for your students. These artists from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds ask questions in their art that can spark conversations and art-making with students in any classroom, as well as providing points of entry for integrating your arts lessons with social studies and current event curricula in any grade.
Bonus session: Bring your laptop with iTunes installed and learn how to create your own thematic video playlists for FREE in the last optional30 minutes of the workshop.
Kristin Farr & Sabrina Klein, Teaching Artists Organized (TAO) Presenters.

So You Want to Be a Teaching Artist?
If you're an artist with a serious relationship with your arts discipline, and are thinking about being a Teaching Artist, there are some things you need to know.Like the basics: what is a teaching artist anyway? What skills are required and how do you develop them? How do you get work? What can you expect to earn? How do you negotiate a contract?
This workshop will give an overview to the emerging field of teaching artistry, provide hands-on engagement with teaching artists' best work, and answer questions about finding and sustaining work in the field. Participants will leave with resources and ideas for taking their next steps, wherever they are in their development.
Sabrina Klein & Friends, Teaching Artists Organized (TAO) Presenters.

While not comprehensive, the below list offers examples of workshops previously offered under TAWS:

  • How Do I Know They Got It? The Impact of my Work as a Teaching Artist
  • Engaging Challenging Populations in the Arts
  • Teaching Artists as Entrepreneurs
  • Effective Arts Experiences for Drop-in Settings
  • Multiple Intelligences in the Arts: Teaching to the Ways People Learn
  • Poetry Off the Page: Crossing Boundaries and Expanding Imaginations with Words

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Pre-Qualified Teaching Artist Pool:
The Arts Commission Pre-Qualified Teaching Artist Pool is a list of qualified teaching artists who have been screened by a panel of arts experts for their skills as artists and their strengths as teachers. Once in the Pool, artists are considered for contracts to teach in Arts Commission or other programs such as the Kennedy Center’s Any Given Child initiative in Sacramento. Artists may specialize in different age groups, disciplines, and settings such as social services organizations, assisted-care housing centers, after-school programs, or in-school programs. Artists selected for the Pool are considered for current education projects and for any future Arts Commission arts education projects over the next five years with a variety of populations at various sites throughout Sacramento County.

Artists have been selected for the current Pool. If you are not already in our database, please sign up for the Arts Commission's newsletter to receive the call for applications next time a new call for artists is released.

For more information contact Erika Kraft.

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Arts Education Networking Meetings
From time to time, arts organizations and arts education providers are invited to attend networking meetings facilitated by the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission. Meeting times and topics are emailed to our mailing lists. If you are not already on our mailing list, please contact Erika Kraft.

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Workshops and Technical Assistance
The Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission provides many workshops and technical assistance opportunities over the course of the year. These are often offered in conjunction with grants, model arts programs, and professional development programs.

Examples include:

  • Grant writing assistance for Arts Commission granting programs
  • Orientation for project start-up, once grants are awarded
  • Information and guidance in preparing materials and marketing for artist residencies, Pre-Qualified Teaching Artist Pool, or the Arts Resource Directory
  • Information meetings on upcoming Art Education opportunities

For technical assistance questions or to schedule individual appointments, please contact Erika Kraft.

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About the TAWS Teachers:

  • Sabrina Klein: Sabrina currently serves as the Executive Director of Teaching Artists Organized (TAO) and a Producer and team member for The Julia Morgan Project. She is also a Creative Education Consultant working primarily with not-for-profit arts and education organizations on an array of issues including executive coaching for nonprofit directors, strategic planning, program development and implementation, conflict resolution, community facilitation, and staff training.

  • John Bertles: John is a composer, instrument builder and educator. As an educator, he works as a teaching artist, teaching artist mentor, study guide writer, concert narrator and performer, curriculum writer, and advisory board with a number of organizations, including the Grammy Foundation, Kennedy Center, Leonard Bernstein Center, New York Philharmonic, New York City Department of Education, and Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble. He also teaches Master Classes at Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music.

  • Kristin Farr: Kristin studied sculpture and textiles but spends most of her time painting or writing about artists. She works on arts projects at KQED including Spark, Gallery Crawl, and the Arts & Culture blog. She also writes features for Juxtapoz magazine and has contributed to the Art:21 blog. Her artwork has been exhibited in San Francisco at Kokoro Studio and Fifty24SF Gallery.

  • Robert Ansell: Robert, principal of Royce Video began his career at CSU-Sacramento, University Media Services.  In 1984, upon graduation from CSUS with a BA degree in Communications, he established Royce Video Productions. For over 27 years he has offered his creative talents to non-profit, government, and large business clients at all levels. His creative approach paired with quality service, exceptional efficiency, and unique creativity has earned Royce Video over 600 clients and garnered many local awards.

  • Gary Dinnen: Gary received his Masters in Art at California State University in 1982. He demonstrates versatility in a number of mediums including drawing, oil painting, watercolor and ceramics. Some might define his works as narrative expressionism, but in truth he creates situations that allow the viewer a vehicle to access their experience and engage their imagination. His freewheeling spirit never ceases to entertain the viewer no matter what the medium. His ceramic works are playful, whimsical and just plain cool.

  • Chelsea Greninger: Chelsea is a ceramic and mixed media artist living and working in Sacramento. Born and raised in the South Bay, Chelsea received a BA in Art Studio and Psychology from the University of California at Davis and an MFA in Ceramics at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. A teacher by trade, she has been a Lecturer and Adjunct Professor of Ceramics at New Mexico State University and the Metropolitan State College of Denver, Colorado. Currently she is a full time Visual Arts Teacher at the Natomas Charter School for the Performing and Fine Arts.