TAP 2021 Fall Anthology
Presenting the Graduates of the Fall 2021 Teaching Artist Project (TAP) Class. This anthology is a compilation of their work, experiences, and the fun we've all had together this fall.
Community-Word Project's TAP is in its 24th year and is the longest-standing professional development program open to the Teaching Artist field by a non-profit organization in New York City. TAP is a collective of diversely experienced arts educators training emerging and working teaching artists who are looking for a supportive community to engage in a self-reflective, justice-oriented learning practice in service of their teaching. The program prepares Teaching Artists to provide high-quality arts education to underserved youth in New York City public schools. The rigorous training involves intensive seminars in curriculum design and teaching techniques, led by CWP staff, Teaching Artists, and the TAP Cohort. During this fall training, participants gain invaluable classroom experience interning with mentor Teaching Artists, in both during-school and after-school multi-disciplinary collaborative arts residencies.
This year, like the rest of the world, TAP has been faced with the same difficulties of being in community and doing this work online. Due to the continued outbreak of COVID-19, TAP was held virtually and restructured into two sessions, Fall (Oct-Dec) and Spring (Feb-April). The focus of the fall session was "How can we deepen our teaching artist practice to meet the needs of this transformative moment?" This included workshops on facilitating in a virtual environment, art as a vehicle for liberation, career development, and fieldwork focused on applicable classroom skills, building your portfolio, and administrative skills and experience.
This Fall 2021 Class of 20 visual and media artists, writers, musicians, dancers, and theater artists learned how to transform creative processes into teaching tools, explored inclusivity and accessibility online, investigated their own power and privilege in the classroom, developed co-teaching and partnership skills, incorporated inquiry and reflection in their lessons, and helped students create work, remembering to remain relevant to students' lives and to create community.
Special Thanks
TAP is made possible through the generous support of New York State Council on the Arts, the Governors Office and the New York State Legislature, The Wiley Fund, The Dan Paul Foundation, the Altman Foundation, the Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Trust, the William Talbott Hillman Foundation, the Wells Fargo Foundation, the TD Charitable Foundation, and the Endeavor Foundation.
TAP Staff & Facilitators
Katie Rainey, Interim Director of Teaching Artist Project (TAP)
Adriana Guzmán, TAP Co-Director for Custom Training, Community Programs & Facilitation
Dale Novella Anderson-Lee, TAP Co-Director for Communications, Operations & Facilitation
Javan Howard, TAP Co-Director for Curricula, Mentorship & Facilitation
Amanda Newman, Manager of Special Projects & Evaluations
CWP Staff
Michele Kotler, Founder & Executive Director
Leigh Wells, Deputy Director of Programs & Operations
Craig Hayes, Deputy Director of External Affairs and Chief Experience Officer
Autumn Tilson, Program Director, School Partnerships
Katie Rainey, Interim Director of Teaching Artist Project (TAP)
Javan Howard, TAP Co-Director for Curricula, Mentorship & Facilitation
Adriana Guzmán, TAP Co-Director for Custom Training, Community Programs & Facilitation
Dale Novella Anderson-Lee, TAP Co-Director for Communications, Operations & Facilitation
Amanda Newman, Manager of Special Projects & Evaluations
Bethany Parker, Managing Director of Development
Joel Berrios, Development Manager
Maria Schirmer, Part-Time Program Lead
Melissa Shaw, Part-Time Program Manager
Elizabeth Leonard, Young Adult (YA) Program Manager
A special thanks to this year's CWP Mentors.
CWP Mentor Teaching Artists:
Chelsea Asher
Yael Ben-Zion
Molly Goldman Valerie Hallier
Libby Mislan Katie Rainey
Nichelle Ryan Jashua Sa-Ra
TAP Featured Guest Artists:
Shireen Amini
Kym Boyce
David King
Aishwarya Madhav
ingrid romero
Kerry Warren
Ashley Zaragoza
Special thanks to all of our arts-in-education partners who make up the TAP Cohort and helped make this session a unique collaboration. This fall, we were able to offer 7 collaborative elective seminars facilitated and hosted by various arts organizations.
These series of professional development seminars and panels were available to Teaching Artists outside of TAP and that was made possible by the collaborative efforts of CWP and the following organizations:
Artists Striving to End Poverty (ASTEP)
ArtistYear
Arts for All
ArtWell
Brooklyn Arts Council
City Lore
Community-Word Project
Dedalus Foundation
Dreamyard Project
Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana
Marquis Studios
National Dance Institute
Opening Act
Teaching Artists Guild (TAG)
Teachers & Writers Collaborative
USDAN Summer Camp For the Arts
Radici Studio
Over the fall, our TAP trainees participated in a series of workshops, seminars and fieldwork sessions to complete the program. The core workshops were dedicated to creative elements, self-exploration, reflection and assessment, exploring power and privilege in the classroom, exploring accessibility and inclusivity, and art as activism. Throughout the training, TAP held a series of elective seminars in collaboration with the TAP Cohort, and each trainee was placed one of the following fieldwork tracks:
Inclusive & Collaborative Art with Adriana Guzmán
Classroom & Curriculum Design with Javan Howard
Arts Education Administration with Katie Rainey & Dale Novella Anderson-Lee
In celebration of their creativity, we are sharing each TAP graduate's work and artistry in this anthology. This compilation includes biographies, memorable moments, photographs, quotes, artistic samples, and more to give you a full picture of their accomplishments this year.
A Letter from the TAP Facilitators:
Dear TAP Class of Fall 2021,
Congratulations you beautiful humans! Welcome to the wonderful TAP Alumni world! We want to show our appreciation to you for committing to this program. The last couple of years have been hard on all of us, but your enthusiasm and dedication to TAP has been inspiring. Our time together, though short, has been so filling, and we know it’s because each of you brought your authentic selves into the space. Over the last two months, we’ve watched you grow as artists and educators, and we are so proud to graduate this class! We cannot wait to see how each of you will change the world!
You took the time to look inwards while considering community, and society at large. Tuning into your creative elements, exploring power and privilege, and building community in your Care Teams. Thank you for making our Saturdays so rich and insightful. We are living in unprecedented times and we do not know what the future holds, but we can find comfort in knowing that this group of artists & educators will continue to cultivate loving and inspiring spaces, and opportunities for all learners. We are in deep gratitude for our time together, for your participation, for everything that you taught us and your peers and for everything that's to come.
The TAP community is always here for you, whenever you need it. It has been a privilege for us all to work with you this fall. Please keep in touch.
With love and community,
Adriana, Dale, Jay & Katie
Presenting the Fall 2021 TAP Graduating Class! Click on their names below to find out more about them.
Saritha Gateau
