Teaching Artistry with Courtney J. Boddie

What happens when we approach the world with curiosity instead of judgment? And what becomes possible when we give ourselves, and the young people in our lives, permission to imagine a different future?

In the second act of their conversation, Courtney J. Boddie and Ann Gregg pick up where they left off, exploring the questions that shape us as artists, educators, parents, and human beings. From the earliest lessons we absorb in our families to the people and experiences that challenge our assumptions, they consider how curiosity becomes more than a way of learning. It becomes a way of living, connecting, and making change.

Ann reflects on her winding professional journey, from teaching music in public schools to becoming Director of Education at From the Top and spending eleven years helping build programs at Carnegie Hall. Along the way, she discovered that an artistic life doesn't have to follow a single path. The balance between creating, teaching, and leading can shift over time, as long as we remain connected to what matters most.

That openness is also at the heart of Into the Future, the neighborhood initiative Ann co-founded with her husband, futurist Gary Golden. Through play, creativity, and hands-on exploration, young people are invited to look at the past, understand the present, and imagine futures that don't yet exist. For Ann, this work is inseparable from equity: making space for different perspectives, providing abundant possibilities rather than predetermined answers, and recognizing that our individual futures are bound up with the futures of our communities.

Courtney and Ann also take on some of the more complicated questions of our time. How do we respond to artificial intelligence and other disruptive technologies without abandoning either curiosity or our ethical responsibilities? What does it mean to advocate for change when the systems around us feel overwhelming? And how might asking better questions help us create more liberated learning environments, where young people's needs and experiences are met with care rather than judgment?

As the conversation turns toward passion, purpose, and the relationships that sustain a field, Courtney and Ann reflect on the artists, educators, mentors, and elders who helped shape teaching artistry in New York City. They imagine what it might look like to map those connections, honor the people whose contributions aren't always visible, and carry their knowledge into the next generation.

It's a conversation about the courage to keep learning, the generosity of sharing what we know, and the possibilities that emerge when we recognize our own agency alongside that of others.

And it all comes back to three simple agreements from Into the Future: Be safe. Be kind. Expand your mind.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

-How family, upbringing, and early experiences shape our instincts to teach, question, and care for others

-The difference between curiosity and judgment, and why that distinction matters for equity

-Ann's career journey from music education to From the Top and Carnegie Hall

-Finding purpose across artistic practice, teaching, and arts administration

-Creating learning environments that respond to young people's needs with curiosity and care

-How Into the Future connects imagination, abundance, and equity

-Navigating AI, technological disruption, and the responsibility to help shape our collective future

-Courtney's advocacy for portable benefits and greater support for creative workers

-Passion, self-agency, and the importance of investing in ourselves

-Honoring the mentors, elders, and relationships that have shaped the teaching artistry field

Guest: Ann Gregg

Host: Courtney J. Boddie

Creative Producer: Jonathan Zautner

What if curiosity isn’t just a personality trait, but a practice? What if imagining the future is itself a form of teaching artistry?

In Act One of this conversation, Courtney sits down with arts educator, arts leader, and entrepreneur Ann Gregg for a wide-ranging conversation about curiosity, creativity, community, and the many paths that can make up a life in the arts.

Ann’s career has moved through public school music education, professional performance, teaching artistry, philanthropy, cultural institutions, and now entrepreneurship. Along the way, she has learned to follow the questions that keep opening new doors. Today, she and her husband run Into the Future, a neighborhood resource designed to give young people space to play, imagine, build, and think expansively about what might be possible.

Together, Courtney and Ann explore the relationship between arts education and futurism, and the power of asking “What if?” before rushing toward the practicalities of what is possible right now. They talk about free play, imagination, curiosity, and the importance of giving young people opportunities to envision futures that don't yet exist.

Their conversation also moves into the heart of teaching artistry: relationship. Ann reflects on discovering the language of “teaching artist” after already having spent years living it, her experience helping build the Teaching Artists Collaborative at Carnegie Hall, and the ways relationships with artists, educators, and young people can shape programs over time.

From neighborhood storefronts to Carnegie Hall, from the viola to public school classrooms, from planting seeds to imagining seven generations into the future, Ann and Courtney consider what happens when we stop trying to solve everything immediately and instead create the conditions for something to grow.

This episode is an invitation to stay curious, make room for possibility, and remember that sometimes the most powerful question we can ask is simply: What if?

In this episode, you'll hear about:

-Curiosity, imagination, and futurism as practices of arts education

-The creation of Into the Future and its focus on play, learning, and building

-Ann's journey from professional violist to public school music teacher and teaching artist

-Discovering the meaning of “teaching artist” at Carnegie Hall

-The power of local relationships and community-rooted work

-Trust, long-term thinking, and imagining seven generations into the future

-How arts programs evolve when participants have real agency in shaping them

-Why teaching artistry is ultimately about being in relationship

Guest: Ann Gregg

Host: Courtney J. Boddie

Creative Producer: Jonathan Zautner

Act Two continues Ann and Courtney's conversation, going deeper into teaching artistry, relationship, power, and the ways arts programs can evolve when we listen closely to the people at the center of the work.

In this special panel celebrating 60 years of Educational Theatre at NYU, moderator Adam D-F Stevens is joined by alumni and adjunct professors, Marissa Russo, Courtney J. Boddie, and Daryl Embry for a conversation about accessibility, belonging, student agency, institutional leadership, and the power of theater to meet the moment.

From radically welcoming spaces and autism-friendly performances to Shakespeare in cafeterias and student-devised work, the panelists explore what happens when we expand our understanding of where theatre belongs, and who gets to make it. Together, they consider how educational theatre can continue to respond to crises, dismantle barriers, create joy, and build a more equitable future.

People Mentioned

Panelists & Moderator

Adam D-F Stevens — Moderator, drama therapist, and doctoral student in NYU Educational Theatre.

Marissa Russo — Theatre artist and practitioner specializing in accessibility.

Courtney J. Boddie — Vice President of Education & School Engagement at New 42 and host of the Teaching Artistry Podcast.

Daryl Embry — Theater artist, designer, educator, and Program Manager at the Arthur Miller Foundation

References & Further Reading

Organizations & Programs

NYU Educational Theatre — The program celebrating its 60th anniversary and the home of the panel discussion.

New 42 — The organization behind The New Victory Theater and arts education initiatives discussed by Courtney J. Boddie.

The New Victory Theater — New York City's theater dedicated to kids and their families.

The Arthur Miller Foundation — Arts education organization where Daryl Embry serves as Program Manager.

Theatre Development Fund (TDF) — Referenced in connection with autism-friendly performances and theater accessibility.

Resources Mentioned

Teach with GIVE — A free resource developed by New Victory Theater, ArtsConnection and Community-Word Project, offering visual vocabulary and tools for educators working to create more inclusive and liberatory learning environments.

Speak Up, Act Out — A New Victory arts education program centered on young people's voices and the social issues they want to address.

Autism-Friendly Performances

TDF Autism-Friendly Performances — Performances designed to create a more welcoming theater experience for autistic and neurodivergent audience members and their families.

The panel's guiding principle: "Access is the norm, not the event."

Shakespeare to Go

NYU Shakespeare to Go — An outreach initiative that brings shortened Shakespeare productions directly into schools and nontraditional performance spaces.

Programs & Practices Discussed

Devising Theatre

The panel explores how traditional models of devised theater can be adapted when working with students who communicate in nontraditional ways. Marissa Russo discusses the importance of taking time, using visual supports, and honoring student choices—even when those choices don't conform to adults' expectations.

Accessible & Inclusive Theatre

Topics include:

Autism-friendly performances

Visual vocabulary

Communication devices

Removing barriers to participation

Making access part of everyday practice rather than a special event

Expanding ideas about who can be a theater maker and who belongs in the audience

Immersive Theatre

The panel discusses the changing relationship between audience and performer and the growing interest in theatrical experiences that blur traditional boundaries between the two.

How do artists continue telling the truth when the political climate encourages silence? What does it take to build brave spaces instead of simply safe ones? And how can storytelling help us move through polarization without losing our convictions?

In the second act of this special live conversation, host Courtney J. Boddie welcomes the audience into an expansive dialogue with Australian arts educator, researcher, activist, and South Asian dance artist Rachael Jacobs. Together, they reflect on what it means to practice teaching artistry in a moment defined by uncertainty, resistance, and possibility.

Throughout the discussion, Rachael returns to the power of story, not as an escape from conflict, but as a way through it. She speaks about artists as the "front line of resistance," the importance of coalition-building, and why teaching artists are uniquely equipped to imagine new possibilities when existing systems fall short. Alongside moments of laughter and vulnerability, the conversation offers practical wisdom for anyone working at the intersection of art, education, and social change.

Recorded live, this episode is both a celebration of collective inquiry and a reminder that meaningful change rarely happens alone, but it begins in conversation.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

Why artists remain essential voices during moments of political uncertainty

The shift from "safe spaces" to "brave spaces" and ultimately "accountable spaces"

Storytelling as a tool for bridging difference and inspiring action

Language, culture, and reclaiming power through education

Coalition-building, leadership, and the courage to be misunderstood

Imagining a more inclusive artistic canon for future generations

Guest: Rachael Jacobs

Host: Courtney J. Boddie

If you haven't yet listened to Episode 89, Act One, we recommend starting there, where Courtney and Rachael invite listeners to think beyond incremental change and consider how artists can become powerful bridge-builders in increasingly polarized times.

References & Further Reading

Eve Tuck

Faculty profile

Mona Eltahawy

Substack

The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls

Research Mentioned

"The Race to Innocence" written by Mary Louise Fellows* and Sherene Razack

Special Thanks

Special thanks to the live audience, creative producer Jonathan Zautner, and Jono Waldman for writing and performing the Teaching Artistry Podcast theme song.

Teaching Artistry Podcast goes live!

In this special episode, Courtney J. Boddie records in front of a live audience!

Courtney is joined by Australian activist, artist, scholar, educator, and change maker Dr. Rachael Jacobs for a deeply personal and thought-provoking conversation about teaching artistry, justice, collective action, and the role of artists in shaping a more equitable future.

Together they explore:

What it means to move from "saving" communities to listening alongside them

Decolonizing arts education and community practice

Why artists belong in positions of political leadership

Coalition building as a strategy for systemic change

The relationship between arts, advocacy, and public policy

The importance of joy as both a creative practice and a form of resistance

How teaching artists can imagine and actively build the world they want to live in

Rachael shares stories from her work with refugee communities, her experiences as a South Asian artist in Australia, and even her campaign challenging Australia's Prime Minister in Parliament. Throughout the conversation, Courtney and Rachael invite listeners to think beyond incremental change and consider how artists can become powerful bridge-builders in increasingly polarized times.

This live recording also features a welcome from Jean Taylor, an opening performance of the Teaching Artistry Podcast theme song by Jono Waldman, and reflections from the audience.

This is Part One of a two-part live conversation. Be sure to listen to Act Two, where audience questions continue the dialogue about justice, creativity, and moving the field forward together.

Guest

Dr. Rachael Jacobs is an Associate Professor in Creative Arts Education at Western Sydney University and a former secondary teacher (Dance, Drama and Music) and Arts specialist. Her research interests include cultural diversity in the teacher workforce, racial justice through the arts, assessment for creativity and language development through the arts. Her PhD was on creativity assessment, leading to changes in curriculum and assessment in Senior Secondary education in Australia.

Rachael has facilitated arts projects in community settings all over Australia, including in refugee communities, in prisons and in women’s refuges. In 2016 she co-wrote an arts education report for the OECD that contributed to Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education. In 2020 she contributed to UNESCO's Futures of Education Initiative, co-authoring a report on artists' depictions of the future of education. Rachael has written two textbooks for educators on Arts Education.

Rachael is a community activist, a freelance writer, aerial arts instructor, dancer and choreographer. She was a founding member of the community activism group, Teachers for Refugees and runs her own intercultural dance company in Sydney. Rachael is a climate activist and is on the board of advocacy group, Sweltering Cities. She is also on the board of youth theatre company, PYT Fairfield. She is active as an anti-racism and human rights campaigner, and runs anti-racism programs through the arts in NSW schools. Rachael additionally facilitates DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) education programs, specialising in designing bespoke programs for the arts and community sectors.

Special Thanks

Special thanks to our live audience, creative producer Jonathan Zautner, and Jono Waldman for writing and performing the Teaching Artistry Podcast theme song live.

Key Themes: Teaching Artistry, Arts Education, Community Arts, Social Justice, Decolonization, Collective Action, Arts Advocacy, Refugee Advocacy, Creativity & Democracy, Joy as Resistance, Cultural Leadership, Equity, Live Podcast

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