Teaching Artistry with Courtney J. Boddie

In Act 2 of Episode 66: “For Vocal Girls…,” Carmen Kelly tells of her 22-year history with Creative Arts Team (CAT) and her 40-year career as a teaching artist! This inspiring conclusion to our four-episode arc discussion delves into Carmen’s work with high school-aged kids and what it was like developing strategies for talking to them about HIV/AIDS at a time when nobody else had the courage to do so. Carmen also takes time to speak about what it was like to be present within the evolution of teaching artistry. And, in a thoughtfully candid moment, she takes time to highlight the transferable skill sets that made her transition from teaching artistry to a more programmatic leadership role.

In Episode 66: “For Vocal Girls…,” Courtney continues her conversation with guest Carmen Kelly. This thoughtful discussion focuses on Carmen’s journey from artist, to office temp, to teaching artist, and everything in between! As Courtney and Carmen weave through their chat, Carmen offers intriguing stories about her stint in the national tour of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow is Enuf, the many “under fives” she played on soap operas, how camping out in the Drama Book Shop led to her first commercial spot, and how grad school helped her connect theory to practice.

Courtney continues her conversation with Carmen Kelly, an inspiring human with a rich history in arts education and current Program Director of the Brooklyn-based NIA Community Services Network's after-school program.

The first portion of Act 2 acts as a kind of “rewind” moment that offers context for Kelly’s journey from childhood to school, to her career trajectory. It holds simplicity and complexity as it focuses primarily on two things: the importance of play and finding community at a young age.

As the episode moves forward, Kelly really talks about her journey into the arts and to New York City. We don’t want to spoil too much about this rich second act. What we do want to highlight here is that our guest, the joyous Carmen Kelly, really digs into her past to bring us back to her present. In between those two points in her life (thus far), there are so many touchstones and flashpoints that truly highlight what so many of us already know and understand on the deepest of levels—if we’ve found ourselves in the arts, in any way, shape or form, we know what it feels like to have been called to this field and to have landed in spaces that we have needed and have needed us.

In Episode 65: "A Soft Place," Courtney sits down with Carmen Kelly, an inspiring human with a rich history in arts education. Currently, Kelly is a Program Director at the Brooklyn-based NIA Community Services Network's after-school program, which aims to engage kids in the arts to create positive pathways in their lives.

As Courtney takes us deeper into her work, we learn that Kelly aims to encourage primarily Black and brown youth to examine themselves and work to find and name what is intrinsically good about who and what they are. Kelly notes that this work is all about fostering difficult and deep conversations, and intentionally setting up systems that center young people. At the core of this, Kelly tells us, is creating a soft place for kids to turn to, especially in our increasingly chaotic world.

Questions that are addressed in this episode are: How can we create opportunities to let young people know that adults care about them and what they have to say? How can young people feel successful in this world without conforming or denying aspects of themselves?

There is so much more to glean from this episode. You won't want to miss Courtney and Carmen's thoughtful discussion about care, love, expression, and healing. Listen or download now wherever you listen to podcasts!

Hi, PODience! We’re back with Act 2 of our fascinating chat with Yazmany Arboleda titled, “Mobilizing Interdependence.”

In their discussion, Courtney and Yazmany continue to tackle a range of deeply meaningful topics. One major theme that really stands out in this episode is how the process of making art in community with others helps us to understand one another, to learn new skills and to evolve into something new.

In Act 2 of Arboleda’s fast-paced, joyful chat with Courtney, they also discuss Yazmany’s work with the Little Amal, the problematic aspects of land acknowledgments, land ownership v. land stewardship in western cultures, and how our lived experience affects how we approach how we move through the world and how we create our art.

Episode 64, Act 1: “Mobilizing Interdependence,” featuring the passionate Yazmany Arboleda, will leave you invigorated, activated and inspired to up your game and think about how you could be engaging with your art and how you’re inviting others to engage with and through what you’re creating.

Have you ever stopped to think that we, as humans, are collectively co-creating our future at all times? Do you center inquiry as the basis for creating works of art? Have you thought of art as a mechanism for healing individual and shared traumas?

In his fast-paced, joyful chat with Courtney, Yazmany Arboleda explains that the foundation of his artistry is all about remaining curious about the state of his own existence. His aim is to engage people through inquiry and to imagine the impossible, and collectively rise to the challenge of co-creating something that makes the impossible, possible.

In Acts 1 and 2 of our newest episode, we learned about the origins of Teaching Artists Guild (TAG) and its merger with the Association of Teaching Artists (ATA).

In Act 3, "Continuing the Continuum," Courtney sits down with Kerry Warren, Katie Rainey and Marissa Ontiveros, who all hold leadership positions at TAG, to discuss the future of the organization and of the field at large. Together, they talk about the organization's current goals and the tapestry of strategic plans for its future, which include analyzing the co-leadership model intrinsic to the current and future success and expansion of the organization. Their goals also focus on the necessity of building on past strategic plans from the center outwards, in order to strengthen TAG's community and strengthen the continuum of ever-changing leadership and continued learning. Their goals are clear: the organization aims to deepen their advocacy strategies, develop a more representative nationwide community of artists and build toward a more equitable future.

What do the words intentionality, collaboration, community, responsiveness, tenacity, perseverance and leadership have in common? They’re all terms or themes that emerge in our newest episode. And they’re all used in reference to teaching artistry and its pivotal role in the constant reshaping and elevation of arts education and arts administration.

In Episode 63, Act 2: “Collaborate, Cultivate, Celebrate,” a number of big ideas and questions arise, two of which take center stage: In a world in which the non-profit industrial complex holds such a firm presence, how do we establish a more equitable leadership model? In what ways can we center teaching artists’ voices and perspectives to help drive organizational practices forward?

In this newest installment, a panel of arts practitioners and administrators discuss the merger between Association of Teaching Artists (ATA) and Teaching Artists Guild (TAG) and the interpersonal discussions that were had, and the big ideas and systems that, out of necessity, were deconstructed and/or developed in order to make that meaningful merger happen. These brilliant minds also chat​​ about the impact, positive and negative, that the pandemic had on the internal operations of non-profit organizations. This includes, of course, the innovative ways teaching artists and their expertise were invited into new discussions and either uplifted or not given their due. The panel’s conversation really hits full throttle when the panel discusses​ ways they’ve let go of hierarchical leadership models and instead chosen to embrace a more equitable concentric leadership model. That’s when they dive into a rich discussion about the emergence of that type of model and how the pendulum has swung into the position of embracing equity and rejecting old, oppressive models that have for so long kept the non-profit industrial complex aloft.

We’ve got another great episode for you, TA PODience!

We’re back with Act 1 of a fascinating three-act series titled “Looking Back to Look Forward.”

Episode 63, Act 1: “Collective Field Building,” features an exciting panel of inspiring multi-hyphenate artists and arts administrators who were instrumental in the formation of what would eventually become the Teaching Artists Guild (TAG). This episode is a fascinating reunion of sorts that is made up of Jean Johnstone, Kai Fierle-Hedrick, Lynn Johnson, Miko Lee, Jessica Mele, Eric Booth and of course Courtney J. Boddie.

In Act 1, we learn about the “who” and “how” this confluence of creative minds intersected to found Teaching Artists Organized (TAO), and how that turned into Teaching Artists Guild. We also learn about the creation of two different tools developed in part by this group, one of which is the Teaching Artist Manifesto and how to create such a hold statement representative of every facet of teaching artistry as a field. The other is a larger, deeper conversation piece is the aspirational thinking behind the development of the teaching artist pay rate calculator, which can be used, in part, as a negotiating and advocacy tool, and a means to devising better hiring practices and roads to more equitable compensation for the teaching artist community as a whole. And all of this is discussed in the first half of this episode. So what else does this fascinating panel discuss? You’ll have to listen to find out!

In Act 3 of our three-part series, “In Conversation with ‘Start the Conversation,’” we dive right into a crucial topic: emergency drill support for teachers and kids. In this episode, we spotlight New York City Children's Theater’s Caitlyn McCain and Nicole Hogsett who have developed a groundbreaking resource called, “Start the Conversation.” This video series aims to provide grown-ups with a range of tools needed to engage in ongoing conversations with children on important and complex subjects like race, politics, mental health and LGBTQ+ identities. Our panel discussion focuses specifically on emergency drill support.

The inspiration for their work on emergency drill support stems from real-life classroom experiences, including active shooter drills and fire drills. Drawing from their own experiences in classrooms, and in collaboration with educators and mental health professionals, Caitlyn and Nicole have created valuable resources for teachers, teaching artists and anyone working with young people. Their resources include a three-part video series that provide strategies for supporting young people before, during and after they experience emergency drills. They’ve also developed two comprehensive print resources—an Educator Emergency Drill Guide and two visual stories centered on fire drills and lockdown drills.

Listen to the conclusion of this informative series to learn more about these essential resources and how they can reshape emergency preparedness in educational settings. Together, we can ensure the well-being and safety of our children while fostering meaningful conversations on these important topics.