Teaching Artist
Arts Education Program
Lane Arts Council is expanding its roster of Teaching Artists. We are seeking professional visual, performing, craft, and fine artists to provide artist residencies in schools throughout Lane County. During residencies Teaching Artists work with students and teachers to create extended educational arts activities, teach new skills, and encourage creative thinking. This quality arts instruction provides young people with authentic learning experiences that engage their minds, hearts, and bodies.
An Artist Residency provides each classroom with, on average, four 45-minute learning sessions. A typical Artist Residency is completed in about two to four weeks. Most residencies occur in elementary and middle schools across Lane County.
Roles and Responsibilities
Teaching Artists are an integral part of Lane Arts Council’s arts education programs. Roles and responsibilities include:
- Encouraging discipline-specific arts learning in: visual art, dance, theater, music, literary arts, media arts, etc.
- Teaching short and long-term activities through in-school residencies and workshops
- Developing lesson plans and preparing materials for each residency, assembly, or workshop session
- Using a wide variety of techniques to meaningfully engage young people of all abilities, perspectives, and needs
- Building and sustaining professional and productive working relationships with site staff
- Maintaining a high level of flexibility and professionalism
- Submitting evaluations to Lane Arts Council after each residency, assembly, or workshop session
- Collaborating effectively with other experienced arts education professionals
- Attending Teaching Artist Professional Development workshops hosted by Lane Arts Council
- Upholding arts education standards backed by ongoing curriculum-based arts instruction in K-12
- Maintaining liability insurance at levels specified in the Teaching Artist contract (acquired once a Teaching Artist receives first in-school opportunity)
Required Skills
- 2+ years of experience teaching in a classroom setting or youth learning environment
- Portfolio of work
- An understanding of or willingness to learn Common Core, Arts, and Oregon State Standards
Preferred Skills
- Experience teaching grades K-5
- Strong collaboration and communication skills
- Self-starter and self-motivated
- Well-organized
- Punctual and reliable
Prioritized Art Forms
In this round of recruitment, we are prioritizing artists from highly requested art forms and art forms currently underrepresented on our roster. These include, but are not limited to:
- Muralists comfortable with elementary age audiences
- 3D art
- Nature and science inspired art/illustration
- Repurposed material arts
- Architecture/Interior Design
- Culturally specific arts that reflect the histories, traditions, and forms of expression of the Teaching Artist’s personal identities
We highly encourage rural, Black, Indigenous, Persons of Color, and Spanish speaking artists of all disciplines to apply. We understand the value in giving students the opportunity to both see themselves represented in the artists on our roster and to gain exposure to arts coming from the world beyond their own cultural experience.
All artists’ applications, regardless of art form and practice, will be reviewed with full consideration and are encouraged to apply.
Teaching Artist Compensation
Teaching Artists work as independent contractors with Lane Arts Council. When a school contracts with us to provide an artist residency, Lane Arts Council offers the Teaching Artist up to $35/hour for in-classroom instruction and $17.50/hour for preparation time. Materials and mileage (for trips over 24 miles round-trip) reimbursement are included in contracts. One-day workshops are adjusted to a higher agreed-upon flat-rate ranging from $50-$350, depending on length of workshop, scale of work, and audience size.
Application Process
Please fill out an online application to be considered (link below). We are looking for artists with the flexibility in their calendars to offer two to four week residencies during the academic year.
Teaching Artist Application form
Review of Teaching Artist applications will continue on a rolling basis.
Learn more about Lane Arts Council’s Artist Residencies
Learn more about the artist residency programs currently offered on our roster
If you have any questions about this application process or the Teaching Artist position, please contact our Arts Education Program Coordinator, Ben Minnis, at artsed@lanearts.org
Equal Employment Opportunity: Lane Arts Council is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, sexual preference, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other classification by law.