Art Educators and Practicing Artists: Strengthening the Curriculum and Building a Creative Community

An artist residency consists of a visiting artist (dance, musical, theatrical, or visual) creating work in and teaching their craft to an audience of participants. Artist residencies take place in a variety of settings, in public and private schools, after-school programs, in day care and preschool programs, community centers, and adult recreational and care facilities. Over time in a school setting artist residencies have evolved to include school curriculum, input and collaboration from the host teacher. I believe artist residences could become a catalyst for school curriculum change to focus on the arts. Arts integrated residencies and curriculum can impact learning in a classroom. Students can learn about arts content and other educational content at the same time. In my research I have documented the progression of the National Endowment for the Arts\u27 Artists in Education program, studied residency models that employ arts integration as the main component, collected best practices of West Virginia arts organizations producing artist residencies, implemented arts integrated residencies in two art classrooms, and documented students engaged in learning through the art of puppetry. This qualitative research supports learning in multiple subject areas through observation of skills and reflections given by students and teachers. I have learned that arts integrated residencies and curriculum can positively affect the learning and the overall environment for the students in the classroom and the school at large. I believe that this body of research can advance future dialogue, possible strategies, and opportunities for artist residencies