February 10, 2011 Twitter Chat transcript with CAE Executive Director Richard Kessler
Moderated by Joan Webber of Creativity & Associates
creativityassoc: Some background on our #artsed guest, Richard Kessler: musician, advocate/agitator, writer. His blog on ArtsJournal.
creativityassoc: Welcome to new time for #artsed chat. Thanks to Richard Kessler @richard4artsed for joining us. Today's topic is The Artist as Advocate.
richard4artsed: @creativityassoc Hi everybody #artsed
creativityassoc: @richard4artsed I would love to hear your path from artist to #artsed to #artsadvoc. How did you get there? Why?
richard4artsed: @creativityassoc Well, it started with doing work as a teaching artist, before it was called that #artsed#artsadvoc
creativityassoc: @richard4artsed The same with me. Spending time in so many schools should create more advocates. #artsed #artsadvoc
richard4artsed: @creativityassoc it was before there were training programs #artsed#artsadvoc
creativityassoc: @richard4artsed Did you teach in NYC schools as a teaching artist? How was that? Before it was called #artsed
creativityassoc: @richard4artsed Teaching artists are, by necessity, auto-didacts [sic], aren't we? #artsed#artsadvoc
creativityassoc: @richard4artsed Do you think your advocacy comes from the need for better #artsed or need for better education?
creativityassoc: @richard4artsed My ongoing advocacy dilemma is knowing that real change is classroom by classroom, but there's a big picture too #artsed
richard4artsed: @creativityassoc I think that is true, but, the link between practice and policy is profound #artsed
creativityassoc: @richard4artsed That's why I think it's hard for the artist to remember the big picture. It is most clear when it's too late. #artsed
richard4artsed: @creativityassoc it's also because the field has been slow to embrace policy and advocacy #artsed
creativityassoc: @richard4artsed I left leadership to return to practice and it's an effort to stay connected with advocacy. I must seek it out. #artsed
richard4artsed: @creativityassoc well, you can return again to leadership and help redefine it! #artsed
creativityassoc: @richard4artsed I do not have the right armor for leadership. I like a more subversive role. :) #artsed
richard4artsed: @creativityassoc well, that feeling [sic] may be the sort of thing, oddly enough, that makes for a great leader! #artsed
creativityassoc: @richard4artsed So, how does the artist stay connected with advocacy? How do we recruit them for this work? #artsed
DuRoche: RT @richard4artsed: and, we;'ve [sic] seen amazing classroom or school-based work obliterated by policy changes #artsed
richard4artsed: I do think that a conversation about need, possibility, framed and connected to a quality arts experience, could be good #artsed
creativityassoc: @richard4artsed You are good, Mr. Kessler! I miss leadership. I love the policy work. #artsed
richard4artsed: @creativityassoc Mr. Kessler? That's my dad! #artsed
creativityassoc: @richard4artsed Do you know how many states conduct an audit of #artsed that New Jersey does? We really don't know what's out there now.
richard4artsed: @creativityassoc @creativityassoc I think ther'es [sic] probably a half dozen or so #artsed
richard4artsed: @creativityassoc @richard4artsed but even then, we often learn less about what is received than what is offered #artsed
richard4artsed: @creativityassoc information does help to make us free #artsed
richard4artsed: @creativityassoc @creativityassoc #artsed that is certainly a powerful wa [sic] to do it #artsed#arts
creativityassoc: @richard4artsed I like the Wallace slogan of Access, Equity and Quality. It's a good summation. #artsed
#moonbeammachine: @creativityassoc @richard4artsed @parksamy @duRoche Hello #artsed chat! Arriving late and catching up. Happy Joan is serving refreshments.
creativityassoc: @moonbeammachine Good to see you!
#moonbeammachine: @creativityassoc About 20 states have completed an #artsed audit. But most don't report out school level data, so local action difficult.
creativityassoc: @moonbeammachine Qualities of Quality is the best metric we've got out there right now. #artsed
#moonbeammachine: @creativityassoc I've spoken with several artists who had negative #artsed experiences in school, tough to turn into advocates.
creativityassoc: @moonbeammachine i have repeatedly warned teaching artists that one bad #artsed experience can wreck the whole discipline for a kid.
creativityassoc: @moonbeammachine In Maryland, we engage some kids through their community service graduation requirement #artsed
#moonbeammachine: @creativityassoc @richard4artsed And #artsed practice, advocacy, and policy all need self-reflection to grow, as Joan would say. ;)
#moonbeammachine: @creativityassoc @richard4artsed Thank you for joining the #artsed chat, Richard. And thank you for championing, Joan!
creativityassoc: @parksamy @WallaceFdn has invested deeply in several cities across the country to increase access, equity and quality in #artsed
creativityassoc: @parksamy I think the best way to start #artsed in a school is through visiting teaching artists. It builds the desire for more. #arts
parksamy: @creativityassoc I agree - I was a visiting artist in schools where kids were STARVING for #arts. But what comes next? #artsed
parksamy: @creativityassoc Where can I find out more about your Wallace reference? #artsed
creativityassoc: @parksamy I think that in individual schools, you need parents and the principal. Can't work without them. #arts #artsed
creativityassoc: @parksamy @WallaceFdn has invested deeply in several cities across the country to increase access, equity and quality in #artsed
parksamy: @creativityassoc Agreed again. Unfortunately, neither were on board in many cases. #artsed
creativityassoc: @parksamy Without parents/principal you will continually run into walls. Hint: Bring an artist and kids write a note home about it. #artsed
parksamy: @creativityassoc I like that idea! #artsed
parksamy: @creativityassoc RE subversion - a useful perspective. It could be appealing to the students as well! #artsed
creativityassoc: @parksamy Now you're thinking! If you organized a flashmob around #artsed, recorded it and sent to parents and principals, you'd get them.
creativityassoc: @parksamy I can't wait to hear that you come up with. I can hear your brain whirring with subversive ideas! Love it. #artsed
parksamy: @creativityassoc @richard4artsed @moonbeammachine But some failure is inevitable - how to avoid having it turn students off? #artsed
parksamy: @creativityassoc @richard4artsed @moonbeammachine I must go, but it's been great tweeting w/ you! My first chat was a good one. #artsed
parksamy: @creativityassoc @richard4artsed @moonbeammachine plz follow me, if you like, so I can message you. Hope to tweet w/ you again. #artsed
parksamy: @creativityassoc are these chats every Thursday at noon? #artsed
creativityassoc: @parksamy Done and done. So great to tweet with you! #artsed
richard4artsed: @creativityassoc agreed, that's particularly good, although access and equity are a bit redundant #artsed
richard4artsed: @creativityassoc Joan, what do you miss from your previous work? #artsed
richard4artsed: @creativityassoc it's taken me a while to really understand that we must work from the child #artsed
creativityassoc: @richard4artsed I miss being at the table as great ideas are being hatched and forwarded. I miss the brains in the field. Good ones. #artsed
richard4artsed: @creativityassoc you were lucky to be part of the Ford Foundation program #artsed
richard4artsed: @creativityassoc What a graduate school! I was sorry to see that program end #artsed
creativityassoc: @richard4artsed Without them, you will continually run into walls. Hint: Bring an artist and have kids write a note home about it. #artsed
richard4artsed: @creativityassoc some programs are specifically designed to engage parents through the arts #artsed
richard4artsed: @creativityassoc Cyrus is the best. We had to agree not to be a grantee in order for him to join our board #artsed
