Thanks to the 116 teaching artists who took the time and thought to take our annual survey! And congratulations to TAHIRA who won the $50 gift card raffle.
This year more than ever, we really wanted to hear about your practice, how you have been affected by COVID-19, and how you envision your future practice in this new hybrid virtual world. We are already using this information to inform our board and partners, and to plan our free fall teaching artists workshops. Here are just a few things we learned.
The Effects of COVID-19
- 72% of you transferred existing work with an organization to a virtual platform and 33% transferred your independent teaching artist work to a virtual platform.
- 61% of you lost work with an organization and 50% lost independent teaching artist work.
- 12% were able to get new work from an organization and 12% were able to get new work independently.
- You lost from $300 to $30,000 in cancelled gigs for your teaching artist practice.
Teaching Virtually
- You adapted your teaching by offering shorter sessions or simplifying your curriculum
- You created online videos, activity workbooks, and art kits.
- 68% of you think it is likely or highly likely that teaching virtually will be a significant part of your teaching practice in the future.
- Only 3 respondents created intellectual property agreements for their new virtual work with an organizational partner.
Other Interesting Facts
- 56% of you are receiving professional development through an organization you work with, increase from 36% in 2019.
- 53% of you are securing work on your own.
- 43% of you are working for organizations as independent contractors, a significant increase from 32% in 2019.
- only 28% of you are working for an organization as an employee.
- 34% of you are offering programs at organizations other than schools or cultural organizations.
We are continuing to read through all of your comments and ideas. Stay tuned for free professional development workshops over the next year that will respond to your requests including tools and practices for teaching online in different arts disciplines, trauma-informed practice training, approaches to talking about racism in the classroom, and creating safe and healthy environments for learning.
We appreciate everything you are doing to continue to bring arts to our communities. We will do our best to support you in this journey.