A Teaching Artist is a professional, working artist who also teaches the art form(s) they practice.

Idea Box Teaching Artists consider teaching to be a vital part of our artistic practice as a whole. There is enormous social value in the passing of an art form from one generation to the next, and we consider it an honor to share our knowledge, skills, and love of the arts with new and developing artists.

Fun fact! “MsEmily” Leonard, our Executive Director, was a professional Teaching Artist for 10 years before she learned there was a name for the job! Now she works closely with Ingenuity Chicago and Arts Ed Chi to, find, connect, and support Chicago’s impressive network of teaching artists.

When a Teaching Artist makes regular visits to a school or organization, they are an artist-in-residence at that school. Sometimes the terms “Teaching Artist” and “Artist in Residence” are used interchangeably, but “Teaching Artist” is the name of the profession, and “Artist-in-Residence” is the title of the professional artist teaching the class.

When an arts organization teaches classes at a partner organization, that’s a residency.

Idea Box residencies range from 8 to 30 classroom hours, meeting with a single group of students for 1-5 hours per week for 8-10 weeks.

When we develop a residency with a school or organization, that’s an arts partnership. We use this phrase because no matter how well prepared we are, we can’t do this alone! All arts residencies need some kind of program support from the school.

When an arts organization provides a residency at a partner school, the school usually needs to provide some kind of program support. whether it’s making sure the floor is appropriate for dance, finding a safe space to store giant puppets between classes, or making sure the school community knows about arts events and performances.

It’s important to research what kind of support a program needs before committing to a partnership— don’t be afraid to ask questions, and be realistic about your resources. Art can happen in any setting, as long as everyone involved knows the plan!

An art that engages more than one of several core disciplines, such as music, theater, dance, media, literary, and/or visual arts.

The majority of Idea Box’s programs are interdisciplinary, focused on combining craft and construction with movement, voice, and music. Some examples of interdisciplinary projects can be found on our Work Samples page.