INTERNATIONAL TEACHING ARTIST COLLABORATIVE (ITAC)
In 2012, Seanse carried out a project called «Teaching Artist Norway,” which would eventually become the first-ever International Teaching Artist Conference!
Developed in close collaboration between Eric Booth who is in the Artistic Council for Seanse and Seanse Director Marit Ulvund, ITAC1 featured a practical-artistic focus and international perspective, immediately garnering an enthusiastic reception from colleagues across the world. This conference would then lead the way to ITAC2 and ITAC3 and to The International Teaching Artists Collaborative as we now know it.
The International Teaching Artists Collaborative (ITAC) is now a world-wide network for artists who work in participatory settings to create positive social impact. These practitioners go by many titles in different countries and languages— often called Teaching Artists, Participatory Artists, Community Artists, or Socially Engaged Artists, and other titles.
ITAC HUB
Seanse is one of four ITAC hub. The role of an International Teaching Artist Collaborative (ITAC) Hub is to provide a platform for organizations to deepen their own national/regional sector, offering access to a global network that facilitates cultural exchange, online learning and information sharing, and lobbying and advocacy.
Norway ITAC Hub
The Norway ITAC Hub is led by Seanse Art Center, an organization committed to helping children and youth experience and express themselves through art. Seanse offers artist residencies, seminars, workshops, and conferences. In 2012, Seanse hosted, with international partners, the first International Teaching Artist Conference in Oslo. SEANSE recently organised ITAC6 together with ITAC Collaborative, which took place online 29 - 31st August 2022, and in-person in Oslo Sept 1st - 3rd 2022, bringing together Teaching Artists from all over the world.
United States ITAC Hub
The United States Hub is co-hosted by the Teaching Artists Guild (TAG), a national organization by and for Teaching Artists, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, an arts organization in New York City, and a home to Teaching Artists for over 40 years. TAG brings a vast network of Teaching Artists, resources, and tools. Lincoln Center brings unparalleled artists and a history of excellence in arts education. Together, TAG and Lincoln Center will work together to ensure artists and Teaching Artists are at the forefront of their work. TAG and Lincoln Center know we are living in challenging times and collectively believe that artists have the necessary tools to help us reimagine our world.
New Zealand ITAC Hub
The ITAC Hub in New Zealand is hosted by the Centre for Arts and Social Transformation at the University of Auckland. The Centre works in partnership with artists, educators, academics, policy makers, and communities carrying out practice-based research on the possibilities of the arts for social transformation. The Centre seeks more just and equitable worlds, understanding that central to critical citizenship and participatory democracy, the arts accept and disrupt the chaos of post normal times, awakening our senses to the joy and wonder of becoming more fully human.
South Korea ITAC Hub
Host of ITAC5 in 2020, the Korea Arts & Culture Education Service (KACES) leads South Korea's ITAC Hub. A public agency in the Republic of Korea, KACES was established under the enactment of the ‘Support for Arts and Culture Education Act’ in 2005. KACES caries out a range of public projects that provide access to quality arts and culture education to all members of society, facilitated by TAs and practitioners from various fields. The South Korea ITAC Hub will focus on developing Teaching Artists' practices and advocacy efforts, and supporting a larger sector that grows and responds.
ITAC6
In 2022 Seanse Art Center arranged the Sixth International Teaching Artist Conference as a 10 year anniversary from the start in 2012. The ITAC6 theme — ART AS A CATALYST FOR CHANGE — explores the intersections of teaching artistry with education, health, environment, and society in the 2020s.
To see the ITAC6 program, photos and it's contributors go to ITAC6's event page.
What is an Teaching Artist?
Teaching Artists are the global workforce with the power to engage communities and creatively catalyze social change. As Teaching Artists face growing demands and a range of societal challenges, ITAC is committed to meeting Teaching Artists within their own unique contexts and supporting their increased impact.
Teaching artists, also known as artist educators or community artists, are professional artists who supplement their incomes by teaching and integrating their art form, perspectives, and skills into a wide range of settings. Teaching artists work with schools, after school programs, community agencies, prisons, jails, and social service agencies. Eric Booth who is part of Seanses Artistic Council and together with Seanse leader Marit Ulvund initated ITAC1 that led to ITAC Collaborative, has defined a teaching artist as "a practicing professional artist with the complementary skills, curiosities and sensibilities of an educator, who can effectively engage a wide range of people in learning experiences in, through, and about the arts. This term applies to professional artists in all artistic fields.
ITAC’s History and Origins in Oslo
ITAC1
ITAC1 was arranged over three days in August 2012, 120 participants from 24 countries and six continents arrived at the House of Literature in Oslo. Dynamic and participatory keynotes, masterclasses, and seminars were held alongside workshops and papers presented by 25 delegates.
This was a first-of-its-kind event. Before ITAC1 even ended, Australia had announced its interest in continuing the momentum sparked in Oslo. As a result, ITAC2 was held in 2014 in Brisbane, hosted by the Queensland Performing Arts Center and Queensland University of Technology. ITAC3 jumped to Edinburgh in 2016, with Creative Scotland and Paul Hamlyn Foundation as organizers. During ITAC3, the Leadership Committee was formalized, and a delegation from Korea began to discuss plans to later host. ITAC4 was held in 2018 in New York, co-led by Carnegie Hall, DreamYard, and Lincoln Center Education. At this conference, the ITAC Collaborative was launched to offer a year-round platform to continue the connections and dialogue begun at ITAC conferences. Korea Arts & Culture Education Service (KACES) organized ITAC5 in 2020 from Seoul, pivoting to produce ITAC’s first digital conference, in response to Covid-19. This virtual experience helped broaden ITAC’s reach even further, with nearly 2,000 Teaching Artists joining live from across the world!
