Arts programs are often credited with helping children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) gain cognitive and social skills. As with all claims of transfer from experience in the arts to abilities in non-arts domains, empirical evidence is mixed, and often criticized for both imprecise methodologies and a lack of connection back to the art form…

This article discusses Al Souza's "Orlando City Maps," which was created not by adding colored ink to paper, but by cutting the printed paper away. Seven layers of pages are stacked upon one another and, except for the intact bottom layer, oval-shaped holes are cut through each page to reveal the layers below. When designing "Orlando City Maps,"…

There is no one-size-fits-all way to keep pace with the changes affecting students and those who educate them. That's why Joan Lazarus has gathered here the insights of hundreds of theater teachers and teaching artists on how they have responded to the shifting demands of theater education in today's schools. She paints a portrait of active,…

This study investigates teaching artists whose work is rooted in dance and theater. Although the term remains both ambiguous and debated, teaching artists provide a good deal of arts education delivery in P-12 and afterschool programs throughout the United States. Based on survey data from a range of teaching artists across the nation (N = 133),…

Professors from American University and artists and educators from Imagination Stage, a children's theater and arts-education organization in nearby Bethesda, Maryland, have combined their intellectual and artistic strengths over the past 12 years to create an arts-integrated educational program for elementary and secondary schools throughout the…

Teaching artists work in a field with a long, rich history, and many roots and strands of development. One of TAJ's roles is to try to make this history more accessible and useful to working teaching artists. In this article, the author outlines the evolution of teaching artistry in the United States.

This compelling collection of inspiring case studies from community arts projects in five countries will inform and inspire students, artists, and activists. "VIVA!" is the product of a five-year transnational research project that integrates place, politics, passion, and praxis. Framed by postcolonial theories of decolonization, the…

The happy ending is that The Theatre Company Blah Blah Blah has arrived at a clear statement of aims and objectives, and the long story is the 20 years of theatre making within the field of theatre in education, involving moments of clarity followed by periods of complete confusion as to why we were doing what we were doing. The question which…

The Blue Man Group began in 1988 when friends Matt Goldman, Phil Stanton, and Chris Wink all living in New York--voiced their increasing disgruntlement and boredom with urban life. With a gut feeling that creativity and a tribal-like community could prosper in their metropolitan environment, the friends decided to confront the issues rather than…

In an effort to strengthen the authentic connection between theatrical work and classroom curriculum, the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta Georgia has taken a new direction in their arts education programming. They now put their Theater for Young People performances and scripts at the center of all their youth-centered outreach work, including teacher…