ArtistYear AmeriCorps Fellow

NATIONAL SERVICE FOR CITIZEN-ARTISTS.
ArtistYear is the first national AmeriCorps program for artists to dedicate themselves to a year of service to our country. 

WHY WE EXIST

4 million disadvantaged youth in our nation do not have access to arts education (National Endowment of Arts). Yet research shows when underserved students are involved in the arts, they reap significant academic, social, and personal benefits.  ArtistYear’s mission is to address this Arts Education Gap by ensuring every underserved student in America has arts education through a National Service Arts Corps.

WHAT WE DO
We do so by developing, supporting and placing exceptional ArtistYear AmeriCorps Fellows--recent higher-education arts graduates across artistic disciplines including actors, creative writers, dancers, designers, filmmakers, musicians, photographers, and visual artists --as full-time Teaching Artists at low-income schools. Once placed in a low-income school with a partner teacher, each Fellow provides 1700 hours of arts education, deepening the quality of, and exposure to, arts standards via “Push-In” Classes (integrating arts with other subjects), Arts Clubs (arts programming linked to school-day curriculum) and Arts Interventions (small group sessions for off-track/at risk youth). 

This innovative strategy significantly bolsters arts education for our nation’s most vulnerable youth, with all its attendant benefits, while also improving student academic engagement, enhancing school climate and capacity, benefiting the larger community, and underscoring the importance of service for the next generation of Citizen-Artists.

WHAT IS THE 2021 COHORT APPLICATION TIMELINE?
Our rolling application process is open! We are currently accepting applications for 2020-2021 in the following locations*:

  - The Borough of Queens, New York
  - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  - The Sandhills, North Carolina
  - Roaring Fork Valley, Colorado

 
  - APR 27, 2020 - DEADLINE
  - JUN 01, 2020 - DEADLINE
  - WAITLIST NOTIFICATION: JUN 30, 2020

PROGRAM IMPACT
ArtistYear is an organization born out of the traditions of service, artistic excellence and expression, and obligation toward our fellow citizens. ArtistYear Fellows use their artistry and training to facilitate positive and sustainable outcomes for students, schools, and themselves. Our Program is designed to yield changes for:  

Low-income Students: Fellows use arts education as a tool to engage low-income students more deeply in the life of their school and community, yielding increases in school attendance, improvements in student attitudes towards their peers, school, and neighborhoods, and for themselves as 21st-century learners, artists, and contributing citizens.

Schools & District: Fellows also act as “capacity builders” for a school’s emerging arts program, supporting existing arts specialists or school leadership with arts partner cultivation, arts field trip preparations, and arts resource procurement.

ArtistYear AmeriCorps Fellows: Through these activities and weekly professional development training, Fellows develop as skilled teaching artists, effective leaders, engaged citizen-artists, and active participants in our Democracy. 

WHAT IS A FELLOW'S ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES?
An ArtistYear AmeriCorps Fellow’s role and responsibilities during their service year include:

A full-time (40 hours) service week in a Title I school, inclusive of:

Direct teaching and school common-time hours

Communication, meeting, planning, and preparation hours

Student performance or exhibition hours

Training and professional development requirements for school site and ArtistYear

Designing and teaching standards-based aligned arts education to disadvantaged youth, that inspires active youth citizens and supports school culture and goals, as well as ArtistYear’s standards.

Preparing and executing high quality, student-centered gallery openings, performances and/or community arts events that highlight student process and achievement, enhance school climate, and engage the broader community.

Regular communication, meetings, and collaboration with parents, school staff members, and ArtistYear leadership.

Assisting school partner faculty members as requested; 

Completing required documentation and records for school site and ArtistYear, such as daily virtual standup participation, blogging responsibilities, timekeeping, assessment protocols, and lesson plans.

Full attendance and participation in all required professional development and training, including ArtistYear’s intensive Orientation & Training Institute during late summer.

Receiving and implementing regular and supportive performance feedback from ArtistYear leadership and/or a school site supervisor.

WHO ARE OUR FELLOWS?

An ArtistYear AmeriCorps Fellow is dedicated to the highest level of artistic excellence, possesses a deep commitment to service, and believes in the artistic potential of every child.

Fellows represent all artistic disciplines. They are actors, animators, art historians, cellists, ceramicists, composers, comics, creative writers, dancers, filmmakers, graphic designers, guitarists, illustrators, jazz musicians, photographers, playwrights, poets, recording engineers, screenwriters, sculptors, singers, storytellers, violinists, and visual artists. 
 

WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

We look for applicants who possess the following characteristics:

Strong work ethic and sense of self

Capacity to motivate and lead others

Talent for adapting to new environments and maintaining grit in the face of challenges

Aptitude for organization, self-motivation, and problem-solving

Ability to remain flexible and manage changing priorities and demands on time

Facility with and a love for out-of-the-box thinking

A sense of humor and easy-going approach

Functional excellence in artistic, academic, professional, and/or volunteer settings

Exceptional judgment

Interpersonal maturity, compassion, and wisdom

Confidential behavior and discretion

Respect for individual’s and diverse experiences

Ability to work effectively with people of all backgrounds and experiences

Effective communication

Easily engages others and demonstrates a genuine interest in the thoughts, ideas, and opinions of others

Speaks to the level, needs, and interests of a particular audience

Comfortable with public speaking, writing, preparing presentations or speeches

Possesses the ability to actively listen

WHAT ARE THE FELLOW BENEFITS?

ArtistYear supports the professional development and personal growth of each Fellow throughout the year of service. These benefits include:

A monthly living stipend of $1,750.

A stipend to cover health insurance if not already covered by an existing policy.

An educational award of $5,920 following successful completion of your service year.

Federal school loan forbearance during your ArtistYear.

Regular professional development/training opportunities in classroom management, child development, teaching artistry, creativity, arts education, and civic engagement.

Mentoring: on-site in your school assignment and through off-site sessions.

Opportunities to network and collaborate with a large range of stakeholders, including local community arts leaders, school district leadership, service year personnel, alumni, and more.

Exposure to and experience with critical 21st-Century artist skills, including non-profit strategy; leadership, teaching, advocacy, problem solving and communication skills, and intensive experience in community arts education.

A strong network of fellow ArtistYear colleagues and friends who will offer support, ideas, and collaboration both during your service year and beyond.

An opportunity to use your art to make a difference in the lives of children and schools.

*Please note, the number of Fellowship positions ArtistYear may offer in each location are dependent on funding.
 

OUR STORY

Founded and headquartered in Philadelphia, ArtistYear became an independent 501(c)3 in 2016, thanks to a generous gift from the late H. F. “Gerry” Lenfest.  It launched a pilot in 2016-2017, with 9 Fellows serving over 1,200 high-need Philadelphia students in partnership with the School District of Philadelphia, higher-education partner's Curtis Institute of Music and Drexel University, and community arts organizations such as The Barnes Foundation.

In Summer 2017, ArtistYear was awarded $1.45 million in AmeriCorps funding over three years, the first-ever national organization dedicated to service through the arts to receive AmeriCorps funding and recognition from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the federal agency that oversees AmeriCorps and national volunteering initiatives. ArtistYear expanded operations to three locations—Philadelphia, PA; NYC’s Borough of Queens, in partnership with the NYC Department of Education; and rural Colorado in partnership with Aspen Music Festival & School and the Roaring Fork School District. In 2018-2019, after receiving 30 additional PennSERVE AmeriCorps positions for Philadelphia Fellows along with support from CMA Foundation, New York Community Trust, Neubauer Family Foundation, William Penn Foundation, and others, ArtistYear more than doubled its impact with 57 Fellows serving annually, teaching 15,000 non-duplicated youth twice-weekly, delivering over 96,000 hours of arts education in the three locations.

To date, ArtistYear has trained and placed 137 ArtistYear Fellows to serve as full-time teaching artists in 51 low-income schools, collectively engaging over 35,000 (non-duplicated) students at Title I schools, delivering over 233,000 hours of arts instruction.  11% of the ArtistYear alums have been hired by a school district as a certified arts specialist post their service year. 95% of school leaders reported that their ArtistYear Fellow’s presence and program at the school led to increased student engagement and school attachment, resulting in positive effects on attendance and academic performance.

ArtistYear provides equal employment opportunities to all Employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age, disability, gender identity, results of genetic testing, or service in the military. Equal employment opportunity applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leave of absence, compensation, and training.