About Us

Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic

Our Vision

Teaching Artists are dynamic and varied PROFESSIONALS who lead and advocate for their independently owned small businesses, the profession of teaching artistry, the field of arts education, creative life-long learning, and the arts sector. The art-learning and art-making contributions of Teaching Artists impact, shape, change, create, and transform individuals, local communities, our nation, and the world.
TAMA’s vision was shaped by these three papers.
Sept 2020

Immediate/Structural

A team of individuals and organizations organized in April 2020. This working paper was developed in collaboration by the team who collectively carried out distinct and vital individual roles as authors, contributors and supporters.

Nov 2020

Quanice Floyd

Quanice Floyd authored this opinion piece. “For decades, senior leadership of primarily white institutions (such as AFTA) have acted as gatekeepers, hoarding power and blocking pathways for professional advancement in the field for BIPOC arts leaders. … while community-based and grassroots arts organizations who are actually doing “the work” struggle to keep it together.”

March 2021

Dearest Arts Organization

Published for the National Guild for Community Arts Education community and beyond, this is a representational collage expressing an uncensored perspective of Teaching Artists in the pandemic.  This letter is an invitation to widen perspectives about the Teaching Artist experience. The piece includes a step-by-step checklist derived from the perspective of Teaching Artists as a guide to realize the shared goal to create a vibrant arts ecosystem that is equitable for all.

Our Mission

Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic supports, empowers, and advocates for Teaching Artists in the mid-Atlantic region, serving as a model and resource for mid-Atlantic stakeholders who value and recognize Teaching Artists as influential paid professionals of an equitable and vibrant arts ecosystem.
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Advocate

TAMA is the TA seat at the table where decisions are made.
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Support

TAMA is a TA’s connection to best practices, other artists, and the community.

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Empower

TOGETHER, we are stronger and more confident to reach career goals.

Core Values

TAMA is a united voice of Teaching Artists of the mid-Atlantic region. We represent different art forms, and each artist brings a unique set of gifts to the TAMA community. We bring together Artists of various backgrounds and experience to work in concert with partner agencies, educational institutions, organizations and communities.

TAMA shows up for the professional Teaching Artist – connecting, celebrating, servicing, collaborating, and advancing our field in the local community, as a region, and on the national front line.

TAMA provides a platform where diversity lives freely, ideas are shared openly, and support for every talent is paramount.

TAMA is by teaching artists – this is not something others do for us – and about teaching artists, in support of our interests and needs, whatever we define them to be. We nurture a space for thoughtful listening so that we may engage in meaningful actions.

To provide innovative artistic experiences that will enrich participants of all ages and our shared communities.

IDEA Statement

Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic advances equity, inclusion, civil rights, racial justice, and equal opportunity for every Teaching Artist and all artists in the arts sector, which is inclusive of the field of arts education and creative lifelong learning.  Our members are recognized and valued as professional artists with vibrant and varied skills and talents who reflect the diversity of our communities, including identity, race, ethnicity, backgrounds, abilities, cultures, and beliefs. TAMA members’ collective imagination, creativity, and intelligence benefits all sectors and brings art-learning and art-making to the heart of building our nation. We embody and promote an anti-racist and universally principled system and pedagogy that places people before profit and challenges the frameworks and policies of current organizations and business models. TAMA develops and shares resources explicitly designed to support the field and sector to further diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. We believe Teaching Artists are professionals and that every Teaching Artist should have equal opportunity, access, and belonging to the field and sector.

To that end, TAMA promotes using the following resources to guide our members:

With this knowledge and understanding, we enter this organization

– our home –

with gratitude and respect for all

and a responsibility to question how each belongs

and how we might step forward together.

TAMA History

A small group of TAs in Maryland who, independently, had been working on TA networking and “building a hive mind,” began meeting together in 2017. Two years later the mid-Atlantic State Arts Agencies invited TAMA to present at their first TA Retreat in Central PA. By then, we had grown to be a DMV Collective, and interest for us to go regional was brewing!

In June 2019, with appointed State representatives, the TAMA Board conducted its first retreat and hashed out a strategic plan that addressed governance, communications, fiscal responsibility and programming/engagement. Read the TAMA 2022-23 Strategic Plan.

TAMA Today

Committed to leading with transparency, the TAMA Board Secretary makes the Board’s agendas and minutes available on this site.

  • View current year (2023) here.
  • View 2022 here.  
  • View 2021 here

 

Subscribe to TAMA’s calendar and join us at the next TAMA Board Member Meeting!

1st Organizational Meeting

July 2017

1st Incorporated

January 2019

First Board Retreat (June 18, 2019)

In attendance: Dave Fry, Mary Gresock, Mark McKenna, Jason Reed, Jennifer Ridgway, Wincey Terry-Bryant, Sue Trainor

Become a TAMA Leader!

Are you a Teaching Artist who focuses both on growth in their own work AND who contributes to the success of the field of Teaching Artistry. You sound like a TAMA Leader! Explore our openings, and learn more about the State Director positions. To inquire and/or apply for any current open position, contact us by email.

Jennifer Ridgway

President
Imagineer Partner, Creative Experience Consultant- Connects | Catalyzes | Transforms

Open Position

Vice President
Interested? Let us know.

Dave Fry

Dave Fry

Secretary
Master Teaching Artist, folk musician. I get'em singing and dancing.

Heidi Rugg

Treasurer
Puppetry & Fiber Artist with a passion for sustainability.

Open Position

Director of Communications
Interested? Let us know.

Open Position

Director of Development
Interested? Let us know.

LaShaunda Craddock

Director of Membership
Master Teaching Artist and Arts, Culture, and "Eluvation" Specialist.

A woman lifts her head with a bright smile. She seems tickled. Her neck wrapped in a bright blue scarf with white sailboats..

JuneRose Futcher

Delaware
Revealing the moment in a young artist's creation.

Devin Walker

District of Columbia
Musician, TA, Author, Radio Programmer and Children’s Drumcussionist for Peace!

Khaleshia Thorpe-Price

Maryland
Master Teaching Artist, Imagination Cultivator, Creative Collaborator and Community Builder.

Open Position

New Jersey
Interested? Let us know.

Larry Moss

New York
Teaching Artist, community builder, installation artist, and maker.

Lara Vracarich

Pennsylvania
Performance/Teaching Artist (Dance/Drumming/Creative Arts), Circle-work, Community Catalyst.

Elnathan Starnes

Virginia
Musician, TA, Producer, Visual Artist, Funk & Groove Savant for Youngins.

Kylie Proudfoot-Payne

West Virginia
Appalachian Painter, Maker, Teaching Artist; specializing in creative problem solving!

Open Positions

Representation is needed in
DE, DC, NJ, NY, PA, VA, and WV.
Interested? Let us know.

Khaleshia Thorpe Price

Board Representative Committee Chair
Email the committee

Master Teaching Artist, Imagination Cultivator, Creative Collaborator and Community Builder.

Marcie Wolf-Hubbard

Maryland Representative
Email the committee

Visual Artist & Master Teaching Artist. Inspiring Others to Create.

Donations to TAMA give Teaching Artists a home where they can build their individual practice, collegial relationships, and collective power to ensure they are contributors to the vibrancy of our nation’s communities.

A copy of the current financial statement of TAMA is available by writing PO Box 212, Riverdale, MD 20738-0212 or by emailing us. Documents and information submitted under the Maryland Solicitations Act are also available, for the cost of postage and copies, from the Maryland Secretary of State, State House, Annapolis MD 21401, (410) 974-5534.

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NEXT MEETING: January 13, 2023 at 8pm.

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One of the challenges of our profession is that there is very little data about who we are, what we do and where we are working. Without a documentable presence, it’s difficult to advocate for funding and policies that benefit our work. Your profile will both help promote your work individually and it will help us aggregate data for our region. As you fill in the blanks below, you will have a choice as to who is allowed to see some of the information. Please note that the “Just Me” option does allow TAMA administration to see what you’ve entered. For example, when you enter your phone number, you can prevent that from appearing in your profile if you like, but TAMA administration can see it.