TeachingArtist
Certificate

“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.” -Eric Booth, Teaching Artist and Author of Making Change: Teaching Artists and Their Role in Shaping a Better World

“Teaching artists are practicing professional artists who have dual careers as educators.” -Berklee College of Music

“The primary goal of a teaching artist is to positively enhance one’s experience with a work of art through some kind of interactive, hands-on, creative, experiential, multi-modal process, thus effectively creating an environment in which one can more deeply engage with the work of art at hand.” -Dr. Emily Ondracek-Peterson, Violinist, Artistic Director, and Educator

Teaching artists do not serve to replace school certified arts educators. We believe teaching artists can serve as valuable resources and partners to our teachers.

• Artists, college students and change-of-career individuals with a creative practice in Music, Dance, Theater, and Playwriting.
  
• The Teaching Artist Certificate is open to college students–undergraduate and graduate–from any institution and not exclusively Rutgers students.
  
• A college degree is not required to qualify for the Teaching Artist Certificate. However, you must be 18+.
• Artists who lack teaching experience and foundations of educational, teaching, and learning methods. This program is not open to experienced teaching artists.  

You will apply through the application form here.

Deadline to apply is Friday, March 27, 2026. Apply early by Friday, February 13, 2026 to be eligible for an early bird discounted program fee of $1,200.

Application Materials 

1. Curriculum Vitae
2. Personal Statement 
   • In a 3-minute video response, please answer the following questions:
     • How does your creative practice intersect and inform your desire to become a teaching artist?
     • What draws you to this program and why now?
     • From your experience as a student, what qualities make an effective educator, and how do you envision bringing those qualities into your teaching practice?
     • What are some specific ways you were taught in your art form that you would like to maintain and what are approaches you’d like to do differently?
3. Creative Work Sample
   • Please submit a sample of your creative work that best represents your artistic practice. These samples may be from past work, a creative work-in-progress, a performance recording, short clips or images of multiple pieces. Provide digital samples of your work by uploading them directly or by providing links to your website, blog, YouTube/Vimeo channel or online gallery. 
4. Context for Creative Work Sample
   • Provide context for your creative work sample. Be sure to credit other artists involved in your project (e.g., if you’re submitting choreography performed by a group, you’ll need to credit the other dancers in the performance). Please respond to as many of these questions as possible that are applicable to your practice (3-minute video response):
     

• • • What inspired you to create this type of work, and why did you choose this as your sample?
    • What was the process like? Were there any challenges, and how did you overcome them? 
    • Were there any specific discoveries in the process that you would be excited to share with people?
    • Are there any ongoing questions you’d like to explore in future works?
    • How is this creative work sample representative of your artistry as a whole?
    • Where do you express your artistry in other areas of your life?

Work Sample As Attachments

When uploading work samples to the application, files must be in one of the following formats:
.docx or .doc 
.PDF 
.jpg 
.mov 
.mp4
.pptx or ppt
To provide work samples in other formats, such as video and audio recordings, you will need to use links (see below).

WORK SAMPLES AS LINKS:

• There is a place in the application for you to provide a URL for your website, blog, YouTube/Vimeo channel, online gallery, etc. You may include additional URLs in the narrative sections of your application, but please note that these links will not be active.
• A link to a public Google Drive or other shared folder is acceptable if you don’t have a website. In consideration of the review panel, please only provide links or share files that do not require the creation of user accounts.

TYPES OF WORK SAMPLES:

• Imágenes: Individual images must be uploaded to your application in .jpg format. To include multiple images, save them as a single pdf or provide a link to an online gallery. You are encouraged to have some “detail” images that are close-ups of one of the other images.
• Video/Audio: One audio or video sample may be provided and should be no more than 5 minutes long. Please note your role in the sample: composer, editor, choreographer, performer, etc. You may provide these types of work samples as links, YouTube, Vimeo, and SoundCloud are standard websites for these submissions. You may also link to a public shared drive or folder, but remember not to link to any site requiring reviewers to create a user account.
• Writing Sample: Playwrights may submit a writing sample of a short play or full-length excerpt (no more than 10 pages).

Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis until all seats are filled. Decisions will be communicated through email. 

No. This certificate program is not a Career and Technical Education (CTE) program and does not provide credentials that are similar or equivalent to it. 

Those who earn a Teaching Artist Certificate through this summer intensive receive credentials of best practices, field work experience, and foundations in educational, teaching and learning methods. This will better prepare you for teaching artistry, facilitating arts engagement in community, professional development, healthcare, in-school residency spaces, and more.

There are no current scholarships available for the Teaching Artist Certificate. 

The program fee to attend the four-week program is $1,500. A down payment of $300 is due upon registering for the program in April 2026. The remaining balance can be paid in a customizable payment plan. Deadline to pay the remaining balance in full is Monday, July 20, 2026. 

Candidates will be applying what they’ve learned in Weeks 1-2 of the program in a full-week of fieldwork. With the support of their Mentor Teaching Artists, candidates will co-teach and lead teach during NJPAC’s summer camp for ages 9-12 (July 13-17).