Kennedy Center Teaching Artists
Kennedy Center Teaching Artists
Photo credit: Jati Lindsay
Teaching artists engage in a variety of programs across the Center, including leading student-centered residency work, designing and offering professional development workshops for classroom educators, or facilitating arts experiences for visitors.
Our programs are dedicated to providing students, educators, and Center visitors with enriching artistic and creative arts experiences that nourish the spirit and ignite curiosity. Teaching artists are an important part of this work! Our programs offer an array of opportunities for artistic expression, skill development, and community-building. We welcome teaching artists of all backgrounds to connect with us, explore our initiatives, and learn more about how we support and collaborate with teaching artists.
What is a Teaching Artist?
When creating a definition of teaching artistry, our Education staff evaluated the various definitions that already exist within the field. While wanting to acknowledge those various definitions, we also wanted to have a definition that reflected our program work and the Kennedy Center values. Rather than creating a fixed definition, we have created a list of traits that currently describe our teaching artists. This list is subject to change as we continue to grow our programs and meet new, exceptional teaching artists who will challenge our current notion of teaching artistry.
Teaching artists:
- Demonstrate a depth of knowledge in their art form.
- Are engaged in sustained creative exploration. 
- Teach in, through, and about the arts.
- Work in a variety of environments serving the needs of local communities.
Teaching artists engaged with us align their work with the Kennedy Center’s mission and values: collaboration, respect, inclusion, openness, a belief in the arts as a vehicle of empowerment, and a commitment of service to others.
Teaching artists serve as valuable resources and partners to our teachers, collaborating with or as a complement to school certified arts educators.
Teaching Artist Programs
We offer a variety of opportunities for local and national teaching artists to work and learn with the Kennedy Center. Please note that our programs serve a range of participants and in response, there are varying levels of experience that we expect from our teaching artists.
Working with the KC:
Professional Learning Workshops for Teachers: From October through April, teachers participate in professional learning workshops at the Kennedy Center, both virtually and in-person. These single session workshops develop the teachers’ knowledge and skills in the arts and/or arts integration.
The application for the 2024-25 season is closed. It will re-open in December, 2024 for the 2025-26 program season.
Student Centered Residency Program: Teaching artists lead student-centered residencies for a series of classroom sessions that are designed to positively impact student learning through arts and arts integrated instruction.
The application for the 2024-25 season is closed. It will re-open in December, 2024 for the 2025-26 program season.
Teaching Artist Seminars: Throughout the year, the Kennedy Center offers in-depth seminars for teaching artists interesteddeveloping their skills in the Kennedy Center's approach to arts integration and leading arts-integrated educator professional development workshops.
Apply to Engage in our Programs
The application for the 2024-25 season is closed.
If you don’t have three years professional experience, but are interested in engaging in our work, be sure to check back for updates about our Teaching Artists Professional Learning Seminar schedule. Seminars will center on the Kennedy Center approach to arts integration, lesson design, and coaching of adult learners.
Please contact [email protected] with any questions.
What are our objectives for our work with teaching artists?
We seek to:
- Broaden and diversify the teaching artist field. 
- Create equitable employment opportunities for teaching artists. 
- Make teaching artistry a more visible career choice for emerging artists. 
- Build networks for teaching artists as they support local communities.
Photo credit: Jati Lindsay
Kennedy Center Education
The Vice President of Education is generously endowed by the
Generous support for educational programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.
Gifts and grants to educational programs at the Kennedy Center are provided by The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Bank of America; Capital One; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Carnegie Corporation of New York; The Ednah Root Foundation; Harman Family Foundation; William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust; the Kimsey Endowment; The Kiplinger Foundation; Laird Norton Family Foundation; Lois and Richard England Family Foundation; Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather; The Markow Totevy Foundation; Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation; The Morningstar Foundation; Myra and Leura Younker Endowment Fund; The Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives;
Prince Charitable Trusts; Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A. J. Stolwijk; Rosemary Kennedy Education Fund; The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates; The Victory Foundation; The Volgenau Foundation; Volkswagen Group of America; Jackie Washington; GRoW @ Annenberg and Gregory Annenberg Weingarten and Family; Wells Fargo; and generous contributors to the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund and by a major gift to the fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas. Additional support is provided by the National Committee for the Performing Arts..
The content of these programs may have been developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education but does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education. You should not assume endorsement by the federal government.