Where are they now?
It has been over three months since the TATIP class of 2014-15 graduated from the program and many of them have been busy with their new careers in Teaching Artistry. On August 23rd, several graduates orchestrated a picnic reunion in Central Park and Community-Word Project staff went to find out what they have been up to these last few months.
Ally Tufenkjian has been very busy this summer and had this to say:
“In the fall, I’ll be doing an in-school residency with CWP (woot woot!) and after-school residencies with Wingspan Arts and Green Generations, a holistic health organization with a focus on children’s socio-emotional wellbeing, nutrition options, environmental awareness, and their potential for social impact. I’ll also be working either in-school or after-school with the Leadership Program. On the admin level, I just signed on as the Program Coordinator for a fitness and nutrition non-profit that leads 8-session workshops in primarily low-income public schools and am excited to explore how this role and my Teaching Artistry can intertwine and inform each other. And finally, I may be co-producing an original piece about female astronomers. Woohoo!”
“And of course, NONE of these amazing opportunities would have presented themselves without TATIP, I am just so grateful.”
Kim Baglieri has been super busy since we last saw her. During the summer, Kim taught film and photography to high-school aged kids at Snowfarm, the New England Craft Program. For the 2015-2016 school year, Kim was hired by Dreamyard Project to teach after-school visual art at MS 391/ The Angelo Patri Middle School through the School’s Out NYC program, and by Manhattan Youth to teach film after-school at Lower Manhattan Community Middle School. She will also be doing an animation oral history project with middle schoolers at a new charter school in the Bronx. She’s extremely excited to dive into teaching this year and is very grateful for her TATIP education and her mentors’ continued support!
Erin Rees couldn’t make the picnic, but dropped a line to let us know what she has been up to:
“Right now I am getting ready to start another semester with my Middle School Knitting Students at Bedford Stuyvesant Collegiate Charter School and I am continuing with Wingspan Arts at two schools. I am also in the process of building my online knitting presence and working on arm and finger knitting.”
Katie Cox spent the summer touring Alaska as part of the Wild Shore New Music Festival and has returned to work for an arts education non-profit in NYC:
“I recently returned from Alaska for a festival and started a new job as Programs Associate at Exploring the Metropolis. It is an arts non-profit that runs composer and choreographer residencies in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. It is close to a full time and I am waiting to see how my schedule will take shape.”
Since completing TATIP, Carly McCollow is honored to have joined Dreamyard Project as a Teaching Artist in the Bronx and Girls Leadership as a New York Educator. She will be working with NYFD High School this year in East New York with the Step Up program for her MSW program. Carly excitedly brings her Teaching Artist work into her classes at Hunter College and continues to investigate what social work tools can enhance current arts-in-education practices and vice versa.
Rachael Schefrin has also been traveling around the country, but will return this fall to New York:
“Since the completion of my residencies, I have been working with the Curious Theater in Denver, CO on their Curious New Voices National and Summer Intensive Series. In August, I enthusiastically accepted a teaching artist position with Community-Word Project and am still waiting to hear back from several other programs.”
Shereen Macklin took time from her busy schedule to let us know what she’s been up to:
“I’m currently teaching Movement and Theatre to Sixth Graders at Exceed Upper Charter School. I’ve been challenged with creating and developing my own curriculum. I honestly would not have the confidence and skill set to do this without having completed TATIP. I’m so very grateful!”
Leonie Bell just started her MFA in Theatre at Sarah Lawrence College, a hands-on, two-year program which focuses on the creation of original work as a collaborative and multi-disciplinary process. She is very excited to continue teaching theater through her school’s extensive Outreach program. She very much looks forward to actively continue her growth as a theater-maker and educator within this new community.
Javan Howard has been up to quite a bit and had a lot to tell us:
“Over the summer I was able to further develop my Teaching Artist skills with a role as a lead Kindergarten Summer Enrichment Teacher for the Go Project in NYC.”
“I ended up using the knoweldge I gained from the TATIP program to create a 5 week summer poetry and art workshop.
I created a space that allowed my students to draw, paint, write while also focusing on their “creative identity” through our (adpoted) ending motto of: “I have a voice, my voice is powerful, My voice can change the world.””“I started some creative projects over the summer including the launch of my website and soundcloud. I also did some open mic performances at the Mike Geffner Presents The Inspired Word that featured my spoken word poem: A Spike Lee Joint: But Your Life is NOT a Movie. I plan to self publish a chapbook this October that features it and some other previously published and unpublished works.”
“Additionally, I was lucky enough to be hired as a Teaching Artist this Fall by CWP. I will also be going into my 2nd year of Teaching in After School with Wingspan Arts.”
Frank Moran was given an opportunity to start working right away as an assistant at Wingspan Arts in December 2014. After only one semester as an assistant and occasionally subbing a class, Frank has already been promoted to a full time Teaching Artist and starts teaching his own classes on September 16th. He is so excited to be teaching classes like Music To My Ears, Myths And Legends and Star Performers! Frank has not given up his own artistry and will keep on working on stage and screen as the jobs arise. By keeping his own artistry alive Frank will continue to always have something new to teach his students.
Liz Warren has been extremely busy and had this to say:
“This summer, I officially launched a new program called Mindful Arts, a wellness arts program, integrating yoga, culinary arts, mixed media and mindfulness. We partnered with Grand Street Settlement to bring an Urban Retreat Summer Camp to their middle school students. You can see pictures and updates here: http://on.fb.me/1JHaIid“
“I am still a media arts TA with Magic Box Productions and recently finished teaching a summer photography residency for high school students that moved to US in the past 6 months. I was also hired to be a TA with CWP!”
Our graduates have gone on to do many amazing things in such a short amount of time, we can’t wait to see where they go next!
Interested in TATIP? Find out more about our 2015-16 Program!
See more of our 2014-15 Graduates in the 2015 TATIP Anthology!
