ECAT offers mentorship through the arts. If you are an artist, designer or creative person looking to make an impact in young person’s life, consider teaching with ECAT.
Mentorship Through the Arts
ECAT is looking for mentors who are artists. While we want students to learn the disciplines of the arts, our core focus is on building positive relationships with students and building self-efficacy.
We value a diverse roster of arts instructors. We want students to have the opportunity to work with artists that look like them, that share common experiences, and that value their point of view. We also want students to be challenged, to work with artists of different backgrounds and viewpoints, and to be exposed to a variety of artforms. This is only possible through diversity and inclusion.
Mentorship is fulfilling work. It is also challenging work. At ECAT, we’re in it together. We invite you to join our community of practice where we share strategies for improving the craft of mentoring in the arts. Importantly, our community uses peer-observation and co-teaching as tools for professional development.
A strong candidate:
- Values mentorship and forming strong, supportive relationships with students.
- Values diversity and is committed to creating inclusive environments for their students.
- Values professional development and is willing to invest time in learning and sharing with other artists.
If you are an artist, designer or creative person looking to make an impact in young person’s life, consider teaching with ECAT.
Arts Instructor Responsibilities
Arts instructors at ECAT are responsible for creating and teaching the arts programs that take place in our studios. This includes creating the curriculum, identifying supplies, preparing the studio for instruction, running classes and assisting with the semester art show.
Programs that are grant funded, for example the Teens Art Program, are accountable to meeting the goals of funders. ECAT staff makes these goals clear to our arts instructors and work as a team to develop arts programming to meet them.
Part of a Supportive Team
Instructors have the support and resources to create impactful arts programs. Class sizes are limited to 8 students, allowing the focus to be on mentorship and focused instruction. We work with artists to identify professional-level supplies and equipment so that students learn the same tools and workflows professional artists use. Instructors are supported by ECAT staff to help with student behavior, recruitment, curriculum development, and field trips. There are opportunities to collaborate with other artists and community organizations, allowing you to be creative in developing engaging and innovative programs for youth. Bold, imaginative program ideas are encouraged.
Types of Classes
ECAT’s primary mission is to offer after-school arts programming for teens in grades 7-12. ECAT is currently looking for instructors to offer the following programs:
Teen after School
Middle School | Grades 7+8
Middle school classes are 6 weeks long and meet once a week. A major goal of these classes is exploration and exposure to new ideas and art forms. If ECAT is adding a new class topic, typically we run it as a middle school class first before expanding into a longer form class.
High School | Grades 9-12
High school classes are 12 weeks long and meet once or twice a week. A longer semester allows for more in-depth projects and possible community collaborations. A major goal of these classes is to practice a craft; focused development of skills and learning to think like an artist through critique and revision. The expectation is not that students create world class art, rather we set the expectation that students work the same way world class artists do.
Pay
Arts instructors are contracted employees. Typically, instructors are contracted per course (12 weeks, one class per week) Our rate is $125/class which covers planning and instructional time. A typical class is two hours of instruction time, with one hour prep.
Applications
If you are interested in teaching with us, please contact Jude Shingle, Arts Program Director.
