Report To The Community 2022

teaching as an art form
launched in 2021 with a
$10 million gift from Judy and
Stewart Colton. The Institute
now houses all of NJPAC’s
Saturday Arts Training
classes — and supports a suite
of programs that champion
the whole child, paving the
way toward successful careers
or college trajectories.
Mentoring programs, career
advice sessions from working
professionals, mental health
support from social workers
and expanded “gigging”
opportunities offered through
Brick City Bookings are among
the initiatives the Colton Institute
has enabled and expanded
to benefit students, alumni
and teaching artist faculty.
“Our Arts Training is focused
on the mental health of our
students, and it’s using the arts
as an outlet to be able to lean
into their lived experiences,”
says Vicky Revesz, Senior
Director of Arts Education
Operations. “Through the
Colton Institute, we’re able
to train teaching artists on
these specific approaches.”
The Colton Institute underwrites
the social workers who attend
to students, families and their
caregivers through one-on-one
and group sessions.
NJPAC’s mentoring program,
piloted in 2021, was expanded
this year. Called Creative
Coaching, it is now available to
all Arts Center students, as well
as to alumni ages 18 to 26.
This demographic needs
resources to “prime them for
the start of an arts career,”
says Rosa Hyde, Senior Director,
Arts Education Performances
and Special Events. “They need
to understand finances, how to
do their taxes, how to put a
resume together, how to get
Creative Coaching,
NJPAC’s expanded
mentoring program, is
now available to all Arts
Center students as well as
to alumni ages 18 to 26.
The catalytic $10 million gift from Judy and Stewart Colton
supports mentoring programs, career advice sessions, mental
health support and more, all designed to launch young people
onto a successful career or college trajectory.
auditions. It’s learning
the business of the business.”
The Colton Institute funds
staff for Brick City Bookings,
a talent agency for students
and alumni who play — for pay —
at corporate events, fundraisers
and on the NJPAC mainstage.
Students under 18 receive an
honorarium; those 18+ get
paid a musician’s union rate.
Thanks to the Colton Institute,
Hyde is also strengthening
the Arts Center’s engagement
with alumni in other ways, and
wants to create an Alumni
Advisory Council for feedback
on educational programs and
insider knowledge on making
a successful arts career.
“I try my best to get in touch
with as many former students
as possible to bring them
home,” says Hyde. “I want
them to know this is a place
they can come back to.” •
“Show me how atoms in different
forms of matter move.”
Or “travel around the classroom mimicking
an evaporating droplet of water.”
These are some of the classroom prompts
envisioned by NJPAC’s new Arts Integration initiative,
a professional development program focusing on
the enrichment of classroom teaching through the
collaboration of educators and teaching artists.
In these examples, dance is a way for students
to demonstrate their understanding of science.
“It’s kinesthetic engagement,” says Natalie Dreyer,
Director for Arts Integration. “We’re encouraging
students to use their bodies to show their knowledge.”
In this first year of a four-year pilot Arts Integration
program, elementary classroom educators and
teaching artists began to learn these techniques in
a combination of virtual and in-person workshops.
This professional development program helps teachers
integrate visual and performing arts into the teaching
of core content (math, science, social studies and
language arts) in order to deepen understanding of
both the arts and the subject matter. Other examples
of arts integration include using musical notes to
teach fractions or asking students to paint a mask
to illustrate a literary character’s emotions.
“We’ve moved out of the banking system of education,
where it’s ‘I’m taking this knowledge and depositing
it into you,’” says Dreyer. “Instead, we’re co-creating
knowledge, giving students ownership over their
understanding of a subject. This pedagogy incorporates
students’ multiple intelligences so that teachers are
meeting the needs of students with different abilities.”
Teachers from Jersey City, Paterson and Newark
schools currently participate. The first year of the
program focuses on developing teachers’ creativity.
The following years will include programs on teaching
new art forms to educators, how to integrate arts
into core curriculum and in-school residencies
with NJPAC teaching artists. There is no fee
to participate, and teachers receive a stipend
and professional development credits.
Dreyer says, “We believe in investing time and
resources in classroom teachers, and so we do.” •
Teachers from Newark, Jersey City and Paterson
schools participated in Arts Integration workshops
designed to weave visual and performing
arts into the teaching of core curriculum.
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