I guide artists, teachers, young people, leaders, community arts advocates, and organizations to access creative abilities and overcome obstacles in many situations. We have so much to learn from each other.
I draw on critical, intersectional disciplines as a skilled organizer and trainer, helping clients to deepen their own arts, educational, and community programs and practices.
- See my CV for examples and specific information.
- Read a blog post at The SchoolWorks Lab.
Recent clients and collaborators include…
Boston University College of Fine Arts: I teach Arts Education Policy & Advocacy with master and doctoral students in the international online campus. This course engages music, visual art, and other educators in identifying relevant issues, analyzing policy, and advocating for change to improve arts learning in their work and community.
Patchogue Arts Council & US Department of Education: I am the Curriculum Director and mentor for teachers, teaching artists, and organizational leaders with Partners in Education, Arts, & Community Empowerment (PEACE) a 1.8 million dollar US Department of Education Assistance for Arts Education project which addresses issues of segregation in Suffolk County, NY middle and high schools.
Eastern Suffolk Board of Cooperative Educational Services: I was the Curriculum Coordinator and mentor for teachers, teaching artists, and organizational leaders with Creative Classroom Collaboratives, a multi-million dollar US Department of Education Arts Education Model Development and Dissemination study of arts integration and 21st century skills in high-poverty elementary schools and cultural organizations on Long Island, NY. Our study is published with the International Journal of Education & the Arts.
Massachusetts College of Art & Design: As tenured Art Education faculty from 2012-2019, I taught emerging arts educators and leaders, oversaw three accreditations, and was Director for the historic Saturday Studios program. I engaged with hundreds of elementary and secondary students from Boston Public Schools and the greater Boston metro area who attended our studios. I worked directly in studios with young people, their families, and our staff, and mentored over 200 visual arts teachers and teaching artists through the undergraduate and graduate program to be practical and contemporary teachers and leaders in schools, galleries, and community organizations.
Partners for Arts Education: From 2000-2010, I founded and directed an arts education agency that provided arts education resources to schools, cultural organizations, and individual artists. We served every county and borough in New York State with regrants and technical assistance from the NYS Council on the Arts. We offered additional support and special projects for our home community of Syracuse and the surrounding 9-county region.
National Art Education Association: I was the Instructional Resources Coordinator for Art Education Journal for three years (2014-17) under the editorship of Dr. James Rolling. I am especially proud of the collaborative and social justice perspective that I brought to the Journal. Two examples of my own work during that project include:
Teaching Artist Journal : I was the founding editor for ALT/space blog which included developing a structure and moderating a national community of teaching artist contributors to animate the work of artists who teach in diverse contexts.
Selected workshops and residencies that I have led include:
New Hampshire State Council on the Arts: I led a workshop on Critical Communities of Practice at the state conference titled Culturally Responsive Leadership – Race, Equity, and the Arts in Education & Community. Access to the presentation is here.
“Social Selfies”: Workshops for high school students that explored self-image and social interaction through digital selfies and exquisite corpse collages during an annual high school arts festival. I also supported Boston Public School arts students and educators as a partner with the Civic Engagement Team, High School Arts Festival Coordinator, and Guest Reviewer for Boston Arts Academy from 2015 – 2019.
“Increasing Access to High Quality Arts Integration” I led conference sessions for US Department of Education Arts Education Model Development and Dissemination (AEMDD) grantees in partnership with Eastern Suffolk BOCES (ESCBOCES) and Metis Associates. This specific session shared findings on emerging social justice voices from elementary school children in arts integration residencies with high-poverty schools on Long Island, NY. Washington, DC – 2018
“Arts Integration Opens Minds”: I work closely with arts & cultural organizations to provide custom institutes to meet a range of needs. This creativity institute at Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center included performances and installations with school teachers, teaching artists, and community cultural partners with the ESBOCES AEMDD research project. East Hampton, NY – 2018
“Sustainable Creativity”: This museum-based arts learning institute was for teachers and teaching artists. We developed collaborative installations responding to “Thaddeus Holownia: Walden Revisited and Earth Muse: Art & the Environment” at the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington, NY – 2017
“Collaborative Symposium on Civic Engagement”: As a visiting artist, I led a workshop for graduate students at the Lesley University Arts in Learning program. We explored ways that artists can provide opportunities for public dialogue, civic engagement, and individual reflection on our work as community organizers. Cambridge, MA – 2015 & 2016
“As a classroom community, our capacity to generate excitement is deeply affected by our interest in one another, in hearing one another’s voices, in recognizing one another’s presence.”
bell hooks, 1994
Laura K Reeder 