Call For Artists: tdsbCREATES Artist Roster 2022-2023

tdsbCREATES celebrates student voice and creativity through the arts while honouring the unique and powerful exchanges that take place between professional artists, teachers, and students in TDSB schools across the city. tdsbCREATES is presented by the Toronto District School Board and the Toronto Arts Council with support from Prologue Performing Arts. Each year, students are encouraged to explore the festival theme through artistic creation in one or more of the arts. The 2022-2023 tdsbCREATES theme is Ignite.

More information about tdsbCREATES can be found on the tdsbCREATES website.

A roster of artists supports the following tdsbCREATES initiatives:

  • Residency Program (grades 1-8)
  • Mentorship Program (grades 7-12)

About Residency and Mentorship:

We are currently hiring artists to join the tdsbCREATES roster for residency (grades 1-8) beginning in March 2023 and mentorship (grades 7-12) beginning in Fall 2023. Please note that the program structure may change for tdsbCREATES 2023-2024.

Toronto-based artists in all arts disciplines are invited to submit an application to work with students during tdsbCREATES in two ways:

  1. Residency Program:
  • Timeframe: March – May 2023
  • Working with students in grades 1-8
  • Each residency is five full days working in two classrooms
  • Artists will participate in pre-planning and professional learning with teachers in advance of the residency.

Selected elementary schools, grades 1-8, will host an artist in residence for five days from March to May and they will be partnered with two classes. The artist will work in one classroom for the full morning (2 hours) and the other classroom for the full afternoon (2 hours). The residency will facilitate a rich creative process which can be extended and expanded upon by the classroom teacher.

Payment: $2,190 per residency project (5 full days in school, personal planning day).

Artists will participate in pre-planning with residency teachers and professional learning in advance of the residency and will be compensated for that time. More information will be shared closer to the beginning of residency.

  1. Mentorship Program:
  • Timeframe: Fall 2023
  • Working with students in grades 7-12
  • Each mentorship school will receive between 6 – 7.5 hours of mentorship depending on school needs and number of participants (there may be opportunities for artists to mentor at multiple schools)

Mentorship brings artists to TDSB classrooms to work with teachers and students in grades 7-12 throughout the creative process as students are developing their original work. Mentors are not facilitating workshops but rather are there to support students and collaborate with teachers. The role of the mentor artist is to provide feedback on work and ask guiding questions, help students clarify their message and connection to the theme, assist students with the development of specific techniques or skills, as well as help students realize their artistic goals. The creative process will culminate in a Performance Festival and a Visual Arts and Film Exhibition.

Payment: $73/hour

Application Process:

We are open to applications from artists that work in all styles and media within each artistic discipline. Below is a list with some examples of areas of interest for mentorship and residency:

  • Dance (all forms)
  • Drama (incl. script writing, process drama, physical theatre, improv etc.)
  • Spoken Word (incl. rap, choral speaking, monologues, storytelling etc.)
  • Visual Arts, Film, Media Arts (incl. painting, drawing, photography, film, sculpture, mixed media, etc.)
  • Music (group improv/composition, song writing, digital production, instrument creation)
  • Multidisciplinary (combinations of multiple artforms)

Please note that tdsbCREATES takes place in person and artists may be connected to support any school across the geography of the TDSB. We welcome applications from artists across Toronto, including from artists that live outside the downtown core.

Eligibility 

To be eligible to work with the tdsbCREATES program, applicants must be professional artists.

A professional artist is someone who has developed their skills through training and/or practice; is recognized as such by artists working in the same artistic tradition; actively practices their art; seeks payment for their work; and has a history of public presentation.

Applicants must be Canadian Citizens, or Permanent Residents (Landed Immigrants), or have an application pending for Permanent Resident status, or be a Protected Person (approved refugee claimant).

We encourage applications from those who self-identify as Black, Persons of Colour, Deaf Persons, Persons with Disabilities, Persons Living with Mental Illness, Indigenous Artists, 2SLGBTQIAP Artists, newcomer and refugee artists, young and emerging artists, and artists working outside the downtown core.

Artists must have been a resident of the City of Toronto (“M” postal code) for at least one year prior to the application deadline, and live and work in Toronto for at least 8 months a year. A post office box address cannot be used to meet the residency requirement.

Artists working in TDSB schools (all positions) are required to provide an approved Vulnerable Sector Screening (through Toronto Police Services)

Application Details – How to apply

To be considered for the tdsbCREATES roster for 2022-2023/ 2023-2024, please complete the application by following the link below.

Application Form – please fill out the tdsbCREATES Artist Roster application form and send your resume to emma@prologue.org

Application deadline: January 4, 2023

If this model of submitting an application doesn’t work for you, please don’t hesitate to contact emma@prologue.org and we will find an alternative method that works for you.

If you have any questions, contact emma@prologue.org.

tdsbCREATES is a unique partnership of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and the Toronto Arts Council, with administrative support from Prologue Performing Arts.