Cleveland Public Theatre is hiring a Teaching Artist and Site Coordinator for the Cleveland Act Now Academy (CAN Academy) program to continue to serve Cleveland Public Theatre’s mission to raise consciousness and nurture compassion through life-changing education programs.

Review of candidates will begin immediately. To apply for the position, send an email to Nicole Sumlin, Director of Education, at nsumlin@cptonline.org by end of day December 15, 2023. Subject line should read: YOUR LAST NAME, Teaching Artist and Site Coordinator, CAN Academy. Your email should include two attachments: a resume and a cover letter giving examples of work that illustrate the experience required in the description and explaining why you are interested in this position. No phone calls, please.

TEACHING ARTIST AND SITE COORDINATOR, CAN ACADEMY

The Teaching Artist and Site Coordinator, CAN Academy reports directly to the Education Director. This position is a year-round, salaried staff position. The salary range is $37k to $43k based on work experience. Benefits include health insurance and paid time off. We are looking to fill this position as soon as possible.

The Teaching Artist and Site Coordinator has the following responsibilities:

• Successfully create and implement curriculum for year-round, CAN Academy programming during the daytime and early evening. Youth will build community and storytelling skills (incorporating body, voice, and ensemble work) through Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer sessions, with each session culminating in mostly devised artistic presentations at Cleveland Public Theatre (and at times, community events).
• Collaborate with CAN Academy team members, CPT Staff from applicable departments, and guest artists to successfully present the artistic presentations and fully produced productions at assigned sites.
• Manage part-time CAN Academy Teaching Artists and Teaching Artist Interns in the successful implementation of CAN Academy programming.
• Attend meetings with CAN Academy (and once weekly, full CAN programming) team(s) and Director of Education to share outline highlights, session progress, questions, and challenges of program implementation.
• Create detailed and accurate lesson plans, attendance records, and session progress notes for the program as indicated by Director of Education
• Completing other duties that relate to the CAN Academy program and CPT education/artistic programming as determined by Director of Education

KEY COMPETENCIES

• Experience teaching Black and brown youth who may have sustained trauma and deal with the effects of oppression and scarcity
• Experience in building relationships with families and community partners
• Creativity and vision in storytelling
• Play creation skillset
• Play-producing skillset
• Excellent logistics and organizational skills
• Excellent collaborator and communicator
• Organized, clear record-keeping and curriculum planning skills
• Experience managing the needs of various constituencies at once
• Commitment to leading with anti-racist principles
• Community-building skills
• Team player and inclusive leader
• Integrity and discretion
• Project management
• Strong public speaking skills

QUALIFICATIONS

This position requires a teaching artist and leader who is equally passionate about building nurturing, authentic relationships with youth and their families and exciting creativity, confidence, and craft in young artists around storytelling. Experience in devising theatre is critical, as is a depth of experience working with Black and brown youth, adults, and families who may encounter daily manifestations of scarcity. We are seeking a devising/ensemble-based director and teaching artist with strong leadership skills. CPT gives preference to candidates who have demonstrable experience advocating for anti-racism, equity, and inclusion. Successful candidates will be collaborative and eager to learn and lead. Successful candidates possess excellent organizational skills and a passion for creating warm, exciting, and empowering community experiences for our program’s participants.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAMMING

Cleveland Act Now (CAN) is a year-round theatre arts program consisting of two paths for young artists ages 5-14. CAN multidisciplinary performing arts activities improve academic skills, instill empathy and responsibility, build character, and enhance creative thinking.

• CAN Academy is a free performing arts program at Cleveland Public Theatre for younger teens and youth from Cleveland and surrounding neighborhoods. Young artists engage in rigorous (and fun!) theatre training, learning acting fundamentals, script analysis, storytelling techniques, and play creation.
• CMHA CAN takes place in partnership with Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) at community centers for children and families who live in public housing. Under the guidance of CPT Teaching Artists, young artists learn how to create and perform their own plays, dance, poetry, music, and visual art. These original performances are crafted and presented annually at CMHA and Cleveland community centers as well as arts festivals throughout Cleveland. CMHA CAN is offered at four CMHA community center sites: Lakeview Terrace CAN, Woodhill Homes CAN, Outhwaite Homes CAN, and Riverside Park CAN. CAN also partners with local community centers.

CPT’S CORE EDUCATION PRINCIPLES

CPT education programs follow four guiding principles that reflect our pedagogical, political, and aesthetic approaches to education and are deeply interrelated. Empowerment: Together we create original works of theatre, and our participants contribute to the spoken words, the movement, and the production elements. This layered approach engages participants dynamically, resulting in pride and ownership of the final product. Equity: We strive to bridge the gap between the heard and the unheard by centering rarely shared stories with a wider audience. Our work brings awareness to issues such as racial and economic justice, nurturing relationships that cross the invisible boundaries of race and class. We believe representation matters, and we are committed to engaging Teaching Artists who are representative of the communities with whom we collaborate. Excellence: We encourage the development of the whole artist, nurturing an artist’s personal, interpersonal, and artistic growth. This environment of self-mastery calls participants to own their greatness with pride, be accountable to their peers, and be engaged, curious, and connected to their community. Enthusiasm: We approach the artistic process with openness, rigor, intention, and joy! Our programs cultivate an enthusiastic learning environment that supports creative expression while nurturing a high degree of discipline and focus. We encourage our participants’ creativity, and we also challenge them to explore as many levels of their creative potential as possible.