Lookingglass Summer Camp Assistant Teaching Artists

Position Summary

Lookingglass’ Department of Curiosity is seeking enthusiastic artists with a passion for working with young people ages 5 –14.

We are hiring 2 assistant teaching artists who are available to teach summer camps (August 4-8 and 11 – 15).  These positions are funded by the Illinois Arts Council (IAC) Youth Employment in the Arts grant and applicants must be 22 years old (or younger).

As part of the Education and Engagement team, Lookingglass Teaching Artists report to the Director of Education and Engagement and collaborate with Lookingglass staff to design and implement programs that align with Lookingglass’ artistic season and our core values: collaboration, transformation, and invention.  Teaching assignments are decided by staff on a case-by-case basis in consultation with the assistant teaching artist based on their interests and expertise and informed by the needs of the project.

Lookingglass Theatre Company

As one of the country’s largest ensemble theatres dedicated to the creation of new work, Lookingglass Theatre Company seeks to redefine the theatrical experience and to make theatre more exhilarating, inspirational, and accessible to all. Now in its 38th year, the Company is a respected source for story-centered theatrical work that is evocative, physical, and visually rich, and operates from its home in the historic Water Tower Water Works on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue.

Recipient of the 2011 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre Company has built a national reputation for artistic excellence and innovation onstage, as well as sharing its ensemble-based techniques with Chicago-area students, teachers, community organizations, and corporations through the Company’s Department of Curiosity.  Guided by the Company’s mission to “change, charge, and empower,” Lookingglass’ Curiosity Department cultivates creativity, expands access, and transforms classrooms and communities across the city we call home.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

Lookingglass Teaching Artists will create lesson plans based on established teaching standards and educational best practices, develop, and implement classroom management strategies, and maintain necessary communication with Lookingglass staff. They work with participants in a way that considers the physical and mental well-being of each child, while being prepared and flexible to design and implement an experience of learning and discovery based in supportive, creative, empowering, anti-racist and inclusive practices.

Ideal candidates will have had experience with one or more of the following:

• Building creative ensembles
  Physical theatre and/or movement-based art
  Dance
  Music
  Devising
  Creative play
  Adapting and interpreting scripted material
  Theatre for Young / Theatre for Very Young Audiences.
  Applied theatre, including interest in applying theatre to non-arts settings like nursing homes, hospitals, or places of business

Successful teaching artists will:

• Collaborate with Lookingglass Director of Education and Engagement and organizational partners to build a curriculum and implement lesson plans that align with the artistic season at Lookingglass.
• Regularly communicate needs and issues with Department of Education and Engagement staff
• Appropriately follow protocols for recording hours worked
• Attend Lookingglass Teaching Artist trainings and professional development workshops, as applicable
• Demonstrate commitment to helping others explore their creativity with an interest in expanding their own creative practice as well as igniting that spark with others
• Participate in organization-wide anti-racism work and incorporate an anti-racist lens into daily practice. This work, by the Board, Ensemble, and staff, is ongoing.

Qualifications:

• Must be between 17 and 22 years old (per IAC grant requirements)
• At least 1 year of experience working with children
• At least 1 college-level class in one of the following: fine art, performing arts, education.
• Ability to commute to our theatre, located in the historic Chicago Water Tower, 163 E Pearson at Michigan Avenue.
• Multilingual candidates encouraged

Schedule

August 3 – 7, 8:30am – 3:15pm: Scary Tales: Build Your Own Story

August 10 – 14, 8:30am – 3:15pm: As if by Magic!  Where the Impossible is Possible

August 10 – 14, 11:30am – 4:15pm: Lookingglass Young Ensemble:  Ace the Audition

Compensation

Teaching hours: $20/hour.  Prep hours: $18/hour