Teaching Artistry With Courtney J. Boddie

“Justice is the GPS” continues the feel-good, wellness-focused conversation between Courtney and Ashraf, Youth Arts Manager for the City of Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture. This part of the episode turns the focus to Ashraf's childhood, his journey from Pakistan to the United States as a baby and his personal trajectory with an emphasis on his discovery of the arts. In the episode, Courtney and Ashraf consider the questions: What does justice mean in the context of the arts world? How can we shift systemic and personal patterns and processes so that they lean toward justice and equity? How can we control our environment when we can't control the environment in which you find ourselves? How do you recharge when you lose your magic? How does this poignant two-part episode conclude? Listen and find out!

Episode 48, Act 1: “Justice is the GPS” features a feel-good conversation between Courtney and Ashraf, Youth Arts Manager for the City of Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture. This episode is just what you need right now. It’s all about wellness, self-care and really ruminating in the feelings—all of them—that come up in any given circumstance…you know, like in a pandemic. Our newest episode considers the questions: Where were you when the pandemic began? How did your personal patterns and processes shift? What did you do to control your environment when you couldn’t control the environment around you? In what ways are you helping yourself and how do you recharge when you lose your magic? So, how do Ashraf and Courtney answer these questions? No spoilers! You’ve got to listen to find out!

Justice—climate justice—and art as a catalyst for real effective change are at the very center of our newest episode, part of the Works Alliance for Arts Education, hosted by Creative Generation. Episode 47, "Collectively Moving Toward Justice," features a powerful conversation with Rachael Jacobs, whose career spans three decades, with her artistry contributing to arts in schools, teacher education, the community arts sector and arts activism. Rachael's current project in Australia, "Chill the Heat," was commissioned by ITAC as part of its ITAC IMPACT: Climate project. In this episode, Rachael speaks about how she chooses to invite artists to become artistic visionaries and take the sharp turn toward justice through art; to work as a collective and tap into new ways of thinking as a way forward—a way to turn creativity into creative justice. Some big questions that come up in this episode are: How can the arts influence conversations around climate justice and change the minds of people in positions of power

In Episode 46, Act 2: "Warrior Work," Courtney continues her conversation, grounded in equitable and responsive practices for Teaching Artists, with Tina LaPadula, a warrior for equitable arts education, co-founder of Seattle-based Arts Corps and current Arts Education Manager at the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture. In the first half of this two-part episode, the tone was set when Tina admitted that she, like many of us at this moment, is feeling "a little janky...a little raw." After this exchange, Courtney thanked Tina for bringing this truth into the space, opening a door to a very honest, thoughtful conversation. In the second half, Courtney and Tina continue to examine themes of social justice, challenging the status quo, letting go of ego in service of artistry and disrupting oppressive practices by way of high-quality liberatory arts practices and continued learning. This conversation continues to take place at the intersection of creativity, love and justice.

In Episode 46, Act 1: "Warrior Work," Courtney has a very real, very grounded conversation with Tina LaPadula, a warrior for equitable arts education, co-founder of Seattle-based Arts Corps and current Arts Education Manager at the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture. At the very beginning of the chat, the tone is set when Tina admits that she, like many of us at this moment, is feeling "a little janky...a little raw." After this exchange, Courtney thanks Tina for bringing this truth into the space, opening a door to a very honest, thoughtful conversation. In this episode, Courtney and Tina make their way through a conversation that examines their personal connection to the word "artistry," tackles themes of social justice, challenging the status quo and disrupting oppressive practices by way of high-quality liberatory arts practices. This conversation takes place at the intersection of creativity, love and justice, and you won't want to miss it!

We're back with a brand new episode and we can't wait for you to hear it. In Episode 45: "Pursuing Authentic Action," Courtney sits down with Kemy Joseph, CEO and Co-Founder of F.E.A.R.S. Advantage, who aims to help purpose-driven business executives leverage equity as a pathway to prosperity to effectively lead their diverse teams through conflicts involving race, politics, and privilege. Together, Courtney and Kemy navigate a thoughtful conversation around the collective traumas of the past year and a half, how that trauma affects the brain's development and the overall effects of the shared experience of being retraumatized (almost daily) without a chance to process and move forward. The conversation settles into one about how we as artists can help create environments in which people can slow down, calm down and allow themselves to reset. In this discussion, Kemy notes that, as our anxiety increases, our empathy decreases. Thus, when it comes to creating the right environment(s) needed for DEI work, we

We're back with the second part of Episode 44: "Oxygen in the Bloodstream." If you listened to Act 1, you'll know that this episode features a truly thoughtful conversation between Courtney and Dennie Palmer Wolf, a researcher with cross-disciplinary consulting firm, WolfBrown. If Act 1 focused on teaching artists and advocacy for the field of arts education, Act 2 builds on that with a focus on the potential power the arts can wield and takes a personal turn for both participants in the conversation. For Dennie, we get a more in-depth examination of how and why she became a researcher and arts advocate. Courtney talks about her very personal connection to the arts and how music brought her parents together. The heartbeat of this conversation can be heard when the two discuss the role of the arts as a disruptive force and change-maker in dismantling deeply oppressive systemic issues in the ways we approach education in this country. Dennie hits the nail on the head when she states that education can help us “

We've got an incredibly special and thoughtful episode of the podcast for you this week. Episode 44, Act 1: "Oxygen in the Bloodstream," features an insightful conversation between Courtney and Dennie Palmer Wolf, a researcher with WolfBrown, a cross-disciplinary consulting firm that believes "every human being has a unique creative voice of intrinsic worth and that every community has a responsibility to awaken, nurture, and sustain its cultural capital." Ms. Wolf, an artist in her own right (but don’t tell her we told you that), is a recent recipient of the Teaching Artist Ally Award, which was given to her by the Association of Teaching Artists (ATA) for her work in the field. In their conversation, Courtney and Dennie talk through a wide range of topics, from personal connection to art, to embracing one’s past and living in the present, to arts education and the COVID-19 pandemic. But the conversation really lands in the sweet spot of teaching artist advocacy and how seemingly caring and highly-regarded i

In Episode 43, Act 2: "Tears on the Drum," we delve deeper into Kwame's past. In doing so, Kwame offers two wise thoughts that really set the tone for this conversation: "Your wounds are your blessings" and "If you can't change the wind, adjust the sail." This leads to a powerful conversation about Kwame's childhood, the trauma he experienced as a result of how he saw Black humans represented on television, and how Black humans were treated by society. And this conversation ultimately moves to how he found and embraced his life's calling and his artistry. Through his artistry and educational background, Kwame aims to create and inspire through poignant metaphor and quotation. Mr. Scruggs is the founder and director of Alchemy, a non-profit organization that uses storytelling—primarily myth and fairy tales—and the djembe drum to work with male youth in order to promote personal development and growth, teaching life lessons through objective means. In their conversation, Courtney and Kwame talk about the need

This episode begins with a brief conversation with returning guest Quanice Floyd, who you may remember from our episode "Shaking Foundations for a New Paradigm." This time around, she's back to talk about her brand new podcast, "Black Arts Admin Bitch," a title she came to in order to embrace the b-word, reclaim it, turn it into a positive and be purely unapologetic about her viewpoints. Her podcast is meant to shed light on stories from arts administrators who are black, indigenous and people of color and to be a liberating space that offers calls to action. The second half of the episode begins by asking simply: How're you doing? What is your artistry? Those are the small questions that launch a truly complex discussion between Courtney and Kwame Scruggs, who aims to create and inspire through poignant metaphor and quotation. Kwame is the founder and director of Alchemy, a non-profit organization that uses storytelling—primarily myth and fairy tales—and the djembe drum to work with male youth in order to p

What is happening in the world around us? What is affecting us socially and politically? What does justice look like? These are just a few of the big questions that frame the inspiring conversation between Courtney and Asian-American choreographer, dancer and dance educator Nai-Ni Chen in Episode 42: "Building and Strengthening Bridges." In their chat, Nai-Ni Chen, of Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, talks with Courtney about the importance of dance in her own life and how the arts can be a conduit for connecting humans to their own humanity, particularly in these turbulent times. Nai-Ni also describes her diverse dance company, which has brought arts and cultural programming to audiences across the country, as one with a unique aesthetic style—formed in part by the realization that the United States offers students a narrow, Euro-centric, patriarchal curriculum, often omitting the immigrant story—as having a strong focus on celebrating culture and humanity. In their conversation, Nai-Ni also notes that, by working

As educators, how do we decenter our ego? How do we decenter our authority? How do we give up the practice of regurgitating information to our students, demanding of them our definition of "success," and, instead, ally and co-conspire with them? These are the essential questions that frame Episode 41: "Dear Reader: In Solidarity, Felicia," featuring Felicia Rose Chavez, who is the Creativity and Innovation Scholar-in-Residence at Colorado College. Felicia is the author of the book "The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop: How to Decolonize the Creative Classroom," which is the basis of this episode's discussion. In their chat, co-produced by the Denver area's BookBar, it becomes clear that Felicia's commitment to this work offers thought-provoking, inspiring and innovative ways to restructure what creative expression looks and feels like. She advocates for the centering of students' artistry and the decentering of traditional authority, specifically that which perpetuates white supremacist power structures, includin

"Kids have a lot of teachers. They don't have a lot of artists in their lives." That quote, taken directly from this week's episode, frames the second part of Courtney's conversation with Russell Granet—New 42’s President and CEO! In Act 2 of Episode 40: “Striving Toward Belonging,” Courtney and Russell take a deeper dive into Russell's historical knowledge of teaching artistry. They dig into its evolution over the past few decades and discuss their hope that the profession as a whole leans into amplifying and highlighting the artistry of the extraordinary people in the field. This episode also delves into New 42's ongoing antiracism work, including the continued development of an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) ecosystem which calls in multiple perspectives in order to make accountability, equity and liberatory practices essential parts of the fabric of New 42's systems. If you missed it, be sure to listen to Act 1 of this great interview. In that episode, Russell talks about his journey from childh

Courtney talks with Russell Granet, New 42’s President and CEO, about his journey from childhood class clown, to artist, to teaching artist, to his current role as arts administrator. Russell’s time as a teaching artist, over 30 years ago, is of particular significance in this discussion, and his career, as this is the point during which he saw the systemic inequities—in terms of access to the arts and in regards to racist and discriminatory practices—built into the New York City school system. Russell also gives some great insight into the evolution of teaching artistry from its humble beginnings to its highly respected role in the arts education field.

In this episode, we feature a deep discussion, from the video series, "We Can't Go Back", between panelists Toya Lillard, Robyne Walker Murphy and Durell Cooper, around a number of topics including: saviorism in arts education; relinquishing power so that younger Black practitioners can step up; and holding arts organizations accountable so that anti-racist policies don't simply become language in a mission statement, but become integrated into their core practices. Anecdotally, and Courtney states this at the top of the episode, Toya, Robyne and Durell have been influential in the development of Courtney's liberatory practices and philosophy, and it's clear why. It's quite powerful to hear just how each of these arts practitioners view the inequities—and the possibilities—in the arts education field. Arts organizations all over the nation, and their leaders, have finally been put under a microscope. There is a demand for them to dig deep in order to interrogate and examine oppressive, white supremacist polic

First, Courtney sits down for a convo with Step Afrika! founder, C. Brian Williams. How can predominantly white institutions (PWIs) better respond to and dismantle their own oppressive practices in order to rebuild their infrastructure? Well, that's one question and one approach. But Williams thinks he has a better idea and call to action: cultivating a strong ecology of arts organizations that are equitably represented in the field. Williams says of arts organizations across the nation that they must examine what deeply rooted historic structures have prevented growth towards equity and telling stories that decenter whiteness, and celebrate the successes and failures that are a part of the history of this country through art. What else do Courtney and C. Brian discuss? And why does C. Brian Williams make a key reference to Dolly Parton? You'll have to listen to this inspiring conversation to find out! Up next, we have Michael J. Bobbitt. Currently he is the Artistic Director of New Repertory Theatre, but h

Hey, listeners! It’s our last episode of 2020 and, unlike the majority of this turbulent year, this episode is fire! The overarching question of this episode, which features both Khalia Davis and Quanice Floyd, is: “What does a liberated and racially just world look like?” And how do our guests answer this question? Well, you'll have to listen to Episode 37: “In Solidarity and Community”! First, Courtney sits down for a chat with Khalia Davis, a multidisciplinary artist and the newly-appointed Artistic Director of Bay Area Children’s Theater, to discuss the importance of representation and creating a dialogue for kids and their families about recognizing and confronting racism. The focus of much of their conversation is Khalia’s piece, “A Kids Play About Racism,” a play for young audiences based on Jelani Memory’s, “A Kids Book About Racism.” Khalia, who sees the arts as a means of amplifying and empowering marginalized communities, hopes that, ultimately, people who look like her will cease to question the

Courtney speaks with Alaina Newell, creator of the podcast "The Fourth Wall," as part of the video series “We Can’t Go Back.” In this insightful episode, Courtney and Alaina discuss Newell's podcast and its inception, and they confront the contradiction of theatrical safe spaces (and its severe lack of brave spaces). Candidly, Alaina admits that she has approached her participation in the field with compassion, but that compassion has not always been reciprocated, highlighting deeply-rooted institutional racism. One commonality that is very present in this episode is how and why Courtney and Alaina have both created their respective brave virtual spaces—their podcasts—in which BIPOC artists' voices must be centered, amplified and celebrated. Lastly, Courtney and Alaina discuss what is being done, what could be done and what must be done to dismantle systemic white supremacy within arts and cultural institutions. And how leading with anti-racism and amplifying Black voices—and hearing and listening to those vo

This episode opens with a discussion with our partners at Creative Generation's Jeff Poulin (Managing Director) and André Solomon (Community Engagement Specialist). An introduction to the podcast's video series, "We Can't Go Back," their dynamic discussion is around systemic racism and anti-racist practices within the fields of arts and arts education addresses the need for systemic restructuring, not incremental spotlighting of these very real issues, in order to make true change happen. And this discussion is not just theoretical. No. It's a discussion about intentional steps that both Jeff and Courtney are taking to actually make change an action, not wish, by cultivating liberated spaces and standardizing abolitionist teaching practices that decenter whiteness and honor the stories of artists who are Black, Indigenous and People of Color. The second half of the podcast is a fascinating conversation between Courtney and two giants in the fields of arts and arts education: Adia Tamar Whitaker, Artistic Dir

What's in the empty space between the lines? That's just one very meta-question that is asked in the continued conversation between Courtney and artist-educator Daniel Levy, author of the book, "A Teaching Artist's Companion." Their discussion becomes less of a linear journey from child to grown-up artist, and more of an exercise in examining one's adolescence and the foundations that, despite what one might be trying to build for themself at a very young age, are laid for them, leaving very little room for personal exploration and growth. And how does one find their individuality, their creativity, under those circumstances? One emerging theme from Courtney and Daniel's conversation is finding a love of the art form of music and harnessing the power of that art form in order to propel their artistry, fueling their creative journey and helping them identify the space between the lines and become the arts educators they are today.