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The child is the artist.

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Our Beliefs

The sense of agency fostered in our studios empowers students to be changemakers.
Choices maximize engagement, encourage experimentation, and support artistic idea generation.
The artistic process is the most important artifact of student learning.
Students deserve a studio experience that is parallel to how artists work in the world.
Teachers learn best from other practicing teachers.
Studios reflect the emerging interests and identities of our communities and prioritize voices from underrepresented artists.
As an artistic community, teachers and students reflect constantly on their practice.
We respect students as artists and honor their aesthetic.
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"We Believe..." Full Version & Explanation

Our Guiding Principles

What do artists do?

Artists practice. Similar to musicians and athletes, artists practice constantly, observing and evaluating outcomes to determine their next steps.
Artists work with ambiguity. Knowing (and sometimes not knowing) where to go with their work, artists understand that this is part of the artistic process…

The child is the artist.

In PreK-16 TAB classes, students experience the visual arts as artists responsible for their learning. Following introductions to available media, student artists advance their individual artistic processes through exploration and discovery, inquiry and ideation, skill development and artmaking, reflection and revision, self-evaluation…

The classroom is the child’s studio.

TAB classrooms are highly structured studio environments with clearly delineated expectations for self-directed learning in choices of varied work spaces. Available tools and art materials are introduced to students who can then access and arrange these materials independently to initiate and explore their artwork.

Read all of the guiding principles here

TAB Studio Practice

Photo of a student enthusiastically gesturing to a dress they made out of paper.
Take a look at more student work

Testimonials

Teachers and administrators have observed huge increases in engagement and big decreases in behavior issues. All with no loss of skill development. Gone are the factory style classrooms where 30 students create identical collages. Instead, creativity has blossomed as never before.”

Leo Muellner, Director of K-12 Visual Arts, Acton-Boxborough Regional School District, Massachusetts
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Mission

TAB is a community of educator mentors advancing the creative confidence of all learners through choice and student agency.

Vision

A future led by creative change-makers who improve the lives of all.

Our Guiding Principles

What do artists do?

Artists practice. Similar to musicians and athletes, artists practice constantly, observing and evaluating outcomes to determine their next steps.

Artists make art about things that matter to them. Expressing messages and emotions, documenting identities, and spearheading social change are some of the reasons artists make art.

Artists work with ambiguity. Knowing (and sometimes not knowing) where to go with their work, artists understand that this is part of the artistic process.

Artists reflect. Artists learn to look closely at their work, ask questions of themselves and others, and evaluate progress to determine when the work has met its purpose.

Artists build community. Art studios and galleries are gatherings of creative people who share their ideas, work and perspectives with each other and the greater community.

The child is the artist.

In PreK-16 TAB classes, students experience the visual arts as artists responsible for their learning. Following introductions to available media, student artists advance their individual artistic processes through exploration and discovery, inquiry and ideation, skill development and artmaking, reflection and revision, self-evaluation and presentation. Students learn to persevere through challenges and to trust their own judgment while receiving input from, and offering feedback to, peers and teachers. When students self-direct their work, they engage deeply with their learning because the work’s purposes align with their values and interests.

The classroom is the child’s studio.

TAB classrooms are highly structured studio environments with clearly delineated expectations for self-directed learning in choices of varied work spaces. Available tools and art materials are introduced to students who can then access and arrange these materials independently to initiate and explore their artwork.