LIFE SKILLS THROUGH THE PERFORMING ARTS

Artem’s Teaching Artist Philosophy:

"My pedagogy focuses on empowering socially-conscious expression in young adults and students of all ages. Incorporating devised performance techniques and team-based theater making principles that I’ve developed over 10 years as a professional theater director, writer, and performer, I create one-of-a-kind experiences in the classroom. My curriculums utilize improvisation, storytelling, creative writing, and public speaking, and my students leave feeling encouraged to embrace their own personal truths. My goal with every lesson is to offer resources and opportunities for students to gain self-confidence, self-awareness, and a deeper appreciation of their communities."

Past / Current Teaching Residencies: 

• Two River Theater, Red Bank NJ

• Creative Arts Team/CUNY

• Town Hall Arts Education, NY

• Stella Adler Studios, NY

• School For Excellence on Morris Campus, Bronx NY

• Writopia Lab NYC

• Rhapsody Academy of Music, Elizabeth NJ

• Playwrights Theater of New Jersey

• Luna Stage Theater, West Orange NJ

CASA: Cultural after school adventures

With the Creative Arts Team and Town Hall Education:

"The Cultural After School Adventures programs (CASA) provide a wide array of high-quality cultural experiences to youth enrolled in after school activities. CASA's range from music to puppetry making, art and design, poetry, writing, drama and stage-craft. inter-disciplinary and aligning with grade-level academic objectives, CASA is frequently supplemented with related in-school session and performances by professional artists. These programs are generously supported by New York City Council and Department of Cultural Affairs."

CREATIVE ARTS TEAM (CAT) & COMPASS

Described by the students as a "life-skills" program with a "family feel", this after-school drama program engages in deep discussion of the forces and powers that shape, control, and challenge the students on the daily basis. By investigating their circumstances through interactive scene making, comedic improvisation, as well as autobiographical storytelling, the students unpack and examine what it means to be a high-school student in modern New York.

About the Creative Arts Team (CAT):

"The Creative Arts Team (CAT) at The City University of New York uses the power of drama to inspire youth to learn more. Over the past three years, CAT has worked in nearly 1,000 classrooms and communities in the five boroughs of NYC. Our students reflect the City’s economic, ethnic, and cultural diversity. Over our 38 years of existence, we have worked with more than a million youth.

Character, collaboration, story, and the dynamic relationship between actor and audience – the key components of drama – form the basis of CAT’s unique approach. In schools and communities throughout New York City, CAT’s professional Actor-Teachers combine and recombine these elements to create one-of-a-kind interactive learning experiences for young people and adult populations. Decades of assessments validate our pioneering approach and methodology."

the writing lab

Started by Oye Group Artistic Director Modesto Jimenez and School Founder/Principal Carmen Bardeguez-Brown, the Writing Lab is an in-school focused creative writing program for the aspiring wordsmiths at School For Excellence on Morris Campus, Bronx, NY.

Culminating in a yearly anthology of writing, The Writing Lab is a serious challenge for these ambitious Bronx inner-city youths. Through diverse writing approaches they seek to challenge and dismantle the often bleak narratives of "the hood" which confront them in popular media.

By experimenting with styles - such as journal, poetry, rap, prose, non-fiction, and multi-genre fiction writing - The Writing Lab hones the students' powerful skills of written expression, and welcoming them to embrace new life perspectives.