Hourly Teaching Artist

About Performing Arts Workshop

Performing Arts Workshop is a Bay Area, BIPOC-led nonprofit organization established in 1965 to equalize access to arts and arts education and help young people develop critical thinking, creative expression, socio-emotional learning, media literacy, and essential life skills. The Workshop brings sequential arts instruction grounded in inquiry, reflection, and anti-racism to more than 1,500 students ages 4-18 each year at Bay Area preschools, public schools, transitional housing facilities, juvenile halls, and the Geneva Powerhouse, our primary space in District 11 and the only public performance venue in the area. Our Teaching Artists conduct 15-60 session residencies in dance, music, literary arts, media, visual arts, and theater arts.

We believe that access to sustained, sequential instruction in an art form should be part of every young person’s education and development. Because of ongoing disparities in such access, we advance equity by prioritizing partnerships which allow us to work with historically ignored groups including Black and Latine communities, low-income communities, immigrant communities, indigenous communities, LGBTQIA+.

Performing Arts Workshop aspires to be a leading organization in arts education. We cannot achieve this without realizing our core values of both inclusion and excellence. This requires sustained focus on equity in all our efforts to recruit, hire, promote, and retain an exceptionally well-qualified staff. Here is a glance at our work and Annual Student Showcase!

Hourly Teaching Artist Job Description

Position Overview:

Performing Arts Workshop seeks Teaching Artists in these areas of expertise to teach Transitional Kindergarten - 12th grade Afterschool classes with potential in-school programs in semester-length and yearlong residencies at our partner sites in San Francisco.

• Movement Arts include but are not limited to Afro-Peruvian, Bomba, Hawaiian, Pan African, Bhangra, Mexican Folklorico, Son Jarocho, Tap, Contemporary, hip-hop, Capoeira, and other movement arts.
• Literacy Arts include but are not limited to writing, spoken word, creative writing, journaling theater, poetry
• VMA include but are not limited to comic books, drawing/painting, collage, photography, portraits, stop-motion.

Our teaching artists are active artists and growing educators in their artistic practice. As representatives of the Workshop in the classroom and the communities they serve, teaching artists share a commitment to our mission and racial justice values. In addition to regular teaching duties, teaching artists receive trainings in the Workshop’s teaching methodology, an 8-session Artistic Onboarding, and Learning & Growth (formerly known as professional development).

Teaching begins in August 2026 with preparation/onboarding meetings taking place prior. Most TK-12th In-school residencies take place between 8:50am-12noon and Afterschool residencies take place between 2pm-6pm during the school year (August - December 2026 and January to June 2027).

Teaching artists can expect to teach 3-10 hours/week, depending on availability and experience, with starting compensation of $47 per hour for teaching, learning and growth, artistic onboarding and all pre-approved administrative work. There are opportunities for promotion based on teaching artist’s anti-racism praxis, communication, availability, student outcomes, value alignment and their interests in growing with the Workshop...etc.

• The Workshop is currently looking for Teaching Artists who have availability to teach on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays 8:50am-12noon and/or 2pm-6pm , during the 2026-2027 school year. Please note that these represent the maximum range of hours and times we request from applicants; actual class schedules and working hours will depend on classroom availability.

Teaching artists are considered part-time employees - not independent contractors - and receive paid sick time, unemployment insurance, social security contributions, worker’s compensation, and other legally required withholdings.

Responsibilities:

• Create a culture of learning in the classroom that reflects the Workshop’s values and supports youth in their development as artists;
• Develop anti-racist, process-based, sequential curricula that reflect the Workshop’s mission and value for each residency;
• Design a multi-lesson workshop using Performing Arts Workshop’s Cycle of Inquiry (Express, Reflect, Revise and Grow) grounded in Performing Arts Workshop’s Anti-racism Framework that weaves first-person storytelling through art forms;
• Mandatory and punctual attendance to Learning & Growth meetings(formerly known as professional development);
• Connect students’ work to a broader audience through a culminating performance, publication, or open class demonstration for families and communities;
• Administer student and residency evaluations, collect student information and media release forms;
• Communication with site partners and Workshop staff in a timely manner.
• Provide monthly classroom reports in written form.

Required Qualifications:

• Commitment to youth development, building self-efficacy, racial justice, empathy and cultural awareness;
• Knowledge of the main elements of composition in your art form and the ability to articulate and teach them to youth;
• Comfortable in verbal, written, and interpersonal communication;
• Ability to work with diverse teaching settings and site partners in adapting to individual classroom needs and cultures;
• Passion and empathy when teaching children and youth who are English language-learners, students with learning differences, incarcerated youth, youth in transitional housing facilities, or youth enrolled in court mandated schools;
• Ability to articulate and demonstrate critical thinking in the arts;
• Openness to receiving and giving feedback on teaching as it relates to the Workshop’s methodology;
• Availability to teach in at least 2 afternoons during school year and potentially 1-2 mornings;
• Ability to provide own transportation or utilize public transportation to and from partner sites.
• Ability to break down artistic concepts into accessible, scaffolded learning experiences and guide students through inquiry, problem-solving, and creative decision-making;

Additional Qualifications:

• Experience working with students who are English language-learners and students with learning differences across age 4-18;
• BA and/or MA/MFA in art form or commensurate experience.
• Conversational-level proficiency in Spanish or Mandarin is a plus

Application Guidance:

Email the requirements below to Performing Arts Workshop at program@performingartsworkshop.org

• Resume
• Cover letter
• Sample lesson plan (lesson plan template for reference)
• portfolio or work samples
• 2-3 Reference (including name, relationship, email address and phone number)

Only complete applications will be considered, please inquire if you have any questions about the requirements.

Performing Arts Workshop is an equal opportunity employer and seeks workforce diversity with respect to race, ethnicity, culture, gender, age, sexual orientation, and physical abilities.

Benefits include: paid sick time, unemployment insurance, social security contributions, worker’s compensation, and other legally required withholdings.