Previous ITAC Conferences
Timeline of previous conferences
ITAC 7
New Zealand hosted the 7th biennial ITAC conference! The 2024 conference took place at the Centre for Arts and Social Transformation (CAST) at Waipapa Taumata Rau in the University of Auckland.
ITAC 6
Seanse Art Center and the International Teaching Artist Collaborative (ITAC) were delighted to host ITAC6 in Oslo, Norway from 1 – 3 September 2022.
ITAC 5
The 5th International Teaching Artist Conference (ITAC5) took place in September 14-17, 2020 online – and what an amazing event it turned into! Discover more about the abundant conference designed by Our South Korean hosts.
ITAC 4
Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and Dreamyard joined together to co host our fourth ITAC conference in New York City from 13th- 15th September 2018.
ITAC 3
Creative Scotland managed and hosted ITAC3 in partnership with Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Artworks Alliance and the conference originators Eric Booth and Marit Ulvund of SEANSE, Norway and previous hosts, Brad Hasseman from Queensland University of Technology Brisbane.
ITAC 2
The conference was jointly hosted by the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) through its iconic Out of the Box festival for children and the Queensland University of Technology’s Creative Industries Faculty (QUT CI).
ITAC 1
In late August 2012, 130 eager individuals gathered for three days in Oslo, Norway, for the World’s First International Teaching Artist Conference.
Full archive of previous conferences
ITAC 7
The 7th biennial ITAC conference took place in Aotearoa New Zealand, in the Centre for Arts and Social Transformation (CAST) at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland.
This global gathering of artists, educators, and changemakers came together to explore how creative powers can positively impact communities, schools, and beyond. The event offered a vibrant space for international networking, professional development, partnership building, and knowledge exchanges, creating an unforgettable experience for all involved.
Supported by The Chartwell Trust as part of its 50th-anniversary celebrations, ITAC7 also marked a special milestone for the trust, honoring its five decades of dedication to visual arts education and support. Attendees left the conference inspired, connected, and ready to continue their work in using the arts for social transformation.
ITAC 6
Seanse Art Center and the International Teaching Artist Collaborative (ITAC) were delighted to host ITAC6 in Oslo, Norway from 1 - 3 September 2022. ITAC6’s theme was ART AS A CATALYST FOR CHANGE, exploring the intersections of arts with education, health, environment, and society in the 2020s. The conference offered both in-person and online programming for delegates. ITAC conferences are a dedicated gathering space for artists who work in communities, schools, and beyond, using their practice to create positive social change. Our conferences take place in a different part of the world every 2 years, and provide Teaching Artists (known by different titles such as community artist, participatory artist, socially engaged artist etc.) with space for international networking, professional development, accessing next, best, and radical practices, partnership building, knowledge exchanges and more.
Thank you to all who joined us for 3 jam packed days of hands-on workshops, keynote speeches, roundtable discussions, co-creations, communal art projects, and more, led by Teaching Artist colleagues from all over the world. We received proposals to present sessions from every continent (40+ countries) and were excited to curate an international offering of the most innovative and urgent international experiences possible. Our newly launched ITAC Hubs also took centre stage, guiding us through examples of best, next and radical practice in their region. We welcomed practitioners of all experience levels, backgrounds, and art forms to join us. The power of our gatherings comes from the diversity and collaboration from people in our sector.
As always, ITAC was committed to convening an inclusive and diverse cohort of colleagues. For this reason, we asked delegates to apply to attend (rather than offering first-come-first-served-ticketing), and the number of in-person participants who could attend from any one geographical region was be capped. A robust virtual component was offered for those who wished to attend remotely, and full and partial scholarships were made readily available for those who wished to attend in-person but faced financial barriers.
ITAC 5
The 5th International Teaching Artist Conference (ITAC5) September 14-17, 2020 moved online - and what an amazing event it turned into! Our South Korean hosts designed an abundant conference, which took place digitally from 14th - 17th September 2020, focusing on the themes: Boundaries into New Pathways: - Unlearning - Local & Nomadic Practices - Peace & Reconciliation We created 2 custom built conference sites, which offered extensive engagement opportunities, since we couldn't be together in person:
Over 3 full days of programming, the conference offered more than 60 sessions led by colleagues from 19 different countries and a diverse range of art forms.
In addition to a jam-packed workshop schedule, there were break out spaces to connect with colleagues from around the world, collaborative online art projects, keynote speakers and more.
After the event, project funding was made available for 2 projects arising from the conference. As a result, we are happy too announce the Teaching Artist Asia project has now launched!
Although the conference was online, we asked all delegates to commit to spending these 3 full days in deep inquiry with us. To create the ITAC community we all love, we challenged our participants to engage fully in these three days as if we were together in person.
Delegates could join with colleagues in time zones similar to their own, to chat and check up on what they missed.
Registration fees were purposefully kept low (no travel or housing costs either!), and significantly reduced registration fees were available to those hit especially hard by COVID-19. To allow us to offer this, we asked that those who are joining from larger institutions (or have been less financially affected by the pandemic) pay it forward and contribute the full amount. As an experiment, we also offered free spectator passes for the first time. These spaces allowed people to observe selected content and watch certain pre-selected sessions. Free passes did not allow for real time interaction with participants, but they were hugely popular and more than 1,000 teaching artists from around the world took us up on the offer!
ITAC 4
Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and Dreamyard joined together to co host our fourth ITAC conference in New York City from 13th- 15th September 2018. The conference brought together over 300 teaching artists along with organizations, funders, researchers, and other leaders from more than 28 countries, to explore key issues of participatory arts practice in a dynamic mix of practical workshops, keynote speeches, site-specific observations, and round-table discussions. ITAC4 followed three previousInternational Teaching Artist Conferences, the first held in Oslo in 2012, the second in Brisbane in 2014, and the third in Edinburgh in 2016.
ITAC 4 Investigated
What is the role of teaching artists as contributors to social justice?
What is the responsibility of 21st century artists as they engage in different communities?
How can artists transform schools and institutions of learning in radical ways?
Online Conference
ITAC4 went digital! Individuals and organizations around the world, who were not able join us in New York City, were able to participate through livestream videos of plenary sessions, curated interviews and conversations, and access to special web-only content. All of our Keynote sessions have been archived here on the ITAC website, so you can continue to relive the excitement of this vibrant community long after the conference itself.
Access
We want to make sure that our conferences are accessible to everyone who wishes to attend.Access provisions for ITAC4 included:
All venues fully wheelchair accessible
Large print conference materials available upon request
All keynote sessions and panel discussions included real-time transcription
A number of financial assistance packages were made available for individuals who found the conference fee a barrier to attending and who met the assistance criteria.
ITAC 3
Creative Scotland managed and hosted ITAC3 in partnership with Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Artworks Alliance and the conference originators Eric Booth and Marit Ulvund of SEANSE, Norway and previous hosts, Brad Hasseman from Queensland University of Technology Brisbane. For Scotland and the UK ITAC 3 was an opportunity to share, discuss and disseminate the significant body of learning from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation ArtWorks Special Initiative: developing practice in participatory settings. It was also an opportunity to build on previous ArtWorks Scotland conferences (2011-14), consciously creating a sense of ‘continuity’ for the Scottish community of practice.
ITAC 2
The conference was jointly hosted by the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) through its iconic Out of the Box festival for children and the Queensland University of Technology’s Creative Industries Faculty (QUT CI).
ITAC 1
