ArtsBridge

Program Overview

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UC Santa Cruz ArtsBridge believes creativity is pivotal to developing inspired learners and active community members. A partner in ArtsBridge America, UC Santa Cruz ArtsBridge connects University faculty and scholars with classroom teachers and diverse student populations. These hopeful, skillful, and dedicated individuals form an eclectic community with a unified purpose: to spark the creative and academic development of youth, to cultivate a new generation of teaching artists, to provide arts resources to classroom teachers, and to create change within our schools and neighborhoods to fulfill our mandate of full access to arts education for all children in our region.

UC Santa Cruz ArtsBridge supports student artists interested in Arts Education as a possible career path with experiential learning opportunities teaching an arts discipline project in our local schools. Working in partnership with the Santa Cruz County Office of Education, we place undergraduate and graduate students into K-12 public schools with outstanding teaching mentors to receive mentorship and hands-on teaching experience with the opportunity to share their interests and creative skills with our youth community. Students are required to apply and submit their application by the fall quarter deadline. Accepted students have generally declared their Arts major and taken several college-level courses in the subject they will teach. The program is a mode of gaining classroom experience, and those seriously considering education as a possible career path are especially encouraged to apply. 

ArtsBridge scholars receive a monetary award upon completion of the program to supplement their work hours inside and outside the classroom. ArtsBridge is funded by the state with additional funding provided by UC SAPEP (Student Academic Preparation and Educational Partnerships) and the Chance to Excel Foundation. Students normally spend approximately 16-24 hours teaching over a period of 8-10 weeks during the winter and spring quarters. Students participate in preparatory teaching workshops in classroom management and lesson planning with exposure to state standards within the arts as part of the process. UCSC students who are selected for the program are strong students who are recommended by faculty as successful in their discipline (Visual and Digital Art, Film, Dance, Theater, Music, Creative Writing). At this time, ArtsBridge scholars will need to provide their own transportation to their host institution. 

For more information please email ArtsBridge Director, Sarah Sanford at: artsbrid@ucsc.edu. 

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Student Testimonials

Frequently Asked Questions

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