Washington Performing Arts

In-School Artist Residencies
(PreK-12th grade)

The In-School Artist Residency (ISAR) program expands upon the Concerts In Schools (CIS) experience by engaging individual classrooms over an extended period in arts-learning activities that further connect the art form to the broader core curriculum. Each classroom residency of up to five sessions begins or culminates with a school-wide presentation by the Teaching Artist. All residencies encourage the Washington Performing Arts Teaching Artists and school educators to work together to develop a program that best meets the needs of the students.

Washington Performing Arts offers a limited number of FREE In-School Artist Residencies (ISAR) programs to schools that receive Title One funding, on a first-come, first-served basis in Washington, D.C.; Montgomery or Prince George’s County in Maryland; or Arlington City, Alexandria City, Falls Church City or Fairfax County in Virginia. Schools that do not receive Title One funding or those that have available funds are eligible to apply for ISAR programming on a fee-for-service basis.

Artist Roster

What to Expect

Number of Visits

An ISAR program consists of up to six (6) visits total.

Three (3) to Five (5) in-class sessions led by one (1) or two (2) individual Teaching Artists
One (1) Concerts in Schools presentation (which can happen either before the start of in-class sessions, or at the culmination of the residency)

Length of Residency

ISAR programs can involve one or two different classrooms. When working with two classrooms, programming must run back-to-back, with the total period for each back-to-back session fitting within a 3-hour time frame. This allows for flexibility of scheduling with the collaborating teacher(s).
Visits should occur approximately once or twice weekly, with the entire residency (including presentation) lasting three (3) to six (6) weeks.

Classroom Size

Residencies are designed for an average-sized classroom of up to 30 students.

Requirements for Schools

In order to be considered for this program school must:

Have existing performing arts (music, dance, theater) or art program(s).
Agree to participate in collaborative planning with the assigned Teaching Artist(s) to determine the schedule and focus of the residency, and create plans that work towards mutually defined goals and objectives and fit within the school’s curriculum standards.

How to schedule an ISAR program

Review the ISAR Teaching Artist Roster and make three (3) choices of preferred artists.
Complete the ISAR Request Form, including your top three (3) artists in order of preference. Washington Performing Arts staff will do their best to pair you with one of these three (3) artists, based on artist availability.
Washington Performing Arts staff will contact you to confirm whether we can fulfill your request and inform you of which Teaching Artist you have been paired with.
Assigned Teaching Artist will contact you directly to schedule a planning meeting to determine dates and content of the residency.
Teaching Artist will submit an outline of their residency plans to Washington Performing Arts.
Washington Performing Arts will send you a written agreement to sign to confirm the terms of your school’s ISAR.

COVID-19 Safety

All Washington Performing Arts Teaching Artists are fully vaccinated and will make best efforts to accommodate any COVID-19-related procedures required by your school. There will be an opportunity for you to share these requirements in the ISAR request form.

Questions?