Mindful making : how mindfulness influenced one teaching artist's practice in a community-based after school program

This study uses a self-study methodology to investigate how mindfulness can be integrated into a teaching artist's practice at a community-based after school program. Through four phases of data collection, the researcher examines the potential benefits of mindfulness through three lenses: for teachers, for art makers, and for community engagement programs. As both a teacher and an art maker, the researcher was compelled to consider a more holistic approach to art education by engaging students' social and emotional skills in addition to those considered technical or academic. The researcher first participated in two trainings in mindfulness and then applied this new information to the planning and implementing of an art and mindfulness workshop at an after school program. The finds of this study identify correlations between the researcher's work as a teaching artist and her mindfulness practice, encouraging others in the field of art education to consider exploring this work and its benefits.