Creative Pathways (created and led by Joe Westermann for the fulfillment of his Capstone Project for the MA AME program at The New School College of Performing Arts) is a brand new curriculum for a course designed for high school students, which will equip them with the tools and knowledge essential to pursue careers as teaching artists. In order to create this curriculum, three early-career NYC teaching artists were engaged in a collaborative workshop process that took place over two sessions: one to generate ideas and draft lesson plans for the curriculum, and the other to test teach the curriculum (as a group, to each other) and gain feedback from one another. Following the second workshop session, a panel discussion about the process and the field of teaching artistry was held via livestream. Both of these workshop sessions were graciously hosted by Lincoln Center Education and took place in Lincoln Center's Rose Building on March 8 and 22, 2025.

The creation of this course addresses a critical need by introducing students who are interested in the arts to the concept of teaching artistry much earlier in their education careers. Historically, this concept has largely been introduced to students pursuing careers in the arts at the collegiate, or even as late as the professional level. By creating a course for students to be introduced to this career pathway earlier on, their chances of pursuing the arts beyond their high school years would increase exponentially. Additionally, students in this course will be introduced to the modern landscape of the teaching artistry field. While originally focused on K-12 settings, teaching artistry has expanded to reach more diverse age groups and social contexts. Teaching Artists now work in many different areas, including: creative aging programs, climate change education, corporate training, and socially engaged initiatives, among others. This progression in the field has opened up teaching artists to numerous pathways and opportunities to pursue. Furthermore, the leadership and planning skills that are an integral part of a teaching artist's skillset (and which would be covered at length in this course) are applicable in most all career pathways. Ultimately, this course would provide students with essential skills for any career path they wish to pursue in college and beyond. The curriculum for this course will include: tips for lesson planning, a breakdown of the different methods and styles that teaching artists utilize, and tools for incorporating one's own artistry into their teaching methodology.