Jeff Mather
Jeff is a community-based public artist and multi-disciplinary teaching artist. He has conducted site sculpture residencies and directed public art projects all over Georgia. He is board president of the Atlanta Partnership for Arts in Learning (APAL). He is the STEAM Artist-in-Residence at Drew Charter School for 45 days each semester, where he co-teaches project-based learning units in K-12. His partnership work at Drew has been featured by GPB and Edutopia. Jeff was digital storytelling coach for nine years at the South Atlanta School of Law and Social Justice and he has created digital storytelling programs for the Woodruff Art Center, for APAL, and at Drew Charter. He has directed experimental theater productions at the Center for Puppetry Arts and served as artist-in-residence for the Atlanta Symphony and the High Museum. Jeff has served as an artist-in-residence at over 150 schools.
Arts Disciplines: Visual Art, Media Arts, Digital Storytelling & Robotics
Core Content Curriculum Areas: Visual Art, Dance, Science, Technology, Music, Social Studies/History, Theatre/Drama, Math, STEAM
Specialized Content Areas: Arts Integration, STEAM
Grade Levels: Pre-K, K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
Special Populations: Special Needs Students, At-risk Students
Pre-Service Learning and Professional Development: Professional Development for Teaching Artists, Professional Development for K-12 Teachers, Post-Secondary/Pre-Service Learning
Geographic Availability: Metro Atlanta, North Georgia, Middle Georgia, South Georgia
Program Fees:
- $350 for 3-hour digital storytelling training workshop (teacher PD) with sequence of four sessions minimum. Workshop fees for in-school workshops vary, depending on the workshop, but most are $200 for a half day and $400 for a whole day.
- $350 per day or $3,500 for a minimum 10-day residency; $7,000 for a 20-day residency + sculpture materials budget of approximately $1,500.
Artistic Profile:
I’ve worked as a community-based public artist and teaching artist in Georgia (and SC and MA and UT) for over 30 years. I’ve been on the Georgia Council for the Arts roster of visiting artists since 1992. I received a BA degree in Proxemics from Hobart College. I am the board president of the Atlanta Partnership for Arts in Learning, an arts infusion non-profit that I helped to co-found with Dr. Lisa Delpit, Alice Lovelace, and Jane Fonda in 2001. The philosophy of APAL is: to enhance both academic and arts education through a flexible, arts-infused classroom experience, and to nurture a teaching model for profound learning and thought. This is the work that I have done as a teaching artist for 25+ years, conducting site sculpture residencies and directing public art projects. I also toured an arts infusion program for nine years with a choreographer and a storytelling program with master storyteller, Cathy Kaemmerlen. I have directed several experimental theater productions at the Center for Puppetry Arts and served as artist-in-residence for the Atlanta Symphony and the High Museum. I am currently the STEAM artist-in-residence at Drew Charter School for 45 days each semester and have presented on my partnership work there at several national conferences. I was invited to be a delegate and presenter at the 1st International Teaching Artist Conference in Oslo, Norway, and also at the 3rd ITAC in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2016.
Teaching Experience:
I have served as artist-in-residence at over 150 schools. I am a trained digital storytelling coach and created digital storytelling programs for the Woodruff Art Center and for APAL (Atlanta Partnership for Arts for Learning) and I’ve conducted many digital storytelling residencies in addition to serving as the digital storytelling coach for nine years at the South Atlanta School of Law & Social Justice. As an APAL teaching artist, I have co-written and co-taught units in World History, Math, Chemistry/Physics, and Special Ed. I am also a facilitator for Alternate ROOTS RSC (Resources for Social Change) and I have designed, anchored, and facilitated PD retreats for teaching artists from all disciplines.
Sample Programs:
- Site Sculpture Residency: Jeff Mather’s Site Sculpture residencies engage students in an investigation of spatial perception and environmental awareness. Jeff presents three-dimensional design as an art form that is involved in many careers, including architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, engineering, and public art. Student teams create a collaborative, community-based work of art that is site responsive.
- Digital Storytelling Workshop/Residency: Jeff has been a digital storytelling coach and trainer in Georgia since 2004. He was also a presenter at the International Digital Storytelling conference in 2015. His DST workshops begin with story circles and the prompt: “Tell a story that only you can tell.” Jeff guides participants though the narrative writing, editing, and recording process and then helps them to create visual layers that are as compelling as their narrative. DST is best suited to 8th grade through adult age groups. It is ideal to have access to Mac Labs or mobile MacBook or iPad labs, but DST can still be done with Windows Movie Maker, if that is what a school has available. Finished projects are typically about 3 minutes long each and are presented in a culminating event screening. Jeff has also created DST training programs for teachers and a modified form of DST, called Digital Image Story, for visual arts curricula, that simplifies the art form to be simply visual without the spoken narrative layer.
Sample Lesson Plans/Study Guides:
- Listing ID: 6019