The ArtsCenter's Artist in Residence (AIR) Program
Empowering Young Minds through Art


About our Artist in
Residency Program
The Artist in Residence (AIR) Program is made possible through a collaboration with The ArtsCenter and the Orange County School district. This program brings two arts initiatives to nearly 2,000 students across five Title 1 focus schools in Orange County: Central Elementary, Efland-Cheeks Global Elementary, Grady Brown Elementary, New Hope Elementary, and Pathways Elementary.
AIR Program Goals
• Increase arts education access in local school districts.
• Integrate arts education into classroom curriculum to inspire artistic creativity and enrich student learning.
• Integrate arts education into classroom curriculum to inspire artistic creativity and enrich student learning.
• Collaborate with grade level teachers, school administration, and district leaders to offer programming that best responds to the needs of the district community.
• Offer professional arts experiences and performances for district students.
Teaching Artist
Residencies
The AIR Program partners teaching artists with a grade level at each focus school for a five-day immersive art residency. These teaching artists collaborate with the grade level teachers to enrich the existing curriculum in the school district through arts education, engagement, and joy making. The arts residencies encompass a wide array of artistic disciplines - from music to drama, ceramic mosaics, dance, puppetry, storytelling, poetry, and more.
The program integrates the arts to achieve the North Carolina Public Schools’ common core curriculum goals by presenting subject matter in novel and imaginative ways. Each curriculum fuses together artistic disciplines, district standards, social-emotional learning, and principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion to develop lesson plans that resonate with students’ daily lives and academic aspirations.
School Wide Arts Experiences
In addition to in-classroom residencies, the AIR Program coordinates school-wide assemblies in which students get the opportunity to engage with live, professional arts experiences. Over the last few years, the AIR Program has partnered with performers such as the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, Jeghetto’s Entertainment, and Sandbank Shadow Factory to bring theater performances to each of the focus schools to enrich students’ academic, social, and emotional learning.
To learn more about the AIR Program and its impact, please reach out to the AIR Coordinator, Micky Hickey, mhickey@artscenterlive.org.
This program has been generously supported by Orange County Arts Commission, North Carolina Arts Council, the Windgate Foundation and Duke Health.




What our teachers say
“I admire Mrs. Willa's work, with her charm and way of teaching. For the first time I saw all my students attentive throughout the entire time. As a teacher, I also learned from her how songs help my students remember the instructions.”
“A few students in particular who may not normally participate when discussing academic things were incredibly engaged and participating while Mr. Jason was here. It was really cool to see many students light up and/or challenge themselves in new ways.”
“I have one student that is really quiet and laid back. With all the musical fun, art, and instruments, this student came out of his shell and happily participated with the group.”