At the core of the ArtsSmarts project model is a sustained collaboration between an artist-teacher team.

The practicing artist and classroom teacher plan together, work together in the classroom and modify their actions based on joint reflection and assessment. ArtsSmarts projects require the artist and teacher to share learning, ownership and control, and adapt to new ways of collaborating.

Tailored to the context, and designed as a process, artist-teacher teams work together with students to answer the BIG questions, produce their own ideas and solutions, and reflect on their work.

The process of undertaking an ArtsSmarts project models the creative process.

The teacher is the guide and leader as their relationship to students changes from one of transmitting knowledge to offering support and facilitating learning.  The artist models creative thinking, inquiry, artistic processes and habits.  Together, the artist and teacher serve as model learners and social role models for students.

To make the collaboration a success, planning time between the artist-teacher team is critical.  This ensures that the creative process is central to each ArtsSmarts project, rather than an artistic component simply being assigned after the fact.

For both artists and teachers, involvement in ArtsSmarts projects fosters enriching professional opportunities where they can simultaneously practice and research what they have learned by using our collaborative inquiry and reflection tools.