🎭 Drama & Theatre Virtual Artist Residencies
Led by Maria Schaedler-Luera | Atomica Arts
Maria Schaedler-Luera from Atomica Arts is honored to lead two Drama & Theatre Virtual Artist Residencies as part of America’s Field Trip: Virtual Artist Residencies, in partnership with Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and Focus 5. These residencies invite students to engage deeply with American art through dialogue, embodiment, imagination, and reflection — transforming artworks into living moments of inquiry and expression.
American Stories in Action: Dialogue and Drama Through Art
Grades 3–5, 6–8, or 9–12
ELA & Social Studies / History
This residency invites students to uncover the hidden stories within American art from Crystal Bridges, focusing on works that show people in action. These artworks become stages for untold stories, sparking curiosity, empathy, and creative thinking.
Across three sessions, students bring portraits, social scenes, and contemporary works to life through Image Theatre and short spoken lines. Students begin by creating quick, frozen poses inspired by figures in the artwork, then layer in a single sentence or brief dialogue to imagine each character’s voice.
The residency culminates in a “gallery of voices” sharing, where students present their dialogue fragments together as a simple, whole-class performance — honoring multiple perspectives and collective storytelling.
Seeing with Stillness: Theatre Encounters with American Art
Grades 3–5, 6–8, or 9–12
ELA & Wellness
This residency invites students to explore how stillness, gesture, and imagination can transform the way we experience American art from Crystal Bridges.
Across three sessions, students look closely at paintings and sculptures to notice how presence, movement, and breath shape their response to art. Using theatre-based and mindfulness practices, students create short gesture phrases and pair them with brief written reflections — a word, a line, or a sentence — that capture the emotion and energy of each work.
These gestures and words are then woven together into a collaborative Gesture Score, a simple whole-class expression that emphasizes inner calm, creative focus, and personal connection to the art.
🌟 Additional America’s Field Trip Residencies
In addition to Drama & Theatre, America’s Field Trip offers a wide range of free virtual artist residencies across many artistic disciplines, including music, visual art, movement, storytelling, creative media, and interdisciplinary STEAM experiences.
These offerings are led by extraordinary teaching artists from across the country, each bringing their own artistic lens, cultural perspective, and imaginative approach into classrooms nationwide.
🎨 Access & Opportunity
All America’s Field Trip residencies are completely free to schools, expanding access to high-quality, artist-led learning experiences that center creativity, connection, and the many stories that shape our shared American experience.
Click here to learn more and register for a free America’s Field Trip Virtual Artist Residency:
https://artsintegrationconsulting.com/americas-field-trip-virtual-artist-residencies/