In June of 2025, the Teaching Artist Guild (TAG) shut down its operations and 501(c)(3) status. Since July 1, 2025, the Guild has acquired selected programming and resources from the TAG portfolio, and we are in the process of integrating their resources into our core service model. More updates will be shared in the coming months as this work continues.
For more information about the TAG acquisition, see below or here for the TAG newsletter update sent on May 1, 2025.
"Dear Teaching Artists and Arts Education Advocates,
In our last newsletter, we shared the somber news that TAG is shutting down its 501(c)(3). While we are sad to let that go, we are excited to share how TAG’s legacy will live on. Since the beginning of 2024, TAG staff have been in conversation with leaders at the National Guild for Community Arts Education (the Guild). Founded in 1937, the Guild is the sole national service organization for providers of community arts education, representing over 200 members across the country.
TAG has a history with the Guild. At previous Guild Conferences, a number of TAG tools—like the Social Justice Resource Database—were created from grassroots, working groups of teaching artists. In fact, the Teaching Artist Manifesto came out of one of these working groups.
The Guild shares TAG’s mission of raising the visibility of arts educators and fostering connection with communities throughout the country. Both organizations are deeply committed to supporting teaching artists and advocating for the essential role they play in enriching communities. TAG’s strong track record of advocating for teaching artists’ rights, recognition, and professional development aligns with the Guild’s focus on supporting arts education nationally.
Moreover, TAG’s deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities in the field of arts education, particularly in underserved communities, complement the Guild’s national platform, enabling a broader exchange of ideas, resources, and best practices. The Guild will help TAG to strengthen its impact, providing a greater platform to raise the visibility of and advocate for teaching artists within the organizations and communities that they teach in.
Lastly, we believe that the Guild will provide a stability that TAG has not had before. TAG has always been under the direction of teaching artists who act as part-time administrators, fitting in the needs of TAG when possible. Because of the often disappearing funds, teaching artists could not make TAG their first priority. The Guild has dedicated staff members who will ensure the continued accessibility of key digital assets and community resources created by TAG. This will ensure continuity in programming and connection, better serving teaching artists everywhere. TAG assets (online resources and programming) the Guild will be acquiring and stewarding includes:
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TAG website and resource pages
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TAG networks and groups (National Advisory Committee and Regional Networks)
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TA Pay Rate Calculator
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TAG Asset Map
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TAG Newsletter
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TAG Awards
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National Advisory Committee -> All Teaching Artists and NAC members will be invited to join and/or apply to lead the Guild’s Teaching Artist Unity Network, which offers opportunities for members to connect with peers who share similar roles and responsibilities within the community arts education ecosystem.
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Regional Networks -> All TAG Regional Network Members are invited to join and/or apply to lead a GuildCollective, which are regional hubs for local connection and collaboration
Some legalese: We want to emphasize that this partnership is not a merger - the Guild is acquiring selected programming and resources that TAG has identified were best fit for the Guild to manage. Other resources are moving to other organizations. For instance, TAG has merged all relevant teaching resources from our database over to the International Teaching Artists Collaborative’s (ITAC’s) resource database (the resource database can be found in ITAC’s member portal—it’s free to become a member!). The Pay Rate Calculator, while the Guild will ensure it stays updated and functional, will still be connected to the Economic Policy Institute. Through this acquisition, TAG keeps its unique and distinct identity in the community even while the organization itself is dissolved. We have been able to be flexible and nimble on which partners were most aligned in shepherding the next iteration of our work.
But TAG was always by teaching artists for teaching artists… how will the Guild support that mission?
The Guild is committed to continuing TAG’s legacy by providing heightened visibility and stewardship of key programming and digital resources TAG and teaching artists have created. Starting July 1, 2025, Guild staff and board members who also self-identify as teaching artists will oversee TAG’s programs and resources listed above. Currently, the Guild and TAG are co-pursuing funding to increase the Guild’s internal capacity to manage selected TAG digital assets, and provide paid opportunities for teaching artists to lead and create future programming. As funding becomes available for focused projects and professional opportunities, the Guild will reach out to this community for teaching artists to fill those needs. In the meantime, the Guild includes active teaching artists on its board and staff, a practice they will continue to guarantee TAs are central in decision-making.
While TAG members and leadership were initially hesitant at the idea of an arts administration-focused organization taking over TAG’s operations, our fears have been addressed through meetings with Guild Executive Director Dr. Quanice Floyd and Operations and HR Director Precious Diamond B. In addition to their track record of advocacy work for teaching artists, both Quanice and Precious are teaching artists themselves. Precious served on a panel at our first federally-funded, national conference for teaching artists—Our Shared Future—and spoke about her white paper on “Teaching Artist Relationships with State Arts Agencies”.
The National Guild for Community Arts Education has long recognized the essential role teaching artists play in shaping vibrant, creative, and just communities. When the Teaching Artists Guild (TAG) announced it would sunset its operations, the Guild saw not an ending but a call to action.
TAG has been a trusted home for teaching artists across the country, advocating for their rights, visibility, and professional growth. TAG has cultivated an ecosystem that honors teaching artistry as both profession and practice. That’s why the Guild has chosen to take on TAG’s digital assets, with deep respect and intention. Through this digital acquisition, the Guild’s hope is to honor a legacy—a legacy that aligns with the Guild’s mission to build a more equitable and just arts education ecosystem.
The Guild committed to uplifting teaching artists as core to the field because they are cultural workers, educators, and movement builders whose voices deserve to be centered in everything from programming to research to advocacy. The Guild is maintaining and revitalizing TAG’s digital infrastructure while exploring ways to expand and improve access. The Guild is also doubling down on advocacy for fair pay, benefits, and professional recognition by building policy efforts, partnerships, and convenings that push for real economic justice and workplace protections. Teaching Artists will continue to find spaces for connection, growth, and leadership through initiatives like GuildCollectives, Unity Networks, and more. And most importantly, the Guild is co-creating this future with teaching artists, staying rooted in listening, collaboration, and shared stewardship.
We are hopeful about this new frontier for TAG. With the Guild, TAG can break through barriers that previously inhibited our advocacy work. And this model is how it should be—arts organizations supporting the teaching artists who work for them. We hope our new partnership will act as a model for the field and for funders, ultimately illustrating how we are stronger together.
The Guild has also transformed their membership to be more responsive and relevant to teaching artists. Some benefits of their new membership include:
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Individual members receive access to the Guild’s Employee Assistance Program that provides mental health counseling, financial education, free legal consultations, personal and professional development webinars, and more
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A tiered “Select As You Wish” membership dues model that considers different levels of financial access and privilege
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Expanded voting rights to individual members
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Deeply discounted rates to a variety of member benefit partners that offer services in artist resilience/crisis planning, somatic/movement based practices, grantmaking support, brand design, and more.
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1:1 Coaching with Guild Board Members
You can learn more about the Guild’s refreshed membership model here."
Published: July 01, 2025