I want to teach art to mentally/physically disabled/angry teenagers...

[devilgrrl]

how do get started?

Seriously.

[HEyHEY]

1. Uh, is there and "Angry teenager" department in schools?

Must be pretty busy.

[devilgrrl]

3. Oh, I'm sorry troubled teens.

There. Does the political correctness help?

BTW, sorry that I even asked question.

[readmoreoften]

11. I LOVE that picture.

It's the purse that the penguin is holding that does it for me. My girlfriend and I laughed at that for hours. A PURSE EVEN!

[Floogeldy]

2. I'm thinking that maybe . . .

A Master's degree in art and a teaching certificate would be a good start!

[devilgrrl]

4. So what you're saying is that you haven't a clue either?

:shrug:

[Whoa_Nelly]

5. Check with your local art museum

They may have outreach programs for volunteers. Also, call the school districts and ask who they are contacted by for volunteer Arts programs for classes within schools.

[devilgrrl]

6. Cool.

Great ideas. Thanks. :-)

[Whoa_Nelly]

7. Check out this Google search I did for your area

http://tinyurl.com/a2p2q

Many good links to check out for contacts :)

Example: http://www.teachingarts.org/visualArts/

Good Luck!

[orleans]

8. sounds like you want to get into the field of "art therapy"

maybe?

i'd say at least a masters and possibly a phd and i'm sure there are colleges that have courses in art therapy--you'd probably have to be a certified counselor or "therapist" or psychologist (you need a doctorate degree for psychologist)

you could call your county's children & family services dept and see if they have such a position and what type of degree is required in order to be hired. then call the hospital, talk to someone in administration that knows about the psych ward; you need to find out what type of degree is necessary for this--i would think such a job would be very interesting but it is a specialized field and you have to be qualified to work with these target populations.

check out the various subsections of the psychology dept at colleges/universities

or....for something less "professional" you could teach art at the park districts--you don't need a degree in it but you'd be working with kids (and not specializing in the specific population you're thinking about)

[Starbucks Anarchist]

9. Art therapy is the field.

A friend of mine is doing the same thing in NYC. Currently, he's taking additional psychology classes (he already graduated college), which is a requirement for the field. Hope this helps.

[IntravenousDemilo]

10. No idea, but bless you for wanting to do good. n/m

[readmoreoften]

12. Degree in Art Therapy

Very, very popular field to get a degree in. My bet is that you won't be able to do it as a career without an advanced degree. The pattern I've noticed is bachelors in teaching, minor in art, then onto Art Therapy masters or bachelor of fine arts in studio art, then a masters in Art Therapy/Psych.

You could volunteer at a hospital and do this with no degree at all, though. Bring art supplies to a hospital (or see if they have them). I received a fellowship for teaching creative writing to terminally ill teens and I met quite a few volunteers doing what you're talking about.

OR, you could just pursue your own studio art and teach ANYWHERE. Chances are, if you are teaching anywhere from 13 to college, you're gonna get angry, disgruntled, pissed off, abused, economically disadvantaged young people.