TAMA’s Fair Pay Journey: Transformative Tools for Moving Teaching Artists from Surviving to Thriving
This session tackles the urgent need for equitable, sustainable pay for Teaching Artists. President Jennifer Ridgway will share TAMA’s journey, rooted in the Teaching Artists Guild Pay Rate Calculator, a foundational resource that evolved into the creation of TAMA’s mid-Atlantic Fair Salary Ranges and comprehensive Pay Rate Builder. Through real-world case studies with TAMA members, attendees will gain actionable strategies and discover how the TAMA network, tools, and resources foster stronger arts ecosystems and positively impact artists’ professional lives. The session culminates in an invitation to join TAMA’s Thriving Artists, Thriving Communities initiative.
This session tackles the urgent need for equitable, sustainable pay for Teaching Artists. President Jennifer Ridgway will share TAMA’s journey, rooted in the Teaching Artists Guild Pay Rate Calculator, a foundational resource that evolved into the creation of TAMA’s mid-Atlantic Fair Salary Ranges and comprehensive Pay Rate Builder. Through real-world case studies with TAMA members, attendees will gain actionable strategies and discover how the TAMA network, tools, and resources foster stronger arts ecosystems and positively impact artists’ professional lives. The session culminates in an invitation to join TAMA’s Thriving Artists, Thriving Communities initiative.Jennifer Ridgway
Jennifer Ridgway is a professional teaching artist with 30 years of experience harnessing the transformative power of theatre. Beginning her journey on stage in the DMV area, she developed a commitment to theatre for young audiences, working with organizations such as Kaiser Permanente Educational Theatre Programs and local performing arts venues. She specializes in facilitating creative, arts-based learning experiences that amplify everyday stories, promote empathy, and foster community connection and joy.
Her multidisciplinary practice includes writing, directing, design, and puppet building, integrating theatre, storytelling, music, dance, and puppetry. While she has directed dual-language American musicals internationally, she remains deeply committed to local, community-based work. Notable projects include her collaboration with Building Better People Productions directing Friendlier Fables and Thoughtful Tales. Her work often weaves together academic content with cultural and environmental themes and invites community participation in the creative process.
Jennifer co-authored a case study in The Reflexive Teaching Artist with Cory Wilkerson, focusing on her work with the Neighborhood Bridges program, a critical literacy model using storytelling and theatre. She holds an MFA in Directing/Theatre for Youth from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro; a BA in Acting from the University of Maryland, College Park; and a certificate in Arts and Culture Strategy from the University of Pennsylvania.
She is the founder of YARD DRAMAS, a certified minority-owned LLC creating interactive, community-centered storytelling experiences. As Co-Founder and President of Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic (TAMA), she advocates for the field through policy, organizing, and national workforce recognition efforts.
Marcie Wolf Hubbard
Marcie Wolf Hubbard is a mixed media and encaustic artist whose work combines collage, drawing, and sculptural construction to explore memory, architecture, and the natural world. Her layered surfaces and small-scale structures merge painting and collage with relief and assemblage, extending two-dimensional processes into space.
Her work has been exhibited widely on the East Coast and has been supported by numerous grants from the Maryland State Arts Council and the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County, including residencies, project grants, and professional development awards. She is a recipient of the Nancy Frankel Artist Award.