Mission & Values
At Tisch, the Office of Community Engagement’s mission is to provide opportunities for fostering exploration and curiosity about community-building frameworks, implementing efforts to strengthen connections across our community, and assessing progress to further develop sustainable and transformative practices.
As an educational and artistic institution dedicated to developing and supporting student artists and scholars, we recognize the importance of inclusive practices that reach all community members. The following values are critical to the educational experience at Tisch and we strive to embody these values in all aspects of our work.
- Learning and Curiosity: We believe that openness to learning and remaining curious in all our artistic and academic endeavors is critical to the success of our community. We strive to support students, faculty, staff, and administrators to engage in creative explorations that broaden our knowledge and experiences. We cultivate brave spaces to engage with complex and challenging material in productive ways. We also acknowledge that there are societal norms, ideas, and concepts that we must unlearn to further progress in this work.
- Access and Opportunity: We believe in the importance of providing access through the active work of eliminating barriers to learning. We are focused on assessing and interrogating accessibility within each art form and modality, and we aim to create environments that welcome and allow full engagement from individuals with different abilities.
- Connection and Purpose: We believe that bringing together individuals from various backgrounds and experiences enriches our community's creative and academic work. We are committed to ensuring everyone has the resources to succeed, and creating opportunities for meaningful participation in our shared work.
- Community Building and Belonging: Being able to foster a community rooted in restorative values is one of our main goals. We strive to provide opportunities to strengthen community relationships centering creativity and collaboration. We believe everyone is a part of our core community, and we hope individuals continue to provide feedback that critiques our progress in fostering a sense of belonging.
- Challenges and Growth: We embrace challenges as moments of critical assessment and growth. We center restorative principles to process, understand, and determine productive ways forward within our community.
- Creativity and Collaboration: We believe in creativity and the power of the arts to transform communities. Through collaboration and the willingness to explore new ideas, the arts will remain an experience that can connect communities and offer a forum to process all that is experienced in our world.
Our commitment to these values reflects years of dedicated work and growth. Explore our timeline to learn more about the key initiatives and developments that have shaped our journey.