The Facilitator — A. Renee

Facilitator · Program Developer · Relationship Builder

“Make a choice with your voice” - Ashley Renee Watkins
Focused, attentive, diagnostic facilitator who leads organizations in examining and reimagining equitable practices pointed towards both philosophical and tangible reformation

Ashley Renee Watkins (A. Renee) is not only an active performer but a sought after facilitator and teaching artist who is making her mark in the arts education world. She has focused her work on helping students find their intrinsic entry into learning through a contemporary and relevance driven approach to arts education. In response to distance learning as a result of the current global pandemic, Ms. Watkins has played a key role as an online facilitator, piloting Lincoln Center’s Pop-Up Classrooms which were offered live to families via Facebook and YouTube. She is currently a full-time Music Curriculum Specialist administrator for The Juilliard School creating music education for students and educators around the world. In addition to this work, Ms. Watkins is regularly asked to facilitate work sessions for organizations that focus on advancing inclusive practices for arts organizations and the communities they serve. She has had the pleasure of working with Young Audiences of Houston, Americans for the Arts, Opera America, The St. Louis Regional Arts Commission, Big Thought (Dallas), Austin Symphony Orchestra, One Columbia for Arts and Culture, The Wichita Falls (TX) Alliance for Arts and Culture, as well the City of Austin Cultural Affairs Division.

Mentorship is a core priority of Ms. Watkins’ and has sparked her to develop The Marguerite Watson National Teaching Artist Cohort - an online-based cohort that creates equitable access to holistic career development for new and emerging teaching artists. She is also a mentor for the Diversity In Arts Leadership (DIAL) Network for Americans for the Arts, and has been a mentor for the Keenan Fellowship at Lincoln Center. Ms. Watkins believes in the power of transferring knowledge.

The Marguerite Watson National Teaching Artist Cohort

“I grew up singing spirituals and gospel with my grandmother (I got my voice from her) and eventually studied opera in college. She was the first person to introduce music into my life and so I consider her to be my first teaching artist. I have been doing the gratifying work of championing arts education and inclusive practices in my own work and I’m now ready to transfer this knowledge to the next generation of teaching artists so that they can grow their own knowledge and skills to support themselves, their artistry and do some extremely important work.

I believe we must make choices with our voices. My choice is to provoke liberation through the empowerment of teaching artists, arts education and artistic entrepreneurship. - Ashley Renee”