Creating Arts Experiences for Multilingual Audiences

Wolf Trap Institute Affiliate Spotlight: South Florida Wolf Trap

South Florida Wolf Trap, and its sponsoring organization, Arts for Learning Miami, is a thriving partner of Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts. Its affiliation was born out of a desire to open Arts for Learning Miami’s doors to the early childhood community, and its work has since extended throughout the entirety of Miami-Dade County. Throughout its affiliation, the South Florida Wolf Trap team has partnered closely with the county’s Head Start and Early Head Start programs to support more than a thousand children, families, and teachers each year, including home-based services, facilitated by the affiliate’s 20 teaching artists.

Program Director Ivy Bennett estimates that about 99% of the children and teachers in her affiliate serves in Miami-Dade are multilingual, primarily in Spanish, English, and Haitian Creole. Teachers themselves vary in language dominance—some Spanish-only, others Creole-first.

“The need to be inclusive has always been a constant in South Florida,” says Bennett. “We learn and grow along with the population that we serve, so we have to meet the children and the teachers where they are, whether it be through language or learning styles.”

A Community-Centered Approach

Teaching artist recruitment is integral to achieving their work’s authenticity–Bennett knows this well because she served as a teaching artist for Arts for Learning Miami for 18 years before she joined the staff in an administrative capacity. Like the classrooms they engage, South Florida’s teaching artists range in background and language specialty, and Arts for Learning Miami is constantly expanding its pool of teaching artists to accommodate the changing needs of the community.

Before the beginning of each school year, Bennett and her team meet with Miami-Dade to determine its priorities for the year. “We go over in detail the composition of each classroom and determine its unique needs,” says Bennett. “We then match our teaching artists to the classroom in which they can make the most impact.”

“For example, if we're working in a predominantly Hispanic community, we aim to place an artist who can connect with students and families both linguistically and culturally,” she adds. “This approach strengthens engagement and ensures that our programs truly reflect the communities that we serve.”

A Cultural Exchange of Resources

Instead of adapting English language resources for their classrooms, South Florida Wolf Trap’s teaching artists have found that it is more important to incorporate more culturally specific songs, books, dance, and storytelling directly into their work.

South Florida Wolf Trap Teaching Artist Ana Miranda regularly uses arts elements she’s found in Miami’s Spanish and Haitian Creole communities in her classroom residencies and workshops: “I’ve found it important to include dance, music, and other cultural practices of the population I am working with,” she says. “In sessions with Haitian children, I play songs in Creole and French, which are enjoyed by the participants and teachers who were also Haitian. I learned Creole words so that I could supplement my English vocabulary."

"I’ve also found it helpful to have bilingual books for children,” Miranda adds. “I have used children's songs in Spanish, both recorded, sung live, and taught to me by educators from various Latin American countries.”

Let the Community Be Your Guide

While working in multilingual classrooms is second nature to her team, Bennett always emphasizes to them the importance of planning meetings. (Planning meetings occur between teaching artists and teachers prior to classroom lessons, and is an opportunity for them to set learning objectives for both the teachers and the children.)

“It's at the planning meeting that you really get the lay of the land,” says Bennett. “At many of our centers, a teaching artist might be working with five different teachers with five different needs, so it’s imperative to know this ahead of time to plan accordingly.”

“Always make time to talk to the community you're serving,” Bennett advises. “I think that sometimes we make assumptions about what people need based on what our goals are, instead of trying to see what they actually need.”

Using the Arts as a Bridge

South Florida Wolf Trap Teaching Artist Jennifer Puig has found through her work that movement and music are powerful tools for inclusion and connection–that they create a space where everyone can feel seen and valued.

“When we use movement and rhythm as shared languages, communication expands beyond words—allowing both children and adults to express themselves fully and authentically,” she says. “These experiences remind [us] that the arts can bridge cultures, strengthen relationships, and support learning in ways that honor the diverse identities within every community."

Learn more about Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts' Affiliate Network.