Membership and places
Your community at ISTA events
Complimentary ISTA membership and places for your educators and students at ISTA events, agreed with each partner to suit the partnership.
A shared vision
For nearly 50 years, ISTA has brought young people, educators and artists together across six continents. None of it happens alone. Every festival, workshop and residency depends on schools and organisations willing to open their doors and share their spaces.
Our Global Arts Partners take that a step further: a small group of schools in a multi-year partnership with ISTA, helping us plan further ahead, try new ideas and bring high-quality arts learning to more young people in their region.
The Global Arts Partner programme
An ISTA Global Arts Partner is a school in a multi-year, mission-aligned partnership with ISTA, giving time, space and leadership so that more young people can learn through the arts.
Partners host ISTA events regularly, in calendared slots planned with us well ahead, with a mix that stays fresh for your school and your region.
Partnership is voluntary and reflects capacity and commitment, not prestige. It doesn’t change membership, and open, member-led hosting carries on in every region.
We’re beginning with a small founding group of schools, by invitation, and learning together as the programme grows.
What you might host
Partners host in predictable, calendared slots, planned together 12 to 24 months ahead. Event type, scale and audience change from year to year, so each brings something different.
Go further, if you choose
Partners may choose one or two areas to deepen the partnership, without adding to the core commitment.
Pilot new formats with us, and host filming for Encore, ISTA’s digital learning platform.
Open arts learning to more young people, in your school and your wider community.
Connect ISTA with artists, venues and cultural organisations in your region.
Take part in research, and grow your educators through ISTA’s professional learning.
What partners receive
Membership and places
Complimentary ISTA membership and places for your educators and students at ISTA events, agreed with each partner to suit the partnership.
The badge
The Global Arts Partner badge shows your community that your school values the arts and leads in bringing high-quality arts learning to young people.
Planning together
Your events planned with ISTA well in advance, around your timetable and your students, with ISTA’s team alongside you throughout.
Our wider partners
Amman, Jordan
Empowering young people to drive social change through storytelling and theatre.
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Residencies, mentorship and professional development across Southeast Asia.
Atlanta, USA
Festivals exploring freedom, modern slavery and human rights.
Terezín, Czech Republic
Site-specific learning on Holocaust remembrance, activism and education.
Geneva, Switzerland
ISTA is an official global provider of IB-accredited training and IB-endorsed DP Theatre and Film resources.
Toronto, Canada
Expanding access to immersive arts training and creative collaboration in Canada and beyond.
New York, USA
Site-specific festivals inspiring global change, peace and understanding.
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Co-creating Connect festivals exploring Cambodia’s culture and history.
Partner with ISTA
Global Arts Partner places are by invitation, but we would love to hear from schools ready to host, lead and grow with us, and from organisations that share our mission.
Tell us about your spaces, your arts programme and the events you could imagine hosting.
Museums, venues and companies: let’s explore what we could create together.
