Exciting visual arts courses from the
National Museum of Women in the Arts!
Empower and inspire your students through art!
Join education staff, professional book artists, and curriculum and literacy specialists at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) for an introductory or advanced week long summer institute centered on NMWA’s Art, Books, and Creativity (ABC) curriculum and related online education resources.
ABC Teacher Institute (EDU 505W Book Arts and Literacy in the Classroom)
This hands-on course introduces educators, with or without a visual arts background, to techniques and materials that will support their efforts to integrate the visual arts into their classrooms. Course content centers on Art, Books, and Creativity (ABC), an arts integration curriculum developed by the National Museum of Women in the Arts. ABC highlights the natural connections between visual arts and language arts and fosters students’ critical thinking and writing skills. The curriculum was originally designed for 4th and 5th graders, though if you enjoy the challenge of adapting lessons for students of different ages and abilities, this institute is for you! Participants learn various book formats—accordion books, self-portrait books, pop-ups, and more—as well as writing exercises from ABC. Participants also practice Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), a method for facilitating art discussions, and brainstorm ideas for integrating visual arts, social studies, math, and science in their own classrooms.
Advanced Teacher Institute (EDU 506W Advanced Book Arts in the Classroom)
This course is a continuation of EDU 505W Book Arts and Literacy in the Classroom. Educators who register for this course must have completed the ABC Teacher Institute, with or without Trinity credit. Participants of this course will work with a book artist; curriculum specialists in visual arts, science, and language arts; and National Museum of Women in the Arts’educators to expand their toolkit of book formats, writing samples, and ABC curriculum integration ideas as well as to explore the parallels between studio habits of mind and STEM innovation thinking. Through in-gallery discussions, participants will experiment with inquiry methods designed to encourage creative and critical thinking among their students. Combining independent reflection, brainstorming with colleagues, and feedback from specialists, each participant will develop a new interdisciplinary unit from concept to final design for their specific classroom needs. Prerequisite: ABC Teacher Institute
Application and acceptance required. Participants receive art materials for the classroom and graduate credit from Trinity (with application and payment to Trinity). No prior art experience is necessary, and classroom teachers are especially encouraged to apply.
Visit the NMWA website or contact education@nmwa.org for educational resources and more information about future teacher professional development offerings at NMWA.