Emily Wesenick, youth and family program manager
Question: What community resources do museums provide for area educators and students?
It is one of the questions that Museum educators are asked frequently, and it’s interesting to hear responses from community members and educators alike. Typically, the answer includes tours, Art Kits, and Activity Guides in the galleries. The truth is so much more.
On May 5, at our inaugural Teacher Advisory Council meeting at the Museum’s Glass Box Studio, one of the middle school educators had a new answer to this question: opportunity. The greatest resource we provide, in his eyes, is opportunity.
Opportunities for local art educators and students to interact with visiting artists, like Tony Drehfal (top) and Kate Marotz (bottom), during school visits and professional development
He’s right. Opportunities are the driving force of the Teacher Advisory Council. Created with the intention of supporting local art educators with Museum resources in a meaningful way, the group allows teachers to get more involved in creating events for area educators, launch “big idea” programs, and give feedback on how to continue reaching people in secondary education settings. Teacher Advisory Council members are helping us bring more than just tours to our community.
From bringing students to the Museum for life drawing sessions, career development opportunities, or having museum educators and visiting artists travel to classrooms to teach in different mediums, these educators dreamed big at the inaugural meeting. All the ideas were built on remembering that we are a space of opportunities, big and small. During the gathering, I was in awe of the educators’ excitement when they allowed themselves to reach for the stars.
As the ideas continue to flow, we hope to see more educators from surrounding schools. If you are interested in joining the Teacher Advisory Council, reach out via our contact form or call 715.845.7010 to join the list and our meeting in the fall. I cannot wait to see the opportunities we unearth together, no matter the size.
