EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH
Educational outreach programs take multiple forms. They exist to support arts learning and growth at all ages. They are flexible and evolve to meet the changing educational landscape. The combination of gallery programming and educational opportunities enforce the mission of the gallery to be a cultural hub for the inland northwest.
For Teachers & Parents
Our Education Outreach Program (EOP) provides experiences that complement the classroom curriculum. Tours and lessons are structured to specifically address the goals and objectives outlined in the Idaho Humanities State Standards and National Core Art Standards. Each tour cultivates critical thinking in students through methods of compare and contrast: communication, mediums, and how personal choices made by the artist affect the message(s) conveyed through visual art.
Tour design encourages students to look carefully, talk about observations, make interpretations, and back up ideas based on what they see. Each artist/exhibit is unique, with goals and objectives selected to highlight specific principles and elements of art exemplified by the works on display.
Objectives may vary, but a focus on communication through visual art is maintained. Students are consistently asked to consider the cultural and historical background of artists and their chosen mediums.
Most gallery experiences include a 30-40 minute tour of the exhibit and a 20-30 minute extension lesson. Tours focus on three things: concise sets of exhibit appropriate vocabulary terms, specific techniques and/or technologies, and artists utilization of these. The students then put this learning immediately to use in a creative activity.
Through discussions around the activity students understand the range of creative problem-solving solutions to the tour ideas. If the show pertains to interdisciplinary subjects, such as science, extra effort to connect with teachers in those subject areas makes for cross-curriculum connections to the arts.
Learn More About All Our Ed Programs
Our Educational Outreach Programs are supported by Idaho Commission on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the city of Moscow ARPA funds.