Tell It with Pride
The 54th Massachusetts Regiment and Augustus Saint-Gaudens' Shaw Memorial
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
4:00–7:30 p.m.

This evening event celebrates the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry—one of the first Civil War regiments of African American soldiers (whose heroism was dramatized in the 1989 film Glory). Tour the exhibition Tell it with Pride, featuring sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ iconic memorial to the 54th. See early photographic portraits of the soldiers, recruiters such as Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth, and nurses and guides such as Clara Barton and Harriet Tubman.  A selection of work by 20th-century artists inspired by the 54th attests to the regiment’s enduring legacy. Don’t miss this evening of art, education activities, food, and fun!

Learning, Arts, and the Brain
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Repeat date: Wednesday, February 5, 2014
4:00–6:30 p.m.

Discover what the emerging field of neuro-education reveals about how the arts affect cognitive development.  Learn about the Neuro-Education Initiative of the Johns Hopkins University School of Education and the critical skills that arts-based learning is known to promote—collaboration, creative problem solving, and the ability to apply learning across different disciplines. This workshop reviews recent research, argues the importance of integrated arts education, and provides practical strategies for classroom use.

Haiku as Verbal Sketching
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Repeat date: Wednesday, February 26, 2014
4:00–6:30 p.m.

Explore practical strategies for connecting poetry and art through a creative interplay of word and image. Instructors demonstrate how to compose haiku using works of art to elicit a poetic feeling or image that may be captured through sensory language and verse.  After engaging the artwork through careful observation, description, and written interpretation, workshop participants edit and refine their haiku through a collaborative process. This interdisciplinary workshop is ideally suited to any educator seeking to strengthen student skills in visual analysis, creative writing, editing, and critical judgment.

Journaling: From Museum to Classroom
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Repeat date: Saturday, March 15, 2014
10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.

As metacognitive processes assume greater importance in education, journaling can be an invaluable practice that encourages students to reflect on their own thinking and learning. Student journals can also help teachers assess comprehension and growth. This workshop models ways to engage art on a deep and meaningful level by using both visual and verbal language skills. Through discussion, writing, and visual note-taking activities, this workshop demonstrates how teachers of all subjects and grades can benefit from incorporating journaling techniques into their personal and professional lives.

Using Visual Art to Write Monologues
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Repeat date: Saturday, March 1, 2014
10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.

National award-winning playwright, director, and educator Mary Hall Surface models ways to help students imagine, improvise, and write monologues based on works of visual art. Teachers discover how to look beyond the surface of an image to search for the deeper meaning, or subtext, of a narrative or character.  This cross-curricular workshop is particularly well suited to teachers of language arts and drama in middle and high school.