Teacher Workshops 2009–2010
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| After-School Weekday Workshops | Registration Form |
| Evening with Educators | General Information |
| Saturday Workshops | Summer Teacher Institute |
| Special Collaboration | School Tours |
| Registration Information |
Teachers of all subjects, pre-kindergarten through grade 12, are welcome. All programs include teaching resource materials. Space is limited, so please register early. Registration will be confirmed by mail. Registration fees are nonrefundable. Fees are waived for District of Columbia public school teachers with evidence of current employment. If circumstances require, after-school and evening workshops may be canceled. The repeat dates indicated will be scheduled if there is sufficient interest in the program.
If you are unable to attend a program for which you are registered, please call (202) 842-6796 at least one week prior to the program date so that we may accommodate teachers on the waiting list.
After-School Weekday Workshops
Augustus Saint-Gaudens' Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts Fifty-fourth Regiment
This workshop explores the history of the Civil War memorial to Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the African-American army unit famed for its heroic attempt to capture Fort Wagner, South Carolina, in 1863. The workshop also models techniques for student inquiry into historical art and artifacts.
Fee: $10
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Repeat date: Wednesday, January 27, 2010
4:30 p.m.–6:30 p.m.
Sol LeWitt: Art as Idea
The art of Sol LeWitt prioritizes ideas over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Focusing on his wall drawings at the National Gallery, this workshop examines LeWitt's theories and working methods, including his use of assistants to interpret and execute his work. Following the artist's example, participants will conceptualize a line drawing for others to execute and then implement a drawing based on the ideas and directives of fellow program participants. Note: a studio art background is not necessary.
Fee: $10
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Repeat date: Wednesday, March 10, 2010
4:30 p.m.–6:30 p.m.
Postwar Modernism: The Meyerhoff Collection
This after-hours program highlights postwar modern art as represented in a special exhibition of one of America's finest collections, the Robert E. and Jane B. Meyerhoff Collection. Six American artists are emphasized: Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Roy Lichtenstein, Brice Marden, Robert Rauschenberg, and Frank Stella. The program features a slide overview, self-guided tour of the exhibition, refreshments, and a teaching resource raffle.
Fee: $10 First-time participants will be registered on a fee-waived basis. Fee also waived for past participants registering with a K-12 teacher new to Gallery programs.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
4:00–7:30 p.m.
Judith Leyster: A Leading Star
One of few professional women artists of the Dutch Golden Age, Judith Leyster is celebrated in an intimate exhibition that marks the four hundredth anniversary of her birth. The name Leyster means "leading star" in Dutch, and the artist cleverly punned on this by creating a monogram of her initials crossed by a star. Focusing on her expressive Self-Portrait in the Gallery's collection, both exhibition and workshop will explore her art and life, including the affinity of her work to that of Frans Hals and her painter-husband, Jan Miense Molenaer.
Fee: $20
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Repeat date: Saturday, November 14, 2009
10:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.
Special Collaboration: Alike, but Not—Alexander Calder and Brian Jungen
This two-part workshop invites comparisons between the kinetic sculptures, or "mobiles," of two remarkably inventive artists: Alexander Calder (1898–1976), the American creator of the mobile, and Brian Jungen (b. 1970), a Canadian widely considered the leading Native artist of his generation. Jungen's work is featured in the exhibition Strange Comfort at the National Museum of the American Indian, while Calder's mobiles are well represented in the National Gallery's permanent collection. This program encourages teachers to stretch their minds by making comparisons across time and culture.
Balancing Act: Alexander Calder
This session features a meditation on the creative process itself as Kevin Reese performs his one-man play A Perfect Balance, inspired by Calder's experimental working methods. Afternoon activities include mobile-making as a tool to help students work cooperatively and participate in group problem solving. This session offers curriculum connections to Visual Art, Music, Dance, Math, Science, and Social Studies.
Held at the National Gallery of Art
Fee: $20
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Repeat date: Saturday, February 20, 2010
10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
Strange Comfort: Brian Jungen
Brian Jungen often evokes the natural world through mass-produced materials that are imaginatively repurposed and rich in associations. Crux (2008), a dazzling mobile featuring animals made from old and new luggage, and Shapeshifter (2000), a skeletal whale created from plastic chairs, provide a focus for exploring Jungen's transformation of the ordinary into the strangely beautiful. This session will address Jungen's interest in globalization, pop culture, museums, and the commodification of Indian heritage. Exhibition curator Paul Chaat Smith will share his insights into these fascinating works.
Held at National Museum of the American Indian
Fee: $20
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Repeat date: Saturday, February 27, 2010
10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
A $20 fee covers enrollment for both sessions. Register for sequential Saturdays. You may also register through the National Museum of the American Indian at (202) 633-6644 or NMAI-Education@si.edu.
Please use the workshop registration form to make your request.
Cancellations
To cancel, please call (202) 842-6796 as soon as possible.
Location and Hours
The National Gallery of Art, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 7th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1. See also area
map, public transportation, parking.
Floor Plans: West Building | East Building
The National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden, located on the National Mall at 7th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, is bounded by Constitution Avenue and Madison Drive and by 7th and 9th Streets NW.
Accessibility
The 6th Street entrance to the West Building at Constitution Avenue and the 4th Street entrance to the East Building each have ramps to accommodate visitors in wheelchairs. Teacher workshop participants requesting accommodation for special needs
should call (202) 842-6796 three weeks before the program date. A Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) is available by calling (202) 842-6176. A TDD for use by visitors is located at the public telephone adjacent to the stamp machine near the Concourse Level Sales Shop. This TDD can accommodate wheelchair users.
Parking
Metered street parking for cars and vans is available along the Mall. Buses may let students off at the entrance noted on your confirmation sheet. Parking for buses is usually allowed only on Independence Avenue near the Washington Monument.
Public Transportation
The nearest Metrorail stops are Judiciary Square on the Red
Line, Archives on the Yellow/Green Lines, and
Smithsonian on the Blue/Orange Lines. Metro bus stops
are located on 4th Street and 7th Street NW. DC Circulator bus stops
are located at 4th Street and Madison Drive and at 7th Street
and Constitution Avenue NW.
Further information about Metrorail and Metrobus routes and schedules is available at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Web site. The WMATA RideGuide Web site provides a fast and easy way to plan your visit to the Gallery.
Taxicabs are easily hailed in most areas of the city and often wait for Gallery patrons between the East and West Buildings on 4th Street NW.
Security
Visitors will be asked to present all bags and parcels for inspection. All
backpacks, luggage, oversized bags, parcels, and umbrellas must be left in
the checkrooms. These items will be subject to x-ray screening prior to acceptance.
We regret that we are unable to accommodate any items larger than 17 x 26 inches
(43 x 66 cm) into the Gallery or its checkrooms. Checkrooms located at
the entrances to
both the East Building and the West
Building are provided free of charge. We recommend that students leave
their backpacks at school or on the bus to prevent entry delays.
Museum Shops
Reproductions, exhibition catalogues, and books about the collections are available to educators at a 20% discount by mail order only. For more information, call
(202) 842-6002 or (800) 697-9350.
Calendars of Events
Find out what's happening this month at
the National Gallery of Art. The current bimonthly Calendar of Events is available in PDF format (Download Acrobat Reader)
To obtain a free bimonthly calendar of events by mail, call (202) 842-6662, or contact us by e-mail at calendar@nga.gov.
To receive a free quarterly film calendar by mail, contact us by e-mail at film-department@nga.gov. Please include your mailing address.
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