Art Museum hosts Summer Teaching Institute

Sculptor Patrick Dougherty works with teachers, librarians, and community educators at the 2008 Summer Teaching Institute.

Photo courtesy of the UW Art Museum.

The UW Art Museum will be hosting its annual Summer Teaching Institute in Laramie, July 26-30. The Summer Teaching Institute is open to K-12 teachers, including arts education specialists, discipline specific teachers, general elementary classroom teachers, and special education teachers. It is also open to community educators, such as Boys and Girls Clubs, Parks and Recreation programs, senior centers, museums, libraries, and more.

The title of this year's Summer Teaching Institute is "Transforming Learning," and the focus will be on using original sources as inspiration for teaching and learning (including traveling exhibitions and trunks, local museums and libraries). Another focus will be on how to build school and community partnerships for art education.

Among the many topics to be covered at the Summer Teaching Institute, some include examining the Wyoming resources that are available to inspire creative and meaningful learning opportunities, how partnerships can be built to support art education programs, and how community educators can develop programming that incorporates meaningful creative learning strategies that engage students and audiences.

Featured speaker Dawn Ellis will host a workshop that explores developing partnerships for programs that use original art and other materials that are at the core of teaching and learning. She will be joined by educators, archivists, and librarians. For more information on Ms. Ellis, please visit her website. Studio time is included every afternoon for participants to explore new materials and ideas inspired by the original artwork, objects, and books encountered throughout the Summer Teaching Institute.

3 credits of PTSB certification or UW Continuing Education credit is available. Cost is $150 per person, which includes a non-refundable $50 pre-registration fee. Partners are also encouraged to sign up, which is $150 for the first partner, $125 for the second, and $100 for any additional partners. Partners must register together. Lunch and snacks are provided daily. Participants are responsible for their own breakfast, dinner, room and travel costs. There are a limited number of travel scholarships available, courtesy of the Wyoming Arts Council's Arts Access Program.

For more information, or to sign up, please contact Curator of Education Wendy Bredehoft at 307.766.3496 or wbredeho@uwyo.edu.