We’ve lined up a great panel of conservators, two local teachers and the Director of Education at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum to discuss how conservators can make an impact on K-12 audiences. As co-chairs of the AIC K-12 Working Group, we wanted to share a bit more with you about what we’ll be talking about and doing in this session than we were able to share in the conference program. We feel strongly that not only is it a lot of fun to work with elementary, middle and high school kids, but it gives us conservators a great chance to broaden their interests in art and in the sciences, and promotes value for our shared cultural heritage. What kid can’t tell you how acid rain is hurting the environment? Why shouldn’t they also be able to tell you what it’s doing to outdoor sculpture?
In this panel we’re going to focus mostly on the practical questions – what kinds of conservation-based topics translate well to these students? Who exactly is your audience and where will you encounter them – in your studio, in a gallery, in the classroom? How do you make inroads into your local schools, and find out who makes the decisions on what to teach? And how on earth do you fit this into your already busy work life? We’ll hear from conservators who have established tremendously successful programs, and hear directly from teachers and museum educators how they work – or would like to work – with conservators.
Then we’ll break up into focus groups, each one taking on a different age group (K-4, 5-8, and 9-12) and come up with some great ideas for topics, hands-on activities, and related explorations into other subject areas like history, social studies or math, so teachers can integrate these ideas across their school’s curriculum. These ideas will be further developed by the K-12 Working Group (and any interested volunteers, hint hint!) and be made available as lesson plans for conservators to take into their local schools, or for educators to use as springboards for working with conservators. The possibilities are wide open and we are excited to have a great and productive session. Please join us!
Details: Conservation and Education 1 Outreach Session, Thursday May 10th, 2:30-4, in Picuris/Santa Ana/Sandia