Beyond the Lesson Plan: A Dialogue on Teaching and Learning in the Arts

Montserrat College of Art Galleries is thrilled to host ​Beyond the Lesson Plan: A Dialogue on Teaching & Learning in the Arts​ on Saturday, April 4, 10 am – 6:30 pm. Inspired by radical developments within the field of Art Education and an increasing emphasis on teaching, learning and pedagogy as media in contemporary art, Curator of Education Maggie Cavallo was inspired to create a platform for conversation around these topics. ​Beyond the Lesson Plan​ will include three presentations exploring the ways we learn with and through the arts, how this affects our communities and classrooms and the potential for arts learning to spur social change.

Artists and Educators​ Nansi Guevara ​and​ Moana ‘Ulu’ave ​will lead a session titled ​Why We Make Art​ that will invite participants to consider their relationship with art making and teaching. By sharing personal histories with these practices and identifying connections amongst the group, Guervara and ‘Ulu’ave will assist the group with developing a shared vision, a key step in achieving social justice through arts education. In ​Exercises for the Quiet Eye​, ​Dr. Annie V.F. Storr​ ​will share an ensemble of guided looking techniques she has developed for classrooms, museums, galleries and lifelong learning or spiritual communities. These extensions of inquiry-based methods of art interpretation open up from quiet, centered experiences aimed to help viewers slowdown and avoid the rush to premature understanding. In ​Challenging Ableism through Arts Education​, ​Tasha Chemel, Hannah Hanssenss-Reed ​and ​Ava Kerr​ ​will offer a space to discuss the prevalence of ableism (discrimination in favor of able-bodied individuals) in Education. This presentation will encourage us not only to consider what our responsibilities are as artists and educators to dismantle ableism, but also to identify the qualities of the arts, artists and arts learning to challenge ableism and nurture variability in our learning spaces.

Beyond the Lesson Plan: A Dialogue on Teaching and Learning in the Arts is on
Saturday, April 4, 2015 10am – 6:30pm in the ​Hardie Building (Room 201), 23 Essex Street, Beverly, MA.

Public Programs:

10:30 – 12 PM ​Why We Make Art​ ​|​ ​Nansi Guevara & Moana ‘Ulu’ave
1 – 2:30 PM Exercises for the Quiet Eye ​| Dr. Annie V.F. Storr
2:30 – 4 PM Challenging Ableism through Arts Education ​| Tasha Chemel, Hannah Hanssenss-Reed and Ava Kerr
5 – 6:30 PM Student Poetry & Storytelling event with Moana ‘Ulu’ave (Location TBA)

*Sessions are free to students, pay-what-you wish for staff, alumni and the general public. Click here to register! Montserrat’s public programs are free of charge and open to the public. For more information contact Assistant Curator of Education, Savery Kelley via email [email protected]​ or contact Curator of Education, Maggie Cavallo at 978-867-9624.