Evening for Educators

Keynote Talk: The power of engaging with art to enhance teaching and learning

Build-your-own pita bar with falafel, grilled chicken, and Mediterranean vegetable options. Mixed greens salad. Berry shortcake for dessert.

Choose two of the five workshops developed by local educators who are members of the Clark's Teacher Leadership Team and Clark docents:

Learn flexible strategies to integrate visual analysis, historical thinking, and narrative writing in the classroom. Closely examine paintings in the Clark’s collection through the eyes of a historian, considering context and perspective. Explore whose stories are told, whose are missing, and how point of view shapes interpretation. Collaborate to craft an original narrative from the perspective of a seen or unseen “character” within a painting.

Explore the work of contemporary artist Raffaella della Olga, who uses typewriters and text to transform language into abstract compositions, stretching the possibilities of how language can communicate. Collaborate and play with text and image to create collages and poetry that foster interdisciplinary connections between social studies, ELA, and visual art.

Learn about a collaborative model between a 7th-grade classroom and a pre-K classroom. Discover how middle school students, inspired by the abstract work of artist Sónia Almeida, created accessible, sensory-rich books about the elements of art for early learners. Find out how to adapt this project-based framework for different curricula. Learn strategies to facilitate meaningful student partnerships that deepen subject mastery, foster empathy, and build a stronger school-wide community.

Drawing on themes of migration and cultural identity, create individual “quilt squares” that will be combined into a communal patchwork. Participate in reflection and discussion that equip you to help students share their stories and encourage inclusive classroom communities. Come away having investigated a sense of belonging and storytelling through art.

Experience an interactive tour of the Clark’s permanent collection of American decorative arts. Engage with silver, furnishings, and portraiture from Colonial America and the Federalist period. Examine evolving ideas about national identity while considering how students can strengthen their abilities to conduct inquiries by interpreting primary sources.