Jayne Schell is next in my series on the women working at The Harwood Museum of Art.
The museum is actively engaged with the community in regards to our children; their education and their future.
I emailed Jayne (the Harwood’s Head of Youth Education) recently, asking her to tell us a bit about what she does at The Harwood to engage the children in our community in the museum’s after school (and in conjunction with local schools) programs.
“During the school year we are involved in our flagship program Art in the Schools. Last school year we had 2496 student visits. Usually we host two classes per day for a guided tour in the museum that highlights one of four units during the year followed by a hands on art making experience in the studio. We work with the entire students body from Enos Garcia and TISA as well as the inclusion classes from Ranchos. We contract with the Kennedy Center to bus in and host the Ranchos classes through their program Museum Access for Kids and Very Special Arts … MAK/VSA.
During the summer we accept summer school programs scheduling a museum visit once or twice during June and July. This year we have had Anansi Pre-K, Inspire, Non-Violence Camp, High Altitude Athletics Camp and Enos Garcia Special Education Summer School. One of the teachers from the Special Ed class requested a yoga session on their second visit. This teacher knew of my weekly yoga program at the museum and wanted to have students experience yoga. Many in this class have severely profound disabilities. The exploration of yoga was as diverse as the group with some teachers joining in, yet all enjoyed the final relaxation at the end!
Summer programs offered are Art Explorations for different age groups such as My Kid Could Do That! and I Am, Je Suis, Yo Soy. These run Tuesday through Friday for 2 hours each day and culminate with an exhibition of the work created during the week. We host a Teen Art Salon once a week. This week is our last Teen session for the summer. River Lark Madison will be leading Breathwork as a way into self-portraiture. The Teen Art Salon hopes to reconvene in the fall. Teen Art Salon is free with art materials provided.
Jivamukti Yoga is offered every Thursday morning for adults. Jivamukti Yoga incorporates a focus each month that aligns with classes worldwide. The current focus for Jivamukti Yoga in September is “Fed up”
Groups visiting Taos and locals are encouraged to schedule a docent led tour of the museum. Contact me to arrange a tour.
The mission of our museum education through object based learning is to develop creativity and critical thinking, foster cultural and community awareness, increase understanding of art viewing and making and most of all to express joy through learning to create resiliency to move through difficulties. All of our programs including staffing are funded through the Education Department from private individuals, foundations, contracts and grants. We are not funded by UNM.”
Thank you Jayne!
For more about The Harwood, please visit their site linked below this post.
All images c/o The Harwood Museum of Art
