Recently, a group of Art Museum School Programs Managers put their heads together.
Organized by Ai We Seow, Coordinator of School and Educator Programs at the Whitney Museum of American Art, our group met in the Whitney’s Education Studio – that strange and wonderful cube built from disused freight cars. We brainstormed an array of challenges facing School Programs teams in art museums today, including effective strategies for collaborating with the NYCDOE, streamlining the school tour booking process, and developing useful resources for K-12 teachers and students. After some brainstorming and discussion, we identified a number of themes that cut across many of these shared struggles. We’re planning to reconvene in mid-November to share more information about the programs we’re responsible for, and learn what approaches we might take to these challenges by pooling our resources.
I was struck by the group’s shared sense of passion for our work. Peer support is a wonderful thing, eh? Who are you peers and how do you support each others’ work?