Sun Valley Museum of Art

The Classroom Enrichment program is SVMoA's educational outreach program. Professional museum educators are paired with secondary, core, non-arts based classroom teachers to develop a project and co-teach an element of planned curriculum through a hands-on art project which takes place in the classroom. Arts integration reinforces and supports the learning students are doing through more traditional methods. Classroom Enrichment projects provide learning opportunities through the arts across the disciplines and also provide teachers with a new model for teaching core material. Teachers are encouraged by the learning that takes place in their classroom and, after participating, have the skills to implement arts integration elements into their curriculum. In addition to providing new methods of learning for students, this program develops collaborative relationships between SVMoA staff and public school teachers. The target audience for this program is students in grades 6–12 and core subject teachers.

Artists in all mediums including musicians, dancers, authors and visual artists visit Blaine County Schools (both private and public) to offer performances, presentations, workshops and classes. Residencies are designed to expose students to the workings of professional artists and their commitment to their craft, to learn/ hear from/ experience global cultures and artistic styles, and to learn how to be an informed and respectful audience member. Pre-visit study guide materials, which include biographies of the artists and suggested classroom activities are distributed to teachers to prepare students for the performance or workshop. These workshops or master classes are designed to engage high school students who are enrolled in a class linked to the artist’s area of expertise and to enhance the classroom experience of both teachers and students. Artists work side by side with students and teachers discussing technique and approach. Occasionally, these residencies include working ahead of time to select pieces from the group’s repertoire, sending it ahead to teachers who then include the piece or pieces in their curriculum to learn the piece prior to the musicians’ arrival on site. Once in the school, the musicians workshop and guide the students through the piece giving the students the opportunity to actively work on the piece with professionals during the residency and then the students join the musicians for these pieces during the public performance.

Each year the scholarship program gives local students and educators in Blaine County financial support to further their education in the arts and humanities (outside of normal school hours) through four different types of scholarships. The scholarship program is made possible through funds raised at SVMoA’s Annual Wine Auction and private donations. Applications are evaluated by a committee of community members in the following areas: selected program of study, interest, experience and enthusiasm, work samples, two letters of recommendation, transcripts and financial need. The committee changes on a yearly basis. Scholarships are awarded to educators and students who have demonstrated a focused interest in an area of study and have exhausted the opportunities for learning available in this rural community. A public scholarship ceremony is held every year to celebrate scholarship recipients.

A professional museum educator, assisted by trained volunteer docents, offers students and teachers an exploration of visual art exhibitions. Tours are approximately one hour in length and are primarily offered to students in Blaine County’s private and public schools, but are open to students throughout the state of Idaho. Students engage with the exhibition idea, the museum educator and their peers through observation and discussion of contemporary and modern artwork. They also create a hands-on art project. Tours are crafted to allow students to engage with art and ideas through object-based conversation and art-making experiences, providing teachers with an experiential learning opportunity that may link and reinforce curricular themes and providing students in our rural community with a museum experience. Exhibition tours are designed to meet National Core Arts Standards in the visual arts, which stem from the four core artistic processes of creating, presenting, responding and connecting. We provide pre-visit materials to encourage classes to discuss the ideas presented in the exhibition before arriving for the tour.

Big Idea multidisciplinary projects are original programs and exhibitions that are organized to explore an idea or theme from multiple perspectives and a variety of artistic disciplines. They are designed to connect the multiple programming disciplines (visual arts, performing arts, theatre and education/humanities) and to stimulate the imagination, promote conversation, provoke thought and engage a broad spectrum of the community. Big Idea projects guide programming for a designated period of time and frequently involve collaborations with other organizations in the valley.