ABOUT AGE

AGE is the acronym for Art Gallery/Museum Educators, a special interest group of the Ontario Association of Art Galleries (OAAG). It was established to represent, promote and support art gallery education and art gallery educators throughout Ontario. As formalized in its constitution, AGE recognizes the need for professional development, advocacy and networking within the profession and is committed to an agenda which reflects a sensitivity to the issues related to art gallery education within a provincial context and, where possible, beyond.

The objectives of AGE are

• to establish profile and recognition for art gallery education within the province;
• to bring together and galvanize a network of educators from every region within the province;
• to collect and make available resources relevant to art gallery educators;
• to facilitate the availability of and access to professional development opportunities for art gallery educators.

Membership is complimentary with a paid individual or institutional membership to the Ontario Association of Art Galleries. We need your involvement to kick start AGE.

Initiatives undertaken in recent years include:

• Art Gallery Educators profile listing information about OAAG member galleries, the programs they offer and the staff responsible for these programs.
• Bibliography project providing annotated information about, among other things, Museum and Gallery Education, Learning Theories and Programming.
• Archive featuring case studies in art gallery education as well as submissions to the annual OAAG Educators Award.
• Video network listing educational videos held by the Education departments of member galleries which are available for informal loans.
• Networking opportunities designed to promote and facilitate exchange between art gallery educators across the province.
• Professional development workshops and information providing a context for the activities of art gallery educators and their colleagues from around the world.
• Accessibility to these initiatives as well as other resources of interest to art gallery educators including a regular presence in Context, the OAAG publication.

For more information, to become a member or to contribute information please contact OAAG at (416) 598-0714.

*Past versions of the AGE newsletter are available from OAAG.

UPCOMING SESSIONS

AGE Listserv

Members of OAAG who are active or have an interest in gallery education will be invited to participate in our new AGE listserv free of charge. The AGE listserv will allow you to post a message, which will then be distributed to all of the members on the listserv instantly. OAAG encourages AGE members to use the listserv to post a question or opinion, share resources, and develop a sense of community amongst art gallery educators in Ontario.

If you are a member of OAAG and would like to join the AGE listserv or you would like more information/assistance, please contact members@oaag.org.

EDUCATION RESEARCH

Selected Research on Art Gallery/Museum Education Programs:

2003 Art Museum Education Programs Survey Report
Organization: Museum-Ed is a not-for-profit Web site dedicated to providing museum educators opportunities to ask questions, to exchange ideas, to explore current issues, to share resources, to reflect on experiences, and to inspire new directions in museum education in the USA.
www.museum-ed.org/research/surveys/2003mused/index.shtml

True Needs True Partners: Museums Serving Schools (2002 survey)
Organization: The Institute of Museum and Library Services is an independent Federal agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners located in the USA.
www.imls.gov

Project Zero investigated the Educational Impact and Potential of the Museum of Modern Art's Visual Thinking Curriculum
Project Zero's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum/Project Zero Educational Collaboration
Organization: Project MUSE (Museums Uniting with Schools in Education) was formed in 1994 and completed its work in 1996. Project MUSE was a collaboration of researchers, classroom teachers, museum educators, and school principals from this country and abroad. Over two years of work, these collaborators explored the potential of art museums to serve as integral elements of education.
www.pz.harvard.edu/Research/MUSE.htm

Selected articles available at Ontario Association of Art Galleries:
Email: oaag@oaag.org
Telephone: (416) 598-0714

Greenspan, Sheila and Judith Rodger. “Public Programming," Johnson, W. McAllister and Frances K. Smith, eds. Art Gallery Handbook Vol. 2 (Toronto: Ontario Association of Art Galleries, 1991): 131-141.

Wiginton, Colin. " Museum Education: Looking Back to the Future," Zemans, Joyce, ed. Art Gallery Handbook Vol. 3 (Toronto: Ontario Association of Art Galleries, 2001): 67- 81.

Selected articles from the Journal of Museum Education:
Available from Museum Education Roundtable Washington, D.C.
Email: info@mer-online.org
Telephone: (202) 547-8378

“A Curriculum-Theory Model of the Art Museum Milieu as Teacher”; Vol. 28 (1)

“Communicating Art in Museums: Language Concepts in Art Education”; Vol. 28 (1)

“Museum Learning Collaborative Redux”; Vol. 28 (1)

“Environments for Learning”; Vol. 27 (1) Winter 2002

“Bridging Diversity, Building Community: Folkloric Models of Museum Interpretation”; Vol. 24, Number (3)

“The Classroom Connection: Museums as Catalysts for School Reform”; Vol. 23, (2)

Other Selected Publications:

Berry, Nancy and Susan Mayer, eds. Museum Education: History, Theory, and Practice. Reston, VA: The National Art Education Association, 1989.

Hooper-Greenhill, Eilean. Museum and Gallery Education. Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1991.

Hooper-Greenhill, Eilean. ed. The Educational Role of the Museum. London: Routledge, 1994.

Irwin, Rita L. and Anna M. Kindler, eds. Beyond the School: Community and Institutional Partnerships in Art Education, 1999.

Rice, Danielle. “Museum Education Embracing Uncertainty.” The Art Bulletin, A Quarterly Published by the College of Art Association 77, no I (March 1995): 15-20

Roberts, Lisa C. From Knowledge to Narrative: Educators and the Changing Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997.

RELATED ORGANIZATIONS

Canadian Organizations:

ArtsSmarts
The basis for all ArtsSmarts projects is arts integration. ArtsSmarts projects are designed to engage young people in myriad activities - social studies, languages, history, culture, even math and science - and combine their learning of these subjects with a project that involves one or more of the artistic disciplines: visual art; literary art; dance; music; theatre. For information call (819) 827-9275.
www.artssmarts.ca

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Canadian Art Gallery/Art Museum Educators (CAGE)
Canadian Art Gallery/Art Museum Educators is a non-profit association of educators from art galleries and museums across Canada. Formed in 1989, CAGE has a long history of providing support for gallery and museum educators. CAGE members are students, teachers and professionals who work and study in the field of art gallery and museum education and offers its membership the opportunity to: meet once a year for a national symposium; network with other professionals in the field from across Canada; learn about research in the field through the CAGE Symposium Report -- an annual publication -- and through frequent mailings of educational and promotional material; be affiliated with provincial, regional and international associations of art educators and museum professionals; exchange information about employment opportunities in the field. CAGE is an association governed by an executive committee elected from the association for a term of one or two years. Communication is maintained through representatives from all regions of the country. For information contact Katja Canini at katjacanini@yahoo.ca.

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Canadian Society for Education Through Art (CSEA)
The Canadian Society for Education Through Art was founded in Quebec City in 1995 and is the only Canadian national organization that brings together art educators, gallery educators and others with similar interests and concerns. The membership represents all levels of education from elementary, secondary, college and university as well as gallery and museum educators. Benefits of membership include regular publications, links to a world wide network of art educators through affiliations with Canadian Art Education associations as well as the NAEA and InSEA.
For information contact (613) 533-6000 ext. 78401.
www.csea-scea.ca

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Multicultural Artists for Schools and Communities (MASC)
MASC brings the arts and culture alive for more than 110,000 children and youth each year in eastern Ontario and western Quebec. Professional artists, working out of diverse cultural traditions, deliver workshops and performances in music, dance, drama, literary and visual arts to children and youth in school and community settings. MASC is an important resource for schools in implementing the arts curriculum and teaching about other subjects using the arts. Programs are offered in English and French for students in junior kindergarten through to high school. Programs are used by community centres, daycares, libraries, museums, the NCC and a variety of community organizations. Contact MASC at (613) 725-9119.
www.masconline.ca

Museum Education Roundtable (MERT)
The Museum Education Roundtable of Toronto is a grassroots association of individuals who have come together to promote our mutual personal and professional development as museum/gallery educators. An electronic newsletter, MERTNEWS, is distributed the first of each month (excluding January, July and August). It is the electronic bulletin board for MERT and depends on its members for information and submissions.
The Museum Education Roundtable of Toronto has ceased its operations as of February 2006.

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International Organizations:

Artsedge
ARTSEDGE — the National Arts and Education Network —supports the placement of the arts at the center of the curriculum and advocates creative use of technology to enhance the K-12 educational experience. ARTSEDGE empowers educators to teach in, through, and about the arts by providing the tools to develop interdisciplinary curricula that fully integrate the arts with other academic subjects.
artsedge.kennedy-center.org

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Arts Education Online - The California Arts Project
Consists of a collection of web pages identified as favourite resources, new and interesting locations, and lists of professional organizations in the arts. Also provided are links to art sites by discipline or educational initiatives, or to programs, professional development providers, grants and proposals, museums and performing arts agencies. In addition one can find an on-line discussion room where art educators can exchange ideas and questions.
csmp.ucop.edu/tcap/aeol.html

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Creative Partnerships
Creative Partnerships provides school children across England with the opportunity to develop creativity in learning and to take part in cultural activities of the highest quality. Projects transform expectations, provoking those involved – the children, the teachers, the partners – to continue learning and working creatively, and invoking shifts in thinking in the wider education system for the longer term.
www.creative-partnerships.com

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The Getty Museum: Education
The Getty Museum has on-line services supporting arts education from its Getty Education Institute for the Arts. Sections include information on class visits, teacher programs and resources, lesson plans, information for university students and professors, an area for kids and a TeacherArtExchange listserv.
http://www.getty.edu/education/

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Group for Education in Museums (GEM)
The Group for Education in Museum promotes the importance of learning through museums and galleries. It is based in the United Kingdom but has members around the world. GEM aims to promote: education as a core function of museums; the exchange of information, ideas and research relating to the practice of museum education; the role of museums in formal and informal learning; the recognition of the professional role and status of educators in museums. GEM also produces a variety of publications including: GEM News (a quarterly magazine); JEM (the annual Journal of Education in Museums); as well as the Museum Education Bibliography.
www.gem.org.uk

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Institute for Learning Innovation (ILI)
The Institute is a non-profit organization that works to describe, assess and advance learning both in free-choice settings and in the formal education system. The organizations focus is in three distinct yet integrated areas: research and evaluation, professional development and learning resources development. The collective experience of the staff gives the organization expertise across a wide variety of disciplines including art, history and science.
www.ilinet.org

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Museum Education Roundtable (MER)
The Museum Education roundtable is an active communications network encouraging leadership, scholarship and personal development among educators and museum professionals. Founded in 1969 by educators in Washington, D.C. area museums, MER now serves a worldwide audience of individuals and institutions through its publications and programs. MER is dedicated to providing its members the resources and expertise necessary in meeting today's challenges and those of the twenty-first century.
www.mer-online.org

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Museum-Ed
Museum-Ed is a not-for-profit web site dedicated to providing museum educators opportunities to ask questions, to exchange ideas, to explore current issues, to share resources, to reflect on experiences, and to inspire new directions in museum education. Museum-Ed is not a membership organization. All of the resources on the Museum-Ed web site are free and available to educators in any type of museum, and anyone interested in the field of museum education.
www.museum-ed.org

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National Art Education Association (NAEA)
The National Art Education Association is a non-profit, educational organization that exists to promote art education through professional development, service advancement of knowledge and leadership and draws its membership from across the United States, Canada and twenty-five countries.
www.naea-reston.org

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SpiderSchool, New York Foundation for the Arts
spiderschool.org
As a part of NYFA Interactive, SpiderSchool provides information and training for the arts community on how to integrate technology into their work. The links provided lead to online courseware full of useful arts and technology information and tutorials.

RELATED LISTSERVS

Museum Ed
Provides museum educators opportunities to ask questions, to exchange ideas, to explore current issues, to share resources, to reflect on experiences, and to inspire new directions in museum education.
www.museum-ed.org/listserv/index.shtml?f=list&l=talk

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TeacherArtExchange
An online community of teachers and learners that discusses issues related to art education through e-mail. Share lesson ideas, teacher resources, and network with colleagues from across the United States—even around the world.
http://www.getty.edu/education/teacherartexchange/

ARTICLES

coming soon ...