The Missoula Art Museum (MAM) is thrilled to offer teachers, parents, and caregivers FREE access to Museum as Megaphone, a distance learning curriculum that connects kids with contemporary art, artists, and art-making “On Demand”. Please feel free to share this widely to anyone who is taking care of children. There is no need to sign up in advance and the modules are self-paced – just jump in whenever you like.
It was written for 4-6th graders but can easily be adapted to younger or older children. The entire curriculum can be done in about 3 hours, but you can dip in and out as you like. It meets standards in Visual Art, Social Studies, English Language Arts (ELA), and Indian Education for All (IEFA).
Your kiddos will learn about three contemporary artists (two of them are contemporary American Indian artists), take a virtual tour of three exhibitions, learn about contemporary art and expressive painting, and be guided through sketchbook reflections and an expressive painting (or drawing) activity. Rest assured you do not need to be an artist or a teacher to be able to accompany your kiddos through this adventure. There are videos to guide you and easy to follow directions. No prior art experience is necessary!
The art project can be done with any materials you have on hand: paint, markers, crayons.
You’ll be invited to share your work on your social media using the hashtags #museumasmegaphone and #missoulaartmuseum. Be sure to check out (and like) the work of others. This is a great time to engage with art and with museums even though we are all staying safely at home.
We hope you enjoy and that you will reach out to us with your feedback.
The MAM Education Team – Kay, Jenny, and Siera
“It was a great way to expose my students to contemporary art/artist. We are in a rural location, so it was a perfect means for easy access. My students also now have an interest in going to the Museum that they didn't have before. Thank You!” – 5th grade teacher
“My students commented after our half hour was completed that they wished we had more time!” – 5th grade teacher
Check out the spotlight on Museum as Megaphone in the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) February newsletter!
https://mailchi.mp/aamd/museums-and-communities-news-february2020
If you are an educator:
Please ‘create an account’ as a teacher. Use the Code: 1FA2AKJM. Once you log-on to the challenge you will find a ‘Create a Class’ button, click this button and enter the number of students and teams. This will generate a “Class Code'.” Give this code to your students to create accounts, or, register your students on your dashboard.
If you are a parent:
Your kids can access a challenge from home! Please ‘create an account’ as a teacher. Use the Code: 1FA2AKJM. Once you log-on to the challenge you will find a “Create a Class” button, click this button and enter a class name. Click the ‘Guided Mode’ checkbox. This will allow your child to access all of the content.