FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 25, 2007

Laura Reeder, Executive Director of Partners for Arts Education (PAE), will moderate a panel discussion on “The Art of Teaching” at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City on Wednesday, June 6 at 6:30 p.m.

Panelists, including featured artists Faith Ringgold, Lynne Yamamoto, Pablo Helguera, and Susan Mayr, will discuss the ways in which studio practice and teaching inform one another.

Ms. Reeder has recently published an article, “Teaching Artistry” in the international Teaching Artist Journal edited at Columbia College in Chicago. The Guggenheim panel will be an extension of her research on artists who teach, and will also animate the mission of PAE in New York State.

As artists are increasingly called on to lead in education reform and economic development, they are finding new benefits and challenges to their work. This forum will raise issues that are shared among artists who teach at universities, in K-12 classrooms, in community centers, and in their own studios.

The panel is presented in conjunction with A Year with Children 2007, an exhibition that presents artwork by second- through sixth-grade students from New York City public schools that participated in 20-week artist-led residencies. Approximately 250 works will be on display, including prints, paintings, sculpture, masks, quilts, papier-mâché, clay, and more.

Students participating in Learning Through Art (LTA), an education program of the Guggenheim Museum, create process-oriented art projects that examine ideas and themes related to the school curriculum. Research from this program has linked arts learning to improved literacy skills in students. The program aspires to create an environment of curiosity and ongoing, collaborative investigation.

Jennifer Sussman, a second grade teacher at PS 144 in Queens, says, “One of the things I like best about [LTA] is how it reaches all types of learners. I have students who have excelled doing this project, who have difficulty in other areas of the curriculum.”

For more information about Learning Through Art, please visit www.learningthroughart.org.

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Partners for Arts Education inspires learning and leadership for arts in education in Central New York and throughout New York State. We provide funding and support to deepen and enrich educational experiences in and through the arts for students, teachers and artists.

Partners for Arts Education
Delavan Center Suite 221  501 W. Fayette St.  Syracuse, NY  13202
315.234.9911  info@arts4ed.org  www.arts4ed.org

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