Teacher Workshop: Art and the Outdoors

Current and preservice teachers are invited to join us for a multidisciplinary Teacher Workshop exploring connections between visual art and the outdoors.

This workshop will invite participants to slow down and refresh through guided looking, walking, and art-making activities. The workshop will begin with guided gallery explorations of artworks that are inspired by nature, reference nature, or live in outdoor spaces. Through close looking, conversation, and hands-on activities, participants will discover what students experience on field trips to the Museum and gain resources for engaging students with works of art.

Participants will then be guided on a forest immersion walk through wooded areas of Forest Park by Certified Forest and Nature Therapy Guide, Jess Thenhaus of Urban Forest Therapy. Along this walk, participants will engage multiple senses through prompts that encourage creative inquiry, presence, and nature connection. Following the walk, participants will connect further with art and the outdoors in a hands-on paper-making activity incorporating materials gathered during the walk.

Throughout the workshop, participants will have opportunities to share ideas with fellow educators and learn about tools and resources that can be used with a variety of age groups.

This workshop will include an hourlong walk outdoors with some uneven terrain, followed by a 30-minute outdoor reflective art activity. The walk will be adapted to indoor spaces in the event of inclement weather.

Lunch and materials will be provided. Participants will take home their handmade paper at the end of the workshop.

Enrollment is free and is on a first-come, first-served basis. Space is limited and enrollment requests are considered with regard to equitable school and/or school district representation. Enrollment requests are due no later than October 10, 2022.

Please contact teacherprograms@slam.org with questions.