Mead Art Museum introduces 'Mead on the Move'

Date: 4/26/2022

AMHERST – Earlier this month, the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College announced a “Mead on the Move” initiative, a program that brings art education from the museum’s galleries into pre-K through 12th grade classrooms.

“Mead on the Move” draws from the Mead’s core teaching themes designed to complement Massachusetts state learning guidelines. The themes include representing the self and others, stories in art, and playing with process, which pays homage to the artist’s known or unknown work in making and creating.

All interested instructors in the Amherst area can register their class for free on the museum’s website. Visits are developed and facilitated by the Mead’s trained and paid student museum educators from Amherst College and led by Museum Educator Olivia Feal. Teachers can default to the Mead for a lesson on one of those themes or work with the staff in advance to specialize a lesson.

“Mead on the Move incorporates more art-making, which I think is a lot of fun,” Feal said. “The first-grade teachers at Wildwood were our first trial visit and I am so honored and excited to work with them. Our student museum educators designed the entire art-making activity for this program. It was a windy day when we visited – so the tissue paper was flying around, and it was hilarious and a great time. I can’t wait for the students to visit the Mead again, but I also love meeting teachers in their classrooms and having the visit be on students’ and teachers’ terms in their familiar spaces. “

With the museum still closed to the public in response to COVID-19, this was one way for the museum and students to work with youth and provide a memorable learning experience.

“We had to get creative,” said Emily Potter-Ndiaye, the Mead’s Dwight and Kirsten Poler & Andrew W. Mellon head of education and curator of academic programs. “We’re leaning into this moment to meet teachers and students where they are, so to speak, with hands-on art programs in collaboration with area schools on their sites. With so many virtual programs around us, we were looking for a way to connect with educators and students in person.”

The Mead piloted the program in the fall of 2021 and has now launched fully for spring and summer 2022. Feal said that the student museum educators assisted and observed Feal teach during the fall and said that the students will now take the lead with Feal’s input. The school visits use close-looking, guided discussion and multi-sensory engagement to promote dialogue, critical thinking, and personal connection through art.

The museum’s art collection spans 5,000 years and is an accredited member of the American Alliance of Museums. The collection is known for its American and European paintings, Tibetan scroll paintings, Mexican ceramics, West African sculpture, Japanese prints and more.

“Mead on the Move is a hallmark of our work as a teaching museum – engaging local school children and Amherst College students alike,” said Potter-Ndiaye. “Amherst College students gain a sense of connection and perspective with hands-on teaching skills, while our teacher and student partners build personal and curricular connections with artworks from their local museum collections.

“Connecting with K-12 learning is at the heart of museum education, and we’re delighted to be back in the classroom with local schools,” she continued. “Olivia and the student museum educators have been really responsive to the changing and challenging environment for arts education in schools, and this program grows from their ongoing connection, conversation, and collaboration with local teachers.”