Rural Teachers Engaging Art

IU's Eskenazi Museum of Art partnered with the Center for Rural Engagement on a program to bring artwork and curriculum to P-12 schools. That partnership also supported a PreK-12 Experiences Manager who developed and oversaw youth art month, youth studio programs, family programs, summer camps, home school programs, and teacher professional development. IU's Eskenazi Museum of Art also launched the Rural Teachers Engaging Art (RTEA) program, which shared and studied school-based techniques for engaging with museum collections. Counties involved were Brown, Dubois, Monroe, Shelby, and Washington. Specifically, monthly programming K-6 Elementary Look Club included postcard prompts/engagement and Parent-Preschool Look Nook (both at Middle Way House in Monroe county). These partnerships were an important step towards increasing accessibility to arts-based education and wellness experiences to youth, teachers, and families in rural communities, and to those who are most in need. With each partner, we have co-created unique variations on our outreach model that allow our team to customize to the needs of the community and also allow our team to better study this pilot program. Our partner organizations have grown to include: Middle Way House, Jill's House, Monroe County Public Library, Bradie Shrum Elementary, Pike County Public Library, Oakland City-ColumbiaTownship Public Library, Shelbyville High School, Shelbyville Middle School, and Golden Bear Preschool