UMMA Expands Its Teaching Model With New Course At U-M Marsal School of Education

“TOOT TOOT!”

A group of kindergarteners moves through UMMA like a train, calling out “toots” as they spot shapes in the gallery. A triangle in a Picasso? That’s a toot. A square and a cylinder embedded in a Nevelson? Toot toot!

For many of these students, it’s their first time in an art museum, and for many more, it’s their first time feeling like they belong in one.

Like any train, this one isn’t getting where it’s going by accident. That sense of belonging is the intentional work of UMMA’s Gallery Educators, a team of teaching artists who guide K-12 students through the museum with an approach rooted in curiosity, conversation, and care.

“The opportunity to teach students in a student-centered way in a culturally vibrant and dynamic setting drew me to the Gallery Educator program,” said educator Carter Glass.

Each visit is designed to meet students where they are. A group of early learners might explore shapes or movement or sound, while high school students might use artworks as prompts for speechwriting or deeper thematic discussion. What connects the experiences is a focus on participation. Students are invited to look closely, share ideas, and build meaning together.

The program is shaped by the work of Grace VanderVliet, UMMA’s Curator for Museum Teaching and Learning, who was recently recognized as a Museum Art Educator of the Year by the National Art Education Association. The experience VanderVliet and UMMA’s Gallery Educators are creating starts from the idea that students learn best when they feel empowered to bring their own perspectives into the conversation.

For many students, this kind of experience is entirely new. A visit to UMMA gives them an opportunity to look at the world in a new light and be given the space to speak, question, and connect. “I continue to delight in how artworks provide endless possibilities for transforming our thinking,” said Elise Nanos, UMMA Gallery Educator. “It never gets old seeing preschoolers have this much fun at an art museum!”

This fall, UMMA is extending this impact even further with the launch of a new course at the U-M Marsal Family School of Education. Creating Arts Access in Community (EDUC 308) is designed to prepare undergraduate students to work as teaching artists in schools, museums, and community settings. The course will be co-taught by VanderVliet and Katie Robertson, Lecturer IV in Teacher Education, and Victoria Shaw, Detroit Schools Partnership Lead at the Marsal Family School of Education. The course builds directly on the practices developed through UMMA’s Gallery Educator program and will combine observation, hands-on teaching, and a practicum with public audiences.

Through these programs, UMMA is building a model of teaching that gains momentum with each new student, each new educator, and each new idea set in motion.

Toot toot!

See you at the next stop!