Exhibition at the U.S. Department of Education Spotlights Work Created in Innovative Educational Programs Highlighting 21st-Century Skills
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (April 13, 2015)—The Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD), in partnership with the United States Department of Education in Washington, D.C., presents the exhibition Museums: pARTners in Learning 2015, on view in Washington from May 6 through June 30, 2015. The third exhibition in this collaborative initiative with AAMD, Museums: pARTners in Learning 2015 features artwork created by students participating in innovative educational programming at AAMD member museums offered in partnership with local schools. This year, the exhibition highlights programs organized by 16 museums from across the United States, including the Frist Center for the Visual Arts’ exhibition Stop. Take Notice!, and spotlights a wide range of cross-curricular initiatives that seek to develop students’ transferable skills both inside and outside of the classroom.
Stop. Take Notice! is a three-part project that concentrates on community issues while offering teens’ insight into art’s role in promoting positive social change and raising public awareness. The first component of the project was inspired by a 2012 workshop in which artist Carrie Mae Weems encouraged local teen artists to speak out on issues in the community that mattered to them. The workshop resulted in four interactive artworks and the following year, these artworks were re-created for an exhibition at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts.
In December 2013, Hume-Fogg student Elena Zamora—a member of the initial Stop. Take Notice! Project—was tragically struck by a vehicle and killed while walking in a crosswalk close to the high school. In the following months, Hume-Fogg High School students raised awareness about driver and pedestrian safety through collaborative art making in several downtown intersections, which can be seen through the photographs in this exhibition. These artworks were created by friends, teachers, and classmates of Ms. Zamora. This pedestrian safety awareness campaign aimed to “make drivers and walkers think before acting” attracted local media attention, as well as many visitors to the website http://www.stoptakenotice.com, which was created by the students.
“After the vehicular tragedy, the Hume-Fogg students embraced the title of their original exhibition and mobilized to create, engage, inform and inspire,” says Frist Center Executive Director and CEO Dr. Susan H. Edwards. “Their efforts created public dialogue and reminded an entire community to stop and take notice when crossing a street or driving through an intersection. We at the Frist Center are honored to have been selected to participate in the Museums: pARTners in Learning exhibition 2015.”
The partners for the first two components of the project were Martha O’Bryan Center’s Top Floor Program with Stratford High School; YMCA Latino Achievers with Cane Ridge High School; Oasis Center with Cameron Middle School students; and Nashville Public Library Main Branch with Hume-Fogg Magnet High School students. The third part of the project was a pedestrian awareness campaign initiated by students from Hume-Fogg Magnet High School.
Educators involved in the project were Chris Cheney, teaching artist; Michael Lapinski, teaching artist; Laura Wallace, teaching artist; Elizabeth Smith, English teacher, Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet High School; Laura Louis, English teacher, Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet High School; Keri Jhaveri, youth and family educator at the Frist Center; Rosemary Brunton, associate educator for community engagement; and Shaun Giles, educator for community engagement.
On view at the U.S. Department of Education, Museums: pARTners in Learning 2015 celebrates new developments in arts education that foster such “21st-century skills” as creativity, innovation, critical thinking, problem solving, communication, cultural awareness and collaboration. The exhibition showcases the remarkable achievements of K–12 students across the country, and underscores the wide range of interdisciplinary skills students can acquire through arts education, as well as how direct engagement with the arts supports student learning and personal growth.
“Museums are an invaluable resource in complementing our schools’ curricula by offering access to cultural content and fostering the creativity and innovation young people need to be successful in the 21st century,” said Chris Anagnos, executive director of AAMD. “We are so pleased that the Frist Center is participating in Museums: pARTners in Learning 2015, and is dedicated to strengthening students’ core skills through educational programming that promotes learning, engagement, and creativity in Nashville. We are excited to partner with the Department of Education once again to tell the story of how schools and museums are working together to enrich the quality of education in new ways.”
AAMD’s 242 members serve more than 40,000 public, private, charter, and home schools a year, with programs ranging from single-visit tours to intensive, long-term partnerships that include shared teaching, curriculum design, assessment, and professional development. Museums often pay for students’ transportation, especially those at high-need schools, and offer professional development for teachers, programs for students with special needs, and college preparedness for high school students. All AAMD museums place education at the core of their mission. Further information about the exhibition is available at http://www.aamd.org/partnersinlearning.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Student Art Exhibit Program, now in its 12th year, produces seven exhibitions each year. Members of the public who would like to visit Museums: pARTners in Learning 2015, please contact Jackye Zimmermann (”
Ellen Jones Pryor: 615.243.1311, ”
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About the Frist Center
Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit art exhibition center dedicated to presenting and originating high-quality exhibitions with related educational programs and community outreach activities. Located at 919 Broadway in downtown Nashville, Tenn., the Frist Center offers the finest visual art from local, regional, national, and international sources in a program of changing exhibitions that inspire people through art to look at their world in new ways. The Frist Center’s Martin ArtQuest Gallery features interactive stations relating to Frist Center exhibitions. Information on accessibility may be found at fristcenter.org/accessibility. Gallery admission is free for visitors 18 and younger and to members; $12 for adults; $9 for seniors and college students with ID; and $7 for active military. College students are admitted free Thursday and Friday evenings (with the exception of Frist Fridays), 5:00–9:00 p.m. Discounts are offered for groups of 10 or more with advance reservations by calling 615.744.3247. The galleries, Café, and Gift Shop are open seven days a week: Mondays through Wednesdays, and Saturdays, 10:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; Thursdays and Fridays, 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.; and Sundays, 1:00–5:30 p.m., with the Café opening at noon. Additional information is available by calling 615.244.3340 or by visiting fristcenter.org.
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