Teacher Institute Summer 2009
Crosscurrents of American Art: 18th and 19th Centuries

Description | Application Process

Please note: At this time the Gallery is no longer accepting applications for the 2009 Teacher Institute. We will be repeating Crosscurrents of American Art: 18th and 19th Centuries in 2010. Please check back in January 2010 for updated information and program application.

Description

This seminar will explore American art of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, emphasizing the country's rich and diverse visual heritage. Instruction will focus on the Gallery's collection of American paintings, which are closely allied to European traditions of fine art.

Through lectures, gallery talks, discussion groups, and hands-on activities, participants will study portraiture, historical and commemorative art, scenes of everyday life, still-life, and landscape, including works from the uniquely American Hudson River school. John Singleton Copley, Benjamin West, Thomas Cole, George Catlin, Winslow Homer, and Augustus Saint-Gaudens are among the artists in the Gallery's collection whose work will be considered.

Supplementing the study of American paintings will be an examination of ceremonial and utilitarian art objects. Textiles, pottery, and furniture—including pieces created by enslaved and free Blacks—will highlight regional preferences in design and material, while performance of Native American stories will emphasize the importance of the oral tradition across tribal boundaries.

The seminar highlights the social and cultural context of art and demonstrates interdisciplinary teaching strategies. Participants will explore connections to literature and music and visit other local cultural institutions. Activities are designed to meet teachers' personal and professional enrichment needs.

Goals

By offering an opportunity to explore paintings and objects in the National Gallery and other collections, the Institute aims to:

• provide an introduction to American art and culture from the colonial period through the Civil War
  
  
• examine a range of subjects within their cultural context to discover how these social values, and ideals of the people creating them
  
  
• foster an understanding of painting as an artistic creation and of period techniques of fabrication
  
  
• introduce the various functions of American art: descriptive/documentary, didactic, metaphorical, and allegorical
  
  
• share models for incorporating art into interdisciplinary teaching and strengthening students' visual literacy
  
  

Program Sessions
Two six-day sessions will be held at the Gallery. Each session will accommodate 25 participants. Applicants should indicate their session preference and keep both weeks open until registration is finalized.

Applicants should plan to attend the entire program, which takes place Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Session 1: July 13–18, 2009
Session 2: July 27–August 1, 2009

Program Fees and Resources
The fee is $200 per person and covers the cost of instruction, books, and other program resources.

Selection Criteria
Participants will be selected through a rigorous application process. Selection will be based on an individual's or team's statement of purpose. Administrators (principals, supervisors, or curriculum specialists) will be given special consideration. To encourage national representation, efforts will be made to enroll candidates from each of the following five regions:

1. Northwest and Alaska
2. Southwest and Hawaii
3. Midwest
4. Northeast
5. Southeast

Fellowships
Fellowship opportunities for teachers (K-12, all subjects) are listed below. All fellowships offer stipends of $2,000 and fee-waived program enrollment. The stipend is intended to help defray program and travel expenses. Applicants must identify the sources of funding for which they wish to be considered (#7 on the application), meet the selection criteria for the program, and briefly explain the classroom outcomes they anticipate (#6 on the application). Selection of fellows will be based on merit rather than financial need. Consideration will focus on the individual's or team's statement of purpose (#5 on the application), the topic's connection to curriculum and/or students' needs, and anticipated teaching outcomes.

Educators of any discipline who are currently employed within a public, private, or parochial school system, K-12, are eligible for funding.

• Annetta J. and Robert M. Coffelt Sr. and Robert M. Coffelt Jr. Endowed Fellowship: Open to all K-12 educators who teach in the United States or its territories.

• Sara Shallenberger Brown Fund: Open to all K-12 educators who teach in Kentucky.

Successful fellowship candidates will be paid upon completion of the program and submission of a two-page report summarizing how they will apply Institute experience in daily teaching or administrative work.

Transportation and Housing
Participants will be responsible for their own transportation and housing. A list of housing options will be provided upon admission.

Credit Option
One hour of graduate credit is available through the School of Education, University of Virginia. Credit fees are $215 for Virginia residents and $325 for out-of-state residents and are payable to the university on the first day of the seminar. Three weeks after the program ends, those who register for credit must submit a written lesson plan that focuses on a work of art from the Gallery's collection. A letter grade, based on the curriculum model distributed by the Gallery, will be issued to the Institute student by the University of Virginia.

Acknowledgments
The 2009 Teacher Institute is supported by generous gifts from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, the Annetta J. and Robert M. Coffelt Sr. and Robert M. Coffelt Jr. Endowed Fellowship, and the Sara Shallenberger Brown Fund.

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