Art Resources in Teaching (A.R.T.) partners with several prominent arts and cultural institutions in Chicago, and beyond, to provide integrated learning opportunities for Chicago’s K-8 students. By working with these partner institutions, A.R.T. is able to expand upon the rich artistic experience every student receives in their classroom from a professional A.R.T. Artist. A.R.T. works closely with museum educators, curators, anthropologists and archaeologists, and museum docents at many area institutions to create a unique learning opportunity for students through field trips and specialized tours.

The expanded nature of most of these collaborative residencies – more in-class sessions, the addition of field trips, and chances for professional development among educators – allows A.R.T. to offer these programs through a special granting process held annually. Furthermore, A.R.T. also offers long-term (16-session) residencies at select schools with the assistance of our generous funders. These residencies allow for unique partnerships to be cultivated between classrooms and an artist and are tailored towards the needs of the school and the individual artist’s strengths.

For more information on each of A.R.T.’s partners, please visit their respective websites. Recent funding for A.R.T.’s 16-session residencies have come from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Polk Brothers Foundation.

THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
A.R.T. and The Art Institute, partners since 1987, collaboratively plan residencies (such as the Art Partners and American Art Partners program) using the resources of the Art Institute’s slide library and museum, and through joint teacher professional development in the museum’s Teacher Resource Center. Participating classroom teachers receive a comprehensive manual on the exhibit they view during field trips, including images and suggested activities to continue fostering arts-integration strategies in their classrooms.

CROW CANYON ARCHAEOLOGICAL CENTER IN CORTEZ, CO. and
THE FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
The lives of Ancestral Puebloan people become real as students examine the art and archaeology of Native Americans from the Southwest region of the United States. This partnership with the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center (located near Mesa Verde National Park in the southwest corner of Colorado) and the Field Museum of Natural History provides students with exclusive opportunities in learning more about these ancient people, and teaching kits that allow students the chance to handle 800-year-old artifacts from the Four-Corners region.

PROJECT MERCY and LOYOLA UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF ART
One of A.R.T.’s newest partners, Project Mercy, a free-of-charge school located outside of Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa, were host to a unique relationship that saw A.R.T. provide arts education to its more than 600 students in the summer of 2007. Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA) has sponsored a unique residency that expands on the curriculum designed from that two-week trip to Project Mercy, providing students with a local museum experience to better understand the nature and themes of Ethiopian Art.

TERRA FOUNDATION FOR AMERICAN ART
The Terra Foundation has supported the A.R.T. Summer Institute in American Art since 2006. A five-day intensive workshop designed specifically for classroom teachers, the Institute aims to expand the teachers awareness of American Art and the abundant learning opportunites found therein for students across all academic areas.

AFTER SCHOOL MATTERS
A.R.T. and After School Matters (formerly Gallery 37) have been partners since the 1990s in intensive, advanced-apprentice summertime programs for teens of Chicago. Past projects have included textiles, mixed-media, murals (which appear in both public – Sheridan Red Line station – and private facilities) and painting programs.

INNER-CITY TEACHING CORPS
ICTC is a Chicago-based organization that works with recent college graduates who choose to perform communtiy service through teaching at inner-city Catholic Schools. A.R.T. conducts residencies at four of the ICTC schools each year and has provided special professional development for these new teachers.