$7,500 to go to student-centered tour experiences
OKLAHOMA CITY (November 1, 2023) – The Oklahoma City Museum of Art (OKCMOA) is pleased to announce that it received a $7,500 grant from Oklahoma Humanities. The grant will be used to assist in funding student-centered tour experiences, which will allow OKCMOA to provide virtual and in-person field trips to a wider population of students.
“We are very pleased to receive this grant in order to continue supporting our school programs,” said President and CEO Michael Anderson, PhD. “Being able to share our permanent collection and our special exhibitions with students is foundational to who we are as a museum.”
School tours take place throughout the school year and are led by Museum educators and volunteer tour guides, known as docents, who have been trained to engage and educate students with real-world connections and high-level questioning. The Oklahoma Humanities grant will go toward teacher materials, reimbursements for schools, translation services for Spanish-language materials, and distance learning software.
In addition to offering free admission to children 17 and under, regardless of whether they are with a school tour, OKCMOA has other programs that make art education more accessible. The Yellow Bus Brigade program, for example, which began in 2007, provides free admission for teachers and chaperones on tours. An important component of this program, which this grant will support, is that it also offers transportation and substitute teacher reimbursement to reduce and even eliminate financial barriers for schools.
Virtual field trips, proving themselves necessary and meaningful post-pandemic, will also benefit from this grant. Virtual field trips, which are accompanied by pre- and post-visit materials, take the lessons beyond the sessions, encourage multiple visits and strengthen the connection between the Museum and educators across the state, particularly in rural areas. The technology used for these tours even allows students to see art in greater detail than they would be able to in person. Virtual field trips can be built around any subject, including math, history, and language arts.
“In addition to a variety of sessions built around the permanent collection, Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight tours will also be available soon,” said Bryon Chambers, head of education. “Exhibitions like this enable us to engage students with perspectives in not only visual arts and art history but society and culture more broadly.”
For more information on school tours, please visit okcmoa.com/learn or contact OKCMOA educator Tori Waldron at twaldron@okcmoa.com.
Funding for these programs is provided in part by a grant from Oklahoma Humanities (OH) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
About Oklahoma Humanities
Oklahoma Humanities (OH) is an independent, nonprofit organization whose mission is to strengthen communities by helping Oklahomans learn about the human experience, understanding new perspectives, and participate knowledgeably in civic life through humanities disciplines such as history, literature, film studies, art criticism, and philosophy. As the state partner for the National Endowment for the Humanities, OH provides a free educational magazine, Smithsonian Institution exhibits, reading and discussion groups, and other cultural opportunities for Oklahomans of all ages. OH engages people in their own communities, stimulating discussion and helping them explore the wider world of human experience.
