Teacher Workshops
Designed for small groups, in-depth teacher workshops introduce new ways of thinking about the curriculum and innovative teaching approaches through the exploration of the museum’s art collections and exhibitions. Workshops are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Each participant receives an illustrated teacher packet and certificate of participation. Lunch is provided. Unless otherwise noted, registration is $35 for MFAH Members, $40 for nonmembers. Most workshops are approved by the Texas Association of Gifted and Talented. To register by mail, click here to download a registration form. To register online, click below.
For more information, call 713.639.7590, e-mail schools@mfah.org or sign up for e-mail updates.
Fall 2012 Workshops
• Saturday, September 22 "Just for Art Teachers—ME: Exploring Portraiture"
• Saturday, November 17 "Visual Expressions: Illustrating Prose"
• Saturday, December 1 WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath
($45 MFAH Members, $50 nonmembers)
Spring 2013 Workshops
• Saturday, January 12 Portrait of Spain: Masterpieces from the Prado
• Saturday, March 2 Picasso Black and White SOLD OUT
• Saturday, April 13 "Architecture, Art, and Folded Paper"
Spring 2013 Workshops
• Saturday, February 2 Learning Through Art at the MFAH—Beyond the Canvas: Elementary
• Saturday, March 2 Learning Through Art at the MFAH—Go Global: Elementary
• Saturday, April 27 Learning Through Art at the MFAH—Decoding Art Mysteries: Elementary
Summer 2013 Workshops
• Wednesday, June 12 Learning Through Art at the MFAH—19th Century Art in the 21st Century Classroom / Click here to register online.
LTA/MFAH Workshops for Teachers
Learning Through Art at the MFAH (LTA/MFAH) connects the museum´s collections of world art into the classroom curriculum for art, language arts, math, science, and social studies. Through discussions in the museum´s galleries and hands-on art projects using everyday materials, LTA/MFAH elementary-level teacher training introduces TEKS and STAAR-aligned lessons that use the visual arts to teach students how to think critically and creatively as well as encourage self-confident, self-motivated and self-disciplined learners. LTA/MFAH bridges disciplines and curriculums to enable students to explore key concepts in the real world context of the art museum while teaching literacy and writing skills, math, science, and social studies. Use the Museum’s elementary curriculum, Learning Through Art at the MFAH, to integrate higher level cognitive skills, such as observing and organizing information, making predictions and communicating ideas and thoughts with art inquiry methods to ultimately promote the students’ development of 21st-century skills that are needed to succeed in the world.
Lunch and a certificate of participation for 6 hours of SBEC and G/T approved professional development are provided at all "LTA/MFAH" teacher workshops. Registration is $35 for MFAH Members and $40 for nonmembers. Preregistration is required.
Click here for a list of LTA/MFAH workshops available for your school/district. Workshops can be customized to address specific content areas, STAAR, etc. To discuss your needs, contact resource@mfah.org or 713.639.7588.
Summer Mini-Conference for Teachers
Tuesday & Wednesday, July 30 & 31, 2013
Cosponsored by the MFAH and the
Texas Art Education Association (TAEA)
At this annual two-day event, artists and art educators present multiple sessions on art-making, art history, and art education. Each session is based on works of art from the MFAH collections and includes a studio component, held at the museum's Glassell School of Art. Session topics include ceramics, drawing in the galleries, painting, jewelry making, printmaking, and more. Registration for each session occurs on-site on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 8:30 a.m. each day. Multiple workshops are repeated both days, with the opportunity to attend two 2½-hour workshop sessions per conference day.
Please check back for a list of available topics.
Registration is $50 per day. Fee includes materials, lunch, and a certificate of participation for 7 SBEC hours/ day. Educators may register for one or both days. Click here to register for Tuesday. Click here to register for Wednesday.
Summer Institute for Middle School Teachers
July 9 & 10, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. each day
The MFAH invites middle school teachers to be a part of the final stages of developing Learning Through Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Middle School, a new way of thinking about curriculum and professional development in the art museum. Join us this summer to explore and practice innovative methods to connect art at the MFAH with teaching and learning.
The Institute will emphasize revealing and strengthening habits of mind that lead to success in the classroom and beyond. Since few instructors teach perception, studying it as a group gives all participants experience as learners, and demonstrates the power of inquiry-based instruction in building new knowledge. Our focus will not be on how art can illustrate the concepts of other disciplines, but instead we ask: how can investigating works of art affect habits of mind, metacognition, and how, rather than what a student learns?
Invited participants will collaborate closely over a two-day period to share ideas, explore the latest research, and explore an innovative approach to middle school learning. Participants will become familiar with the MFAH permanent collections.
Application information:
Morning coffee, lunch, and a certificate of participation for 10 credit hours are provided. No fee required. Attendance is by application only.
Application requirements:
- Must be current middle school teacher (grade 6–8)
- An essay of no more than 500 words describing yourself and why you think innovation and the arts are important in education
- An updated resume
Applications are due by June 10. Selected participants will be notified by June 19.
Only e-mailed materials will be reviewed. Send materials by e-mail to resource@mfah.org
Summer Institute for STEM Teachers
July 16 & 17, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. each day
The MFAH is excited to announce a Summer Institute for STEM teachers. Research has proven that creativity and problem solving skills are critical components in a 21st century education. To foster innovation and economic progress, students today must develop creative, flexible thinking, and problem solving skills. Data has shown that an education in the arts is key in developing the risk-taking that spurs innovations needed to solve today´s most complex and critical challenges.
The goal of the Institute is explore how the arts intersect with science, technology, engineering, and math to create sophisticated thinkers in your classroom now and beyond. We will investigate how exploring a work of art can contribute to a student´s understanding of the sciences while also linking together principles from different disciplines through the arts.
We've got the arts covered and want to collaborate with science, technology, engineering, and math teachers! Help us transform STEM to STEAM at MFAH! Invited educators will explore STEM concepts through works for art in MFAH collection. Participants will collaborate across disciplines to uncover new territory at the art museum while exploring current research and practice.
Application information:
Morning coffee, lunch, and a certificate of participation for 10 credit hours are provided. No fee required. Attendance is by application only.
Application requirements:
- Must be current middle or high school teacher (grade 6–12) in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields
- An essay of no more than 500 words describing yourself and why do you value the transformation from STEM to STEAM
- An updated resume
Applications are due by June 17. Selected participants will be notified by June 26.
Only e-mailed materials will be reviewed. Send materials by e-mail to resource@mfah.org
The Summer Institutes are made possible are made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The Learning Through Art program at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, receives generous funding from The Boeing Company and the Chevron Corporation.
Teacher Workshops at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston receive generous funding from Texas Commission on the Arts.
All education programs at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, receive endowment income from funds provided by Caroline Wiess Law; the National Endowment for the Humanities; the William Randolph Hearst Foundation; the Fondren Foundation; BMC Software, Inc.; the Wallace Foundation; the Louise Jarrett Moran Bequest; the Neal Myers and Ken Black Children’s Art Fund; the Favrot Fund; and Gifts in honor of Beth Schneider.