Art21 is very excited to report that this summer marks the 10th year of the Art21 Educators program. In 2009 we hosted our first Summer Institute and the community has been growing ever since, doing important work inside and outside of traditional classrooms. Teachers across disciplines and from diverse geographic locations throughout North America have participated in our year-long professional development initiative. Over 100 teachers have worked with colleagues and Art21 staff over these past ten years to challenge themselves, take productive risks, and engage with Art21 artists to learn more about utilizing contemporary art to teach about big ideas and the important questions facing us today.

This year we’re proud to welcome eleven new Art21 Educators to our Year 8 cohort. They include:

Miranda Best, Paul D. Schreiber High School, Sea Cliff, NY

Rebecca Brown, Kensington Woods Schools, Wixom, MI

Jonathan Dueck, Isaac Brock School, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Megan Hancock, Denison Museum, Granville, OH

Daniel Mendel, Avenues: The World School, Brooklyn NY

Ariana Mygatt, Parkville High School, Baltimore, MD

Samara Paleczny, Widdifield Secondary School, North Bay, Ontario

Ben Pawlowski, BASIS Tucson Primary, Tucson, AZ

Emily Relf, American International School – Riyadh, Westford, MA

Ashley Rowland, Brecksville Broadview Heights High School, Cleveland Heights, OH

Steven Speciale, Loyola High School, Los Angeles, CA

The Art21 Educators Summer Institute will take place from July 6–11 at the New York Public Library. And while we have been hosted by amazing institutions in the past, such as the Joan Mitchell Foundation and the Whitney Museum of American Art, we are particularly excited about working at NYPL this year since our focus emphasizes the educator as researcher. Teachers in attendance—both the new cohort and program alumni—will be able to utilize both the librarians’ knowledge and the library’s vast collection to explore critical research questions that will impact their classroom teaching during the 2018–2019 school year. We’re looking forward to seeing new and familiar faces this summer!