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Education

Teens Discuss Michelle Erickson’s Texas Tea Party

Michelle Erickson, Texas Tea Party, 2005. Chipstone Foundation, Photo by Gavin Ashworth.
Michelle Erickson, Texas Tea Party, 2005. Chipstone Foundation, Photo by Gavin Ashworth.
Detail of Michelle Erickson, Texas Tea Party, 2005. Chipstone Foundation, Photo by Chelsea Emelie Kelly.

At the end of February, teens in the Satellite High School Program gathered around Michelle Erickson’s Texas Tea Party (2005). They’ll study this object for the whole semester, using different methods of looking to form their own interpretations. For their first session, we spent one full hour looking closely at the work and having an open-ended dialogue about what we saw, the artist’s intent, and what it all might mean.

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Behind the Scenes Education

Meet Jesús: Artist, Teen Program Alum, and Scholastic Award Winner

Jesus Hilario at the 2013 ArtXpress opening reception. Photo by Front Room Photography
Jesus Hilario at the 2013 ArtXpress opening reception. Photo by Front Room Photography
Jesus Hilario at the 2013 ArtXpress opening reception. Photo by Front Room Photography

The Museum has offered teen programs that change the lives of young people for over thirty years. I’m thrilled to feature an interview with one program alum, Jesús Hilario, who is a senior in high school at Rufus King High School in Milwaukee. Jesús was an intern in the Museum’s ArtXpress high school program in 2013, and is a recent multi-award winner for the national Scholastic Art Awards, on view at the Museum through March 22. ArtXpress is a summer studio internship program for teens, who take inspiration from the Museum’s feature exhibition to create a mural that positively addresses a community issue and is displayed for a year as an advertisement on a Milwaukee County public bus. The Scholastic Art Awards is a national program that has encouraged the artistic endeavors of young people throughout the United States for over eighty-five years.

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Behind the Scenes Education

Milwaukee Art Museum Launches its First Online Course

Museum staff members Laci and Nate participate in the “Object Story” activity.

I’m thrilled to share that the Museum launched its first online course this month! Hangout with Art is a completely free MOOC (massive open online course) whose goal is to help participants find new ways to engage with art and get more comfortable visiting museums. The course went live earlier this month and I thought this might be a good moment to share more about the MOOC here on our blog.

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Behind the Scenes Education

Teens on Museums, Relevancy, and Community: Part 4

Group hug. Photo by Front Room Photography

It’s my pleasure to share the work of the teen interns in this semester’s Satellite High School Program. Fifteen students from all around Milwaukee spent a semester exploring and discussing art, touring elementary school students, going behind the scenes, speaking to staff, and learning about career skills. Then, the teens created final projects expressing how art can be made relevant to our lives today and how the Milwaukee Art Museum can be an icon for the city, inside and out. This post, part 4 of 4, showcases the work of these students in their own words.

The final group of students created works out of many different kinds of media for their final projects.

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Behind the Scenes Education

Teens on Museums, Relevancy, and Community: Part 3

A view of the final celebration in progress. Photo by Front Room Photography

It’s my pleasure to share the work of the teen interns in this semester’s Satellite High School Program. Fifteen students from all around Milwaukee spent a semester exploring and discussing art, touring elementary school students, going behind the scenes, speaking to staff, and learning about career skills. Then, the teens created final projects expressing how art can be made relevant to our lives today and how the Milwaukee Art Museum can be an icon for the city, inside and out. This post, part 3 of 4, showcases the work of these students in their own words.

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Behind the Scenes Education

Teens on Museums, Relevancy, and Community: Part 2

A view of the final celebration in progress. Photo by Front Room Photography

It’s my pleasure to share the work of the teen interns in this semesterrsquo;s Satellite High School Program. Fifteen students from all around Milwaukee spent a semester exploring and discussing art, touring elementary school students, going behind the scenes, speaking to staff, and learning about career skills. Then, the teens created final projects expressing how art can be made relevant to our lives today and how the Milwaukee Art Museum can be an icon for the city, inside and out. This post, part 2 of 4, showcases the work of these students in their own words.

Categories
Behind the Scenes Education

Teens on Museums, Relevancy, and Community: Part 1

The Satellite High School Program interns, Fall 2014. Photo by Front Room Photography

It’s my pleasure to share the work of the teen interns in this semester’s Satellite High School Program. Fifteen students from all around Milwaukee spent a semester exploring and discussing art, touring elementary school students, going behind the scenes, speaking to staff, and learning about career skills. Then, the teens created final projects expressing how art can be made relevant to our lives today and how the Milwaukee Art Museum can be an icon for the city, inside and out. This post, part 1 of 4, showcases the work of these students in their own words.

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Behind the Scenes Education

Reflections of an Intern: Skills for the Future

Melissa chats with her professor, Dr. Jodi Eastberg, at the Alverno Internship Poster Session. Photo by Chelsea Kelly
Melissa chats with her professor, Dr. Jodi Eastberg, at the Alverno Internship Poster Session. Photo by Chelsea Kelly
This past semester, I had the privilege of working with Chelsea Kelly, the Manager of Digital Learning, on the upcoming MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) and with Janet Gourley- the Education Department Administrator on different administrative tasks. Between working with my two mentors, I have acquired new skills, understandings and techniques. I did not realize when I started working here how much this would influence my future. Before this internship, I was scared that while my academic career was strong, I did not have a lot of professional work under my belt. Now, I feel so ready for what will come next. This internship has prepared me for office work life, and I was able to feel the satisfaction of seeing a professional project go from a rough draft to a huge accomplishment.

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Behind the Scenes Education

Reflections of an Intern: Teens at the Museum

Jonathan, Jen, and Nhyji consider a painting in Of Heaven and Earth. Photo by Chelsea Emelie Kelly
Jonathan, Jen, and Nhyji consider a painting in Of Heaven and Earth. Photo by Chelsea Emelie Kelly
I’m very grateful to have been a part of the Satellite High School Program here at the Milwaukee Art Museum as a college intern. Under the direction of Chelsea Kelly, Manager of Digital Learning, I participated in object studies, museum tours, and numerous discussions with a diverse and talented group of high school juniors and seniors from schools in the Milwaukee area. Throughout the duration of this weekly program, I’ve shared laughs, exchanged ideas, composed hip hop music, and viewed countless works of art with these capable and intelligent young artists. In the short four months since the beginning of Satellite, I’ve seen each student grow on an individual basis as an artist, each with a unique and distinct creative voice that enriches the museum community, which in turn serves as a reminder of the vital importance of programs such as these.

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Behind the Scenes Education Museum Store

ArtXpress: The Mural Lives On!

Documenting the ArtXpress installation. Photo by Front Room Photography

Sometimes I’m amazed at how a program can continue to live on, long after it’s finished—and how wonderfully collaborative staff here at the Museum can be!