Classroom Connections

Summer Institutes: Teaching the Humanities through Art
June 24-27, 2024 or July 22-25, 2024

Refresh your practice with four days at SAAM this summer! Join educators from across the country for an immersive exploration of arts integration and bring home additional practical teaching strategies for your humanities classroom.

SAAM Is Recruiting Volunteer Docents
Information Session: April 27, 2024 at 12:30 p.m.

Do you have an interest in American art, culture, and history? Do you enjoy working with the public? SAAM and its contemporary craft branch, the Renwick Gallery, is recruiting volunteer docents to lead visitor tours. Our docents work with visitors of all ages, including students. Additional dates are forthcoming; for more information, please email Geoffrey Cohrs at cohrsg@si.edu.

LOCAL OFFERINGS

Cherry Blossom Family Celebration
March 23, 11:30 a.m.–3 p.m.

Smithsonian American Art Museum
8th and G Streets NW 
Kogod Courtyard
Free | Registration encouraged

Celebrate the season of cherry blossoms with SAAM! Begin the day on the F Street Plaza (weather permitting) with a taiko drumming performance by Nen Daiko. The program continues inside in the Kogod Courtyard for Japanese pop, boogie, and more with Les The DJ. Be dazzled by the precision jump rope team, Kangaroo Kids. 

Children 12 and younger can enjoy cherry-blossom themed crafts and face painting. Treat yourself with tasty offerings for purchase from the Courtyard Café. A spring-themed scavenger hunt through SAAM’s galleries extends the cherry blossom fun. 

This program is part of the 2024 National Cherry Blossom Festival. 

Earth Day Family Day
April 20, 11:30 a.m.–3 p.m.

Smithsonian American Art Museum
8th and G Streets NW 
Kogod Courtyard
Free | Registration encouraged

Join SAAM and the National Portrait Gallery to celebrate Earth Day! Enjoy musical performances from Bash the Trash and other acts to learn how art and science can help protect the earth. Attendees can also enjoy nature-themed crafts and coloring pages as well as face painting for those ages 12 and under. A scavenger hunt in the galleries features works in both museums’ collections that highlight the natural wonders of earth and the various ways artists contribute to the care of our planet.

Meet Alexia Lobaina
Museum Interpretation Specialist at SAAM

What is your job?  
I apply learning and social theories to developing museum exhibitions, creating tools and learning opportunities for visitors to forge personal connections and unpack big ideas about art.  

What kind of training is needed to do your job?  
My job is best suited to those with a graduate level degree in museum education, art education, sociology, or educational psychology. A background in art, art history, history, cultural studies or material studies is also helpful.  
 
What skills do you use most often?  
Research, project management, evaluation, and sharp interpersonal skills.  

What’s something that hassurprised you about working in museums?  
There are many administrative responsibilities...time management becomes essential to create efficient pockets of quiet time to accomplish research.  
 
What’s something you’re most proud to have done?  
I am most proud of the community programs I have developed over my career. To see the moment someone finds a place for themselves at a museum or has a catalytic experience while connecting with an idea or artwork makes the work worthwhile. 

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