In-person and online learning opportunities for educators

Summer Learning Opportunities

National Education Summit 2025 banner with link to website.

Smithsonian National Education Summit
Tuesday, July 15–Thursday, July 17

Washington D.C. and online
Free | Registration required

Save the date for the 2025 National Education Summit. This year’s theme, Together We Thrive: One Nation, Indivisible, explores how pivotal moments in history continue to shape our present and future.

Each track features free online webinars led by museum experts, educators, and invited partners as well as in-person skill-building workshops and deep-dive discussions at the Smithsonian. No matter how you participate, you'll gain classroom-ready ideas and valuable insights to take back to your school or organization.

Sessions will support four Summit tracks:

Dialogues Across Past, Present, and Future
Many Voices, One Nation
Power of Place
Transformative Teaching Tools

SAAM Teacher Convenings
Tuesday, July 29 and Thursday, July 31

Join SAAM this summer for two rich learning experiences! We invite teachers of all disciplines to engage with SAAM educators, curators, and artists to learn new ways to enhance student learning through American art. We are offering two professional development days—one in person and a second online—that complement each other but can be attended as stand-alone sessions. Attend one or the other, or both! The first session will take place in person in the museum and the second session will take place virtually.

Teachers looking at an artwork through rolls of paper with a link to register..

In-Person Teacher Convening: Exploring Power and Belonging
Tuesday, July 29, 9 a.m.

Smithsonian American Art Museum
Meet in G Street Lobby
$25 | Registration required

How can art be a tool for exploring power and fostering belonging in the classroom? Join educators and curators from the Smithsonian American Art Museum for a special convening inspired by two exhibitions: Pictures of Belonging: Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi, and Miné Okubo and The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture. We’ll explore the galleries before they open to the public, then model interdisciplinary strategies that build inquiry and critical thinking skills through art, and exchange ideas for classroom application.

This program is geared toward middle and high school teachers.

Your non-refundable registration fee of $25 includes breakfast, lunch, and take-home resources.

Glenn Kaino's "Bridge" with a link to register.

Virtual Teacher Convening: Exploring Power and Belonging
Thursday, July 31, 1 p.m. ET

Online
Free | Registration required

How can art be a tool for exploring power and fostering belonging in the classroom? Join educators and curators from the Smithsonian American Art Museum for a special virtual convening inspired by two exhibitions: Pictures of Belonging: Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi, and Miné Okubo and The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture. The program will feature a keynote with artist Sonya Clark, whose work is featured in The Shape of Power exhibition.

Panel discussions and interactive sessions will explore how art has been used throughout American history to both reinforce and disrupt power structures, and as an expression of creative freedom, resilience, and belonging.

This program is geared toward middle and high school teachers.

Image Credits: Photo by Mary Tait

Installation photography of Glenn Kaino: Bridge, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2024; Photo by Lucia RM Martino and Tucker Garrison