Education
SVMA is a passionate advocate for the vital role the arts play in developing students’ capacities for critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, creativity, and innovation.
Artwise School Visits
ArtWise Interactive Gallery Tours, which serve students in grades K-12, are approximately 1 hour and are facilitated by SVMA staff and volunteer Museum Guides.
ArtWise: Going Deeper programs, which serve students in Grades 2-5, are 2 hours and are facilitated by SVMA staff, teaching artists, and volunteer Museum Guides. Schools outside of SVUSD will be charged $5 per student if booking an ArtWise: Going Deeper tour with artmaking.
SVMA uses Visual Thinking Strategies in its ArtWise tour programs, an arts integration strategy that engages students in conversation about artworks while building critical thinking and language.
- ArtWise: Interactive Gallery Tours
Our highly interactive gallery tours meet California State Standards in English Language Arts and Visual Art. Tours are led by SVMA staff and Museum Guides. Tours engage students in discussion, small group activities, and opportunities for writing, drawing, speaking, and listening. In our tours, students demonstrate leadership, creative and critical thinking, and collaborate with their peers to make meaning from the works on display.
One hour (or less). Wednesdays and Fridays (primarily).
- ArtWise: Going Deeper
Students (Grades 2-5) explore museum galleries, then create a unique work of art in the Museum Art Studio.
Led by teaching artists, SVMA staff, and Museum Guides, this 2-hour program explores an aspect of the current exhibition in more depth through gallery activities as well as artmaking processes in our Museum Studio. Students take home their creations.
2 hours. Wednesdays and Fridays (primarily).
Reimagining Education through the Arts
Professional Development Program
Reimagining Education through the Arts (RēTA) is SVMA’s new teacher/leader professional development program, being implemented in collaboration with Sonoma Valley Unified School District (SVUSD), and Integrated Design for Education, the Arts and Leadership (IDEAL) Bay Area.
“Our aim with RēTA is to support SVUSD in fulfilling its changing needs around delivering instruction in the arts in the classroom, while also demonstrating new and creative ways the Museum site can serve as a significant resource for educators and students alike.”
—Margie Maynard, SVMA Deputy Director, Engagement & Exhibitions
Learn more about RēTA and find more resources by clicking the buttons below:
Closed Mon-Tues, major holidays and during exhibition installations.