“We just like to play. We choose complicated subjects we don’t completely understand and then try to make sense of them. And to do that you’ve got to have fun, you have to experiment, you’ve got to do mischief.”
Robert Krulwich, RadioLab
As educators it is our unique responsibility to create opportunities for youth to invent. We support their investigations with generative questions, quality materials and provocative resources. We validate their learning and encourage them to reflect on their own growth.
A learning lab for MSU Denver, all programs in the Young Artist Studio are led by art education students. Teaching apprentices lead explorations of themes and media addressed in exhibitions at the CVA. Teaching Apprentices apply contemporary teaching methods in a supportive environment with mentoring from professional artists and educators.
CVA Teaching Apprenticeship Curriculum
- Session 1 Discovery and Orientation
- Session 2 The Nature of Wondering and Asking
- Session 3 The Influence of Language
- Session 4 Flexible Scaffolding
- Session 5 Curiosity
- Session 6 Creative Communities
- Session 7 Exhibition and Critique
- Session 8 Reflection and Closure
TA InspirationProject Research and Teaching Resources
“We try to set up relationships between learners and a part of the larger world. We ask what they notice, what they make of what others say; we ask them on what grounds they think what they do, and whether they could say it more clearly; we make a hunch about what is behind what they say and check that hunch with them; we draw attention to seeming contradictions; we introduce new elements that we think may capture their interest in a different way.” – Eleanor Duckworth, Tell Me More
Graduates from our teaching apprenticeship program enter successfully into careers in schools, community and arts organizations with experience teaching from primary sources in a contemporary art gallery. MSU Denver students in Art Education interested in an apprenticeship should apply HERE.
“The strengths of the program are its atmosphere, staff, students, and opportunities. I am convinced that there are few, if any, places that are better to teach art than an art gallery. There’s new work in the gallery every few weeks, and students get the opportunity to meet artists and ask questions about their work. The CVA staff provides apprentices with mentors directly involved in the Denver community. Students that come to the program want to be there and want to create art. This creates a relaxed atmosphere in which all students have commonalities, their passion for art. Students are also provided with many opportunities including continual access to new art, interaction with artists and other art professionals, and making free art”. – 2012-14 Teaching Apprentice