City of Springfield (Springfield Art Museum)

The Springfield Art Museum will collaborate with the Missouri Job Center and Springfield Public Schools to create and evaluate the Art@Work program for fourth graders. Art@Work is intended to provide valuable information to the museum field, arts organizations, educators, and workforce professionals regarding the role that museums and arts organizations might play in workforce preparation. The project will develop a curriculum through a collaborative process that includes the classroom teacher, the museum educator, and the workforce development specialist. Classroom activities, followed by fieldtrips to the museum, the job center, and other sites, will lead students through exercises designed to cultivate communication and organizational skills, as well as skills related to conflict resolution and teamwork. Intended outcomes include the development of workforce skills in elementary schools and the identification of strategies for partnerships between art museums and workforce preparation organizations.