MoNA LINK

Educating, honoring and inspiring students and their teachers through art.

The MoNA Link Program was conceived by the Museum of Northwest Art and the Anacortes and La Conner School Districts in 2003.  The program was originally funded as a three-year pilot project by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), a federal agency.  The program has evolved significantly since its inception. 

The MoNA Link Program is a collaborative partnership between the Museum of Northwest Art (MoNA) and seven local school districts (Anacortes, Burlington-Edison, Concrete, La Conner, Mount Vernon, and Stanwood-Camano).  It provides intensive visual arts education (multiple museum visits and standards-based, hands-on lessons) to elementary school children in Skagit and Snohomish.

A primary and unique feature of MoNA Link is our two-year professional training program for teachers.  In the first year, teachers gain basic knowledge and skills in the visual arts.  In the second year, they solidify their understanding through supervised practice and mentoring by MoNA art educators.  A primary goal is to build increased and ongoing capacity in our regional school districts to teach the visual arts.

Teachers in their first year attend the Summer Institute at MoNA.  At this five-day Summer Institute, teachers learn Northwest art history, experience tours of Museum exhibitions, learn about Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), complete hands-on art projects, including three-dimensional works, meet local artists and visit their studios“ basically they are immersed in passion for and strategies for teaching the visual arts.

Regional artists and art experts are hired to supplement our education staff.  Past experts have included Barbara Brotherton, Seattle Art Museum Curator of Native American Art, and Kevin Paul, a master carver from the local Swinomish Tribal Community.

During the school year, teachers collaborate with the art educators to develop lesson plans designed to meet the Washington State Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALRs).  In the second year, teachers are observed and mentored as they implement their own lesson plans and tour their students through the Museum.  In group teacher meetings, they work together to create and critique lesson plans.

Children visit MoNA three times each year and see a total of nine new exhibits.  They experience feature exhibits by master artists, exhibits by glass artists in the Benaroya Glass Gallery, and works from the Permanent Collection.  Multiple visits and art activities are key to MoNA Link”students become comfortable Museum visitors and astute viewers of art. 

Children are led by volunteer tour leaders trained in Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS).  VTS is based on discussion inquiry methods of viewing art.  VTS develops critical thinking and communication skills, meeting Washington State Learning Goal #3.  Museum visits also include hands-on art making, sometimes including writing assignments, providing a diverse arts experience.

MoNA's exhibitions are a cornerstone to this program.  Future exhibits include "Act 2: The Next Track," a group showof kilnformed glass created during two summer residencies at Pilchuck Glass School by artists in the second stage of their careers; "James B. Thompson: The Vanishing Landscape," a one-person exhibition of paintings and prints that explore the transformation of the rural western United States; and "Jay Steensma: From the Permanent Collection," who is known for his stark landscapes with isolated houses or figures, and his iconic imagery.

Each year ten new teachers from the partner districts and their classrooms are selected to participate. If you are interested in applying or finding out more about MoNA Link, contact christinews@museumofnwart.org.