NOMA | New Orleans Museum of Art

The youngest members of our community are the most precious, and investing in early childhood education is an important step we can take to ensure their success.

More and more studies reveal that educational experiences in the early years of a child’s life can have wide-ranging impacts on how that child performs in school, and interacts with peers and in society in general.

Arts education has its own long-term effects on children; it generates creative and critical thinking skills, teaches children how to solve problems, and encourages self-assurance and discipline.

At the New Orleans Museum of Art we have seized an opportunity to take advantage of New Orleans’ unique position at the center of education reform in this country. As a city, we are exploring new strategies, designing new schools, and new teaching methods. And it is working. The December 17, 2012 issue of The Daily Beast/Newsweek commends Mayor Landrieu and the city of New Orleans for their commitment to leadership in education reform and innovation. NOMA has responded to this challenge and transformation by exploring new learning opportunities for our children.

NOMA’s focus: the introduction of arts education into our children’s lives as early as possible. The development of these skills makes a difference in how our children experience the world and readies them to learn more effectively – engaging various types of intelligence and learning styles.

To address this opportunity in early childhood education, I’m pleased to announce that NOMA, the Bayou District Foundation, Educare/Kingsley House, and the Tulane University Teacher Preparation & Certification Program are developing a new teaching and learning initiative. Mini Masters, our partnership for children ages three and four, aims to use early learning arts integration as a means to equip children with the social and intellectual skills necessary for a lifetime of learning. Teachers will be specifically trained to integrate NOMA’s permanent collection into their lesson plans, and will expose students to developmentally appropriate visual art experiences, both in their classroom and at NOMA. Ideally, this approach will increase students’ potential for academic achievement and emotional development.

At NOMA we believe that younger children are more than ready for a museum experience. Mini Masters, unlike other museum education programs, will be directed at children at the Pre-K level. They are eager and enthusiastic. Their responses are genuine and unfiltered. Looking at abstraction is an opportunity for them to dream, imagine and create. Color, line and shape have boundless possibilities. I have no doubt that the children’s unique perspectives can also lead to a renewed approach to education at our museum and others.

I am thrilled to witness the effects of Mini Masters on the lives of children and educators in New Orleans. The pilot program has begun, its implications are evident, and we are carefully monitoring progress along the way. Through this initiative, we can further expand children’s ways of thinking and interacting, and help to prepare them for the milestones ahead.

Sincerely,

Susan M. Taylor