by Monica Tsai
Staff writer
The Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art is introducing Project Preschool to better equip children with basic skills prior to entering the school system.
“The trend in museum work now is reaching out to the community to be more relevant,” said Allison Graff, director of education at JMoMA. “This program serves children during their most needy stage of development.”
“Modern art seems to be frightening for a lot of people,” added Lynne Swain, museum educator for the children’s ArtExplorium Loft at JMoMA. “If we start early making art accessible, relevant and understandable, we build a foundation.”
Art appreciation is not the sole purpose of the project. The concept is to use art-related resources to fortify social, language and developmental skills necessary in order to benefit from traditional, classroom instruction. Activities in the program will also touch on qualitative measures such as an individual child’s sense of belonging and community pride.
Graff and Swain also hope to offer classes for parents of preschoolers, including bringing in health professionals to talk about risk factors, art therapists to explain certain childhood behaviors and teach simple art projects that use household products for those rainy days stuck indoors.
“We noticed from the population that visits the museum that the parents of children in that age group are looking for varied experiences for their children,” said Swain. “There’s only so much, I guess, that our community offers. They don’t want to sit in front of the television; they want to have enriching experiences.”
Although the ultimate goal is to engender appropriate behaviors and an interest in contemporary art, the fundamentals are the key to successful learning.
“This age group is not getting the preparation they need,” said Graff.
“The City is trying to tackle that,” added Swain. “What we gleaned from elementary school teachers is that a lot of kids are coming in without even knowing how to hold a book correctly.”
Project Preschool is funded by the museum’s general operating budget. Classes take place every other Wednesday.
“The trend in museum work now is reaching out to the community to be more relevant,” said Allison Graff, director of education at JMoMA. “This program serves children during their most needy stage of development.”
“Modern art seems to be frightening for a lot of people,” added Lynne Swain, museum educator for the children’s ArtExplorium Loft at JMoMA. “If we start early making art accessible, relevant and understandable, we build a foundation.”
Art appreciation is not the sole purpose of the project. The concept is to use art-related resources to fortify social, language and developmental skills necessary in order to benefit from traditional, classroom instruction. Activities in the program will also touch on qualitative measures such as an individual child’s sense of belonging and community pride.
Graff and Swain also hope to offer classes for parents of preschoolers, including bringing in health professionals to talk about risk factors, art therapists to explain certain childhood behaviors and teach simple art projects that use household products for those rainy days stuck indoors.
“We noticed from the population that visits the museum that the parents of children in that age group are looking for varied experiences for their children,” said Swain. “There’s only so much, I guess, that our community offers. They don’t want to sit in front of the television; they want to have enriching experiences.”
Although the ultimate goal is to engender appropriate behaviors and an interest in contemporary art, the fundamentals are the key to successful learning.
“This age group is not getting the preparation they need,” said Graff.
“The City is trying to tackle that,” added Swain. “What we gleaned from elementary school teachers is that a lot of kids are coming in without even knowing how to hold a book correctly.”
Project Preschool is funded by the museum’s general operating budget. Classes take place every other Wednesday.