Intuit
Intuit champions diverse artistic voices and pathways, inviting all to explore the power of outsider art.
Founded in 1991, Intuit is a premier museum of outsider and self-taught art, defined as work created by artists who faced marginalization, overcame personal odds to make their artwork, or who did not, or sometimes could not, follow a traditional path of art making, often using materials at hand to realize their artistic vision.
By presenting a diversity of artistic voices, Intuit builds a bridge from art to audience. The museum’s mission is grounded in the ethos that powerful art can be found in unexpected places and made by unexpected creators.
For more than three decades, Intuit has provided award-winning professional development to educators through its Teacher Fellowship Program (TFP).
Throughout the school year, TFP supports a cohort of teachers to design arts or arts-integrated lesson plans inspired by self-taught artists. By introducing self-taught art into their classrooms, Teacher Fellows give their students opportunities to translate their unique personal visions in new, non-traditional ways.
Beginning in September and through May, the Teacher Fellowship Program hosts five Saturday professional development sessions designed to inform and inspire ideas for arts or arts-integrated lessons.
Professional development sessions include academic lectures, artist-led workshops, tours of self-taught art collections, work time and field trips to museums, galleries and artist studios.
Teacher Fellows serve as an advisory council for Intuit as the museum develops resources (e.g., videos, field trips, materials, etc.) for students. Through these sessions, Teacher Fellows form a community of teachers engaged in building their teaching practice with colleagues from across the city and exploring ways to integrate self-taught art in their lessons. Teacher Fellows will directly impact and contribute to the creative direction of educational resources at Intuit.
Teacher Fellowship Program 2024-25
Application deadline: Sunday, August 25, 2024
Program dates: September 2024 – May 2025 Individual Session dates, times, duration: Saturday, September 14, 2024, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Saturday, October 12, 2024, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Saturday, November 9, 2024, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Saturday, December 14, 2024, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Saturday, January 11, 2025, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.
Location: Professional development sessions will take place at arts and culture institutions in Chicago (locations TBD)
Description: For more than three decades, Intuit has provided award-winning professional development to educators through its Teacher Fellowship Program (TFP).
Intuit’s Teacher Fellowship Program immerses 20-24 dedicated Pre-K-12 teachers of all subject areas for one academic year in the history of and contemporary practices of self-taught artists to design a visual arts or arts-integrated curriculum.
From September through January, Teacher Fellows participate in 5-hour monthly Saturday professional development sessions in which they engage with Intuit’s permanent collection, special exhibitions and study center.
Explore Chicago’s diverse visual arts community, including art museums, galleries, community centers, youth arts programs and artist studios; participate in hands-on art making workshops facilitated by contemporary self-taught artists; are provided with resources for best practices in standards-aligned curriculum development, arts assessments and classroom teaching; and design age-appropriate curricula inspired by a self-taught artist with feedback from Intuit staff and peer fellows in a collaborative learning community.
Utilizing Illinois Arts Learning Standards, Teacher Fellows design curriculum and assessment tools that provide students with the opportunity to create, present, respond and connect. Teacher Fellows introduce students to artists whose identities are not typically represented in traditional art museums or in the classroom.
Through engaging with the history of and contemporary practices of self-taught artists, students are encouraged to experiment with mediums (drawing, painting, sculpture and photography), materials, processes, and concepts to deepen and broaden their understanding of art.
Fellows implement their curriculum into their classrooms from February through April with continued support from Intuit’s Director of Learning and Education Committee Chair.
Frequent check-ins and classroom visits provide personalized feedback regarding classroom implementation of teacher-developed curricula.
At the end of the school year, Intuit will showcase art by students of the 2024–25 program cycle in a Teacher Fellowship Program exhibition.
Fully active and engaged Teacher Fellows earn up to 25 CPDUs and a stipend of $500 per teacher for all their teaching needs, as well as waived admission for a staff-guided field trip to Intuit for their participating classroom(s).
– Teacher Fellows receive written and verbal feedback from Intuit education staff and the TFP cohort on curricula and resources related to outsider and self-taught art.
– Teacher Fellows have access to the Robert A. Roth Study Center, which is home to books and publications that can help generate lesson ideas.
– The TFP cohort will learn new teaching ideas, methodologies and content from art educators.
– Intuit will showcase art by students of the 2024–25 program cycle in a Teacher Fellowship Program exhibition.
Facilitators: Lisa Lindvay, Director of Learning and Engagement, Intuit Jerry Stefl, Education Committee Chair, Intuit Format: Fellowship Arts discipline(s)
– Drawing, painting, sculpture and photography, with a focus on Self-taught art/artists
Audience: The Teacher Fellowship Program is open to Chicago Public School educators from all disciplines. Intuit recommends teachers apply in teams of two from the same school.
Special consideration will be given to applicant schools with “Developing” and “Emerging” Creative Schools Certification.
Priority will go to the following applicant schools:
(1) schools that have never participated in the program and
(2) schools located on the far west and south sides.
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