The Project

 The Multi-Part Art program is a museum-school partnership from the San Jose Museum of Art. The program infuses visual arts education resources directly into Santa Clara County Public Schools, and it is often the only art experience many students are exposed to during the school year. Teaching artists, hired by the museum, work with K-12 schools during multi-week residencies to deliver a series of art-making experiences in the classroom that engage students in challenging and stimulating hands-on curriculum. A visit to the museum deepens the classroom activities. Data from empirical evaluations performed by the teaching artists, and surveys completed by classroom teachers revealed that 85 percent of participants increased their vocabulary and art skills and 60 percent could identify connections between visual arts and language arts, mathematics, and science. These self-portraits were inspired by a quote from California artist Joan Brown, “I’m not any one thing: I’m not just a teacher, I’m not just a mother, I’m not just a painter, I’m all of these things plus, and the more areas I can tap, the richer each one of the others will be.”