Teachers from Across Country to Attend Summer Program

When Primary Source announced in the spring of 2009 that it would be holding two conferences on American art history, thousands of educators and librarians took notice. More than 2200 individuals, from every state in the nation, submitted applications to participate in Democratic Vistas: Civic Life, History, and American Art. Of those applicants, 100 were selected to attend one of the conferences, which will take place August 3-4 and 5-6 in Boston. The group includes educators from public, independent, parochial, and home school settings.

Democratic Vistas will draw upon the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Picturing America program, which provided sets of high quality reproductions of selected American art works to schools and libraries nationwide. With support from NEH, Primary Source's conferences will help participating educators to use the Picturing America collection to incorporate visual art into humanities courses. These conferences are one of only three NEH Picturing America professional development opportunities available to teachers nationwide between August 2009 and May 2010.

Democratic Vistas will focus especially on democratic values and aesthetics and will highlight folk and traditional art as an expression of American creativity. During the conferences, teachers will learn from leading scholars and expert educators about the work of artists including John Singleton Copley, Dorothea Lange, Jacob Lawrence, and others. Educators will also explore Boston's artistic heritage through a walking tour of civic monuments and a guided visit to the Museum of Fine Arts.

View a course schedule and learn more about the conference on the Democratic Vistas website.

Democratic Vistas is made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.