Boise Art Museum Receives $82,000 to Bring Art to Rural Idaho Classrooms

Boise Art Museum (BAM) has received an $82,000, three-year national award from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to support and expand the ArtReach program, an initiative that provides hands-on art education experiences to students in underserved rural classrooms. 

For ArtReach, museum-trained educators travel to rural classrooms and engage students in a 45-minute discussion of artwork from BAM’s Permanent Collection, using a projector and laptop computer to present digital images of the original works of art.  The inquiry-based lesson is followed by a 45-minute hands-on project related to the artwork shown.  At the end of the visit, each student receives a pass for the student and two guests to visit BAM for free.  In addition to discussing and creating artwork, students learn about BAM and its purpose in the community; at the same time, teachers learn how to integrate the arts into their regular curricula.

“In a primarily rural state that does not provide art teachers in many public schools, ArtReach fulfills an important need by providing thousands of underserved Idaho students and teachers in rural classrooms with hands-on art education experiences,” states Melanie Fales, BAM’s Curator of Education.  “This grant from the IMLS will enable BAM to create new ArtReach lessons, hire and train instructors, and purchase art materials for students, expanding the program to serve 7,800 students every year.”

The IMLS award is one of the largest grants that BAM has received to support an education program.  “We’re very proud to have this grant,” says Fales, adding that most IMLS grants provide only one or two years of funding, rather than the three years of funding awarded for the ArtReach program.  “To receive three years of support demonstrates that ArtReach is truly an exceptional program.”

ArtReach is designed to increase access to art education for students who cannot otherwise visit the Museum.  As a result, the program is provided free of charge for pre-K-12 classes within a 50-mile radius of BAM and outside of urban Ada County, where more than 10,000 students annually visit BAM as part of the Museum’s successful Free School Tour Program.

Boise Art Museum is supported, in part, by its members, the Beaux Arts Société, the City of Boise, the Idaho Commission on the Arts
and the National Endowment for the Arts.  BAM is accredited by the American Association of Museums.

670 Julia Davis Drive ·   Boise, ID   83702  ·   208-345-8330   ·  FAX  208-345-2247  ·  www.boiseartmuseum.org