Leading from classroom to museum, the signature Step Into Art program follows the two-part model described below.

Part I: Bringing Art to Life (classroom workshop)

An interactive slide show introduces children to six works of art from one of the Boston area’s outstanding museum collections. Children “step into art” by participating in storytelling and drama activities that bring works to life. They develop their skills of observation and set their imaginations to work as they explore color, sound, movement, light, and feelings in art and make important connections between art and their own lives.

Hands-on art activities follow. Using a variety of materials, children “step into” the role of artist to create art of their own inspired by the works they have just seen.

Part 2: Art “Face-to-Face” (museum workshop)

In this guided tour, children build on earlier observations and make new discoveries as they see “face-to-face” the works they have just learned about. Sketching in the museum setting marks the program’s concluding step!

“Step Into Art teaches children in a very inspiring way how to look, and therefore how to see and feel, what is in a painting….The progression from slide show to discussion to acting out to drawing, and then the trip to the museum, is a perfect evolution of a valuable learning experience. The program is great – I wish it were a regular in our schools.

-- Ashley Davidoff, father of 4, radiologist and artist