Indianapolis Museum of Art to host 1st-of-its-kind preschool
On a recent quiet morning at the Indianapolis Museum of Art's contemporary wing, preschool-aged children crouched over "Floor," an installation featuring thousands of miniature figurines holding up a glass pane.
The piece by Do Ho Suh suggests provocative themes ranging from Marxism to collective resistance. But the lesson for the Todder Art Group, a part-time program for 3- to 5-year-olds, is that anyone can experience and learn from art. Today, children rush to create tiny glass boxes inspired by "Floor" and learn about the materials Suh used to make his tiny men and women.
"You'd be surprised how kids behave very differently in galleries than adults," said Preston Bautista, deputy director for public programs and audience engagement at the IMA. "They don't have the burdens of having to be conscious of art history. Color, form and the images that we see — they're extremely responsive to these things."
This fall, Indiana's largest art institution will turn this idea — that children can have insightful interactions with art — into a classroom.
The IMA is partnering with St. Mary's Child Center to create the nation's first preschool at an encyclopedic art museum. The 16-student pilot program, which begins Aug. 3, invests in the idea that education focused on creative expression and material-based learning can make a lifelong change to 3- to 5-year-olds.
"We decided to go where we'd make the most impact," said Heidi Davis-Soylu, manager of academic engagement and learning research at the IMA.
The museum is raising money to provide scholarships to eight students from families who rely on government assistance. Their families will also receive museum memberships.
Children born in poverty who receive a high-quality, pre-kindergarten education earn more money, are more likely to hold a job and commit fewer violent or drug-related crimes as adults compared to those who do not attend a pre-K program, a study by the High Scope Educational Research Foundation found.
Davis-Soylu began working with St. Mary's Child Center in 2012 when she discovered preschool classes taking place at the museum's Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, where students often interacted with plants and outdoor sculptures.
Conversations with the center led to the creation of St. Mary's Child Center at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, modeled loosely on programs such as the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center and the Lincoln Nursery School, located within the campus of the contemporary DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park in suburban Boston.
Unlike those two programs, the IMA preschool has access to a museum with a wide-ranging collection of ancient and contemporary art from around the world.
The preschool's curriculum is inspired by the Reggio Emilia philosophy of early education, which stresses creativity, collaborative play and hands-on work with materials.
Nancy Finke, director of Lincoln Nursery School, said partnerships like these allow museums to better understand the needs of younger audiences and to create better opportunities for them. It also allows kindergartens direct access to art. Students who were in the Lincoln Nursery School show better self-regulation and are more comfortable enjoying and discussing art, said Finke.
"The museum very much becomes a part of them. They want to reconnect and stay in touch," she said.
Call Star reporter Wei-Huan Chen at (317) 444-6249. Follow him on Twitter: @weihuanchen.
More info
The new program at the Indianapolis Museum of Art will have three teachers and yearly tuition is $5,170. The 180-day program will operate from 9 to 11:30 a.m. weekdays starting in August. Interested families should contact Heidi Davis-Soylu at hdavis-soylu@imamuseum.org.