Education

Art Education

Women & Their Work believes contemporary art education is a valuable resource that should be made accessible to audiences of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. Women & Their Work’s exhibitions, programs, performances, and tours are free and open to the public. To aid interpretation of exhibitions featured in the galleries, the artwork is accompanied by critical essays written by art and culture professionals, video interviews with each artist speaking to the themes and methods behind her work, and public art education programs designed to complement each exhibition.

Gallery Tours & Workshops

Women & Their Work invites students of all ages from Austin-area schools to the galleries for educational tours and art-making workshops.

Student education programs typically last one hour. In the first half-hour, students tour the galleries and explore the artwork and themes of the current exhibition with a trained educator. When possible, the exhibiting artist leads the tour, illuminating her artistic processes and encouraging students to explore their own interpretations of the work.

After the gallery tour, students participate in an art-making workshop, with the opportunity to experiment with materials and techniques similar to those used by the exhibiting artist, encouraging students to interact with the art-making process.

Tours are free to all students and teachers. For Title 1 schools, Women & Their Work can offer assistance with transportation costs and funding for a half-day substitute teacher. 

Student tours are available Monday-Friday, from 10 AM – 6 PM. The maximum number of students per tour is 30.

For more information, contact Diane Sikes: [email protected]

Professional Development

Women & Their Work considers the education of teachers to be paramount to art education and offers several opportunities for teachers to expand their knowledge of art.

For select exhibitions, Women & Their Work hosts workshops for educators in which they work directly with the exhibiting artist. This enriching program provides direct access to contemporary artists and their work. Artists discuss their past and present work and related concepts to help educators infuse their lesson plans with new concepts related to contemporary art education.  

For more information about this program or to find out about upcoming workshops, email Diane Sikes at [email protected]

Education Resources

Women & Their Work provides education resources including educational artist videos and lesson plans related to exhibitions. To learn more, visit the Education Resources Page or see our archive.