back to outreach

Teacher Fellowship Program
Intuit's program for Chicago Public School teachers
interested in introducing their students to outsider art

Sharon Finley's Lakeview HS art students work on Xerox transfer prints

Because Intuit believes that the most effective way to teach large numbers of students is to first educate their teachers, this program focuses on teacher training. Teachers selected from Chicago Public Schools are chosen to participate in comprehensive training sessions at Intuit and are given access to numerous resources and materials that facilitate their learning about outsider art. Through lectures, visits with outsider artists, tours of outsider art collections and environments, and access to Intuit's Study Center, teachers gain the necessary background, tools, materials, and information on how to integrate teachings about intuitive and outsider art into their curriculum.

• Team up with another educator at your school and apply
Teachers apply for this program in teams of two. Applicants do not have to be art educators - those who specialize in subjects other than art are welcome to participate as a way to facilitate the integration of art into core curriculum. However, if you are not an art teacher we ask that the teacher you partner with is.

• Stipend
The applicants selected for the program will be awarded a fellowship from Intuit to create an outsider art-inspired project.

• Create a project
Following the training sessions at Intuit, the teachers create and implement a lesson plan that incorporates outsider art in their classrooms. Their students create art projects using outsider art as a catalyst for learning. Throughout the art making, Intuit conducts in-class visits to consult with the teachers and to check on the progress of student work. Student groups are also encouraged to take field trips to Intuit and see our current exhibitions.

• Student exhibition
The program culminates with an exhibition that showcases the work that the students created. Teachers, students, and their parents attend the exhibit opening. The lesson plans written by the teachers and the student's work is also put online here on Intuit's website as a way to document the projects and archive them so that other educators can use them as a resource.

Contact Katherine Loague for more information - 312.243.9088