Education, Outreach, and Programming Philosophy

Bradbury Art Museum’s (BAM) education program serves the region by providing workshops, lectures, afterschool programs, community events, tours, and informational resources to our audience. Our highest priority is to provide accessible and positive artistic experiences to a wide range of communities. 

BAM offers thematic series of free 3-hour workshops once a month throughout the calendar year, largely aligned with the Arkansas State University academic semesters (Spring and Fall). Our workshops demonstrate the many artistic principles, materials, and processes evident in current exhibitions or as inspiration from the work presented in the BAM galleries.

For each exhibition cycle, BAM aims to invite at least two artists from the exhibition to participate in programs on campus. This often includes an artist’s talk, presentation, video interview, or an in-depth live discussion with the curator, surrounded by the work within the space. We also work closely with the Art + Design Department at Arkansas State University to arrange classroom visits, professional practice lectures, portfolio reviews, or student studio visits to engage in more personal discussions with individual student’s and their works.

Inside the museum, our goal is to provide the educational materials and interactive activities necessary to foster art appreciation and interpretation within our culturally expanding community. We realize the importance of our role as the only art museum in Northeast Arkansas and want to ensure inhabitants of our region have the opportunity for meaningful cultural experiences without having to travel. We supply a deep trust with our audience as active participants in the exhibitions and try to expand opportunities for visitors to interact with the work beyond viewing. Most recently this included a scavenger hunt to encourage deeper inspection of symbols and icons, guided student break-out groups for deciphering meaning between various aspects of the work, community exhibitions in an education-specific gallery, and companion works fueled by community engagement and photographic submissions.

BAM’s educational outreach is unique in providing an extensive program outside museum walls and within the community we serve. These services include visiting lectures and workshops. Workshops are focused on the cultivation of creative freedom through open-ended projects, breaking free from the often rigid structure of art instruction. Lessons focus on the teaching of art fundamentals as well as the exploration of numerous artistic mediums, giving participants access to as many avenues of artistic expression as possible. Art interpretation is taught alongside art creation to ensure our community has the tools needed to both create work of their own as well as appreciate the work of others.

In addition to the programming we provide outside the museum, many events and workshops are hosted within BAM and BAM Studio. Each exhibition held at BAM has a reception which is open to the public, providing refreshments and prompting engaging social interactions. Since we are a contemporary art museum, the artists shown in our exhibitions often visit, allowing us to host artist talks for our audience. Additional exhibition information and activities are often provided within our educational gallery space. For the duration of each show, BAM also provides tours during open hours and by appointment. Tours are discussion-guided and encourage a heightened level of engagement with the artwork. Workshops for each exhibition are hosted in BAM Studio, a creative space in which participants use artwork within the museum as inspiration for a creation of their own.

In addition to the exhibition-specific events, BAM hosts various other arts-related events monthly. Common events include:

Yoga in the Museum: Bradbury Art Museum hosts various yoga instructors with different practices to offer a range of beginner to intermediate yoga courses open to the public. Currently Bethany Davis Taylor, of Bethany Davis Wellness, hosts an evening yoga course the second Tuesday of every month at 6:00PM. ASU’s Associate Professor of Graphic Design, Nicole Arnell, is a certified yoga instructor and offers a free course on the second and last Friday of every month at 9:00AM.

Magic at the Museum: The first Thursday of every month is Magic night at the museum! Museum Registrar, Juan Montes-Guantes, hosts an open play, Commander-deck format for players to join between 5:00PM-8:00PM. Magic at the Museum is free to attend, and free to play, with starter decks available for new players looking to learn the game. Be sure to arrive early and stay late for more entries into the hourly raffles!

La Escuelita en El Centro Hispano: El Centro Hispano (The Hispanic Center) is a nonprofit organization which primarily serves Hispanic families living in Northeast Arkansas, providing services in the areas of social, legal, educational, health, culture, and civic engagement. El Centro Hispano offers La Escuelita after school and summer school programs to students who are having difficulties in school, particularly language challenges. Participating children may receive tutoring and mentoring as well as additional educational opportunities and a sense of community and friendship. Every week of the academic school year, and for a special Summer section, Bradbury Art Museum visits The Hispanic Center of Jonesboro to participate in their ‘Tiny School’ program by providing 1-hour art projects on Wednesdays from 4:00PM-5:00PM. We design projects in relation to our current exhibitions to bring the museum to participating children.

Faculty Readings in Collaboration with Arkansas State University: Brought to the community by Arkansas State University’s English Department in collaboration with the Bradbury Art Museum, join us in listening to faculty readings from Arkansas State University’s Department of English, Philosophy, & World Languages. Faculty readings are offered once per semester based on availability of faculty and new works.

Loom on the Lawn: Join BAM on the Humanities and Social Sciences Lawn on the last Friday morning of every month to loom, weave, and work with fibers. Bring your own project, or start a new one with us. BAM provides tools, thread, fibers, and more for you to make your first textile or to experiment with something different.

All events mentioned are admission free and open to the public. Call to schedule a tour or ask about an event: (870) 972-3765, or email BAM’s Education Coordinator, Paden DeVita, to discuss any current, past, or future programming with BAM: pdevita@astate.edu