Designed for classroom teachers, SAAM's interactive workshops feature engaging "Monday-ready" activities that provoke deep thinking and invite students to apply content knowledge across the curriculum and in the world. Get certificates of completion for seat hours and join a community of practice that stretches across the US! For more information, send an email to AmericanArtEducation@si.edu.
2025-26 Programs
Join educators from SAAM and the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and globally-recognized artists for a creative day of learning and art-making. Participants will have a unique opportunity to hear directly from renowned artist Shahzia Sikander about her video installation The Last Post, a powerful exploration of the enduring impacts of British colonialism in Asia. Participants will also experience a hands-on, collaborative art-making session led by artist Monica Jahan Bose. Take away materials and resources that will spark fresh ideas for integrating history and art in your classroom teaching.
Free | Register by January 26, 2026
Discover the thought-provoking and playful work of contemporary artist Miguel Luciano, whose art explores American identity through the lens of Puerto Rican history. Join educators at SAAM and the National Portrait Gallery as we explore Luciano's iconic works, including Porto Rican Cotton Picker, Freedom Rider Vest, Pa-lan-te, and Double Phantom/EntroP.R.—powerful pieces that connect the past and the present. Take home inquiry-based strategies and interdisciplinary text pairings for teaching about Puerto Rican history, identity, and advocacy through art.
$10 | Registration Required.
Join educators at SAAM and the National Portrait Gallery for an interactive workshop on the artwork of Roger Shimomura, whose Pop Art–inspired paintings explore the themes of identity and belonging in America. Through an in-gallery discussion of Shimomura Crossing the Delaware and Diary: December 12, 1941, participants will uncover how Shimomura uses parody, historical references, and personal narrative to illuminate the Japanese American experience, including the impact of the artist’s incarceration during World War II. Come away with classroom-ready teaching strategies and primary source pairings!
$10 | Registration required.
Self-Paced Courses
Discover how museum objects can help learners explore the challenges and opportunities of living in a democracy and inspire civic action.
Explore how museum objects and works of art can broaden our perspectives, reveal silenced stories, and make relevant connections to our world today.
Educators from four Smithsonian museums will explore connections among their collections and model teaching strategies that participants can implement with their students, whether online or in the classroom.
Recorded Workshop Archive
Explore different styles of writing in response to contemporary American art. Leave with a digital set of evocative artworks, three distinct classroom activities, and practical teaching strategies for your classroom.
This online webinar is part of “Cultivating Learning”, a series hosted by the Smithsonian’s Office of Educational Technology.
Free
How might we extend our thinking about the past by exploring sources from the present?
“The American West” has always been a place of multiple stories, experiences, and cultures. Examine works from this traveling exhibition to consider how the telling of history can be expanded through modern and contemporary art.
Online program. A Zoom link and a list of suggested materials will be sent to registered participants 24–48 hours in advance of the workshop.
Free | Registration required via Eventbrite
How can artwork help us exercise our interpersonal skills?
People are all different. Our bodies, families, beliefs, abilities, and experiences vary, sometimes making communication difficult. Artwork can often communicate what we do not have the words for across cultures and differences. In this virtual workshop, practice multiple approaches and gain new resources for building mutual understanding and connecting with others.
Online program. A Zoom link and a list of suggested materials will be sent to registered participants 24–48 hours in advance of the workshop.
Join a rich conversation with aerospace engineer Janelle Wellons and horticulturist Abra Lee, as they reflect on artist Alma Thomas’s legacy as a STEAM trailblazer. Wellons shares insights on how visual images and inquiry can unlock the mysteries of the cosmos, while Lee unearths the histories of Black gardeners. Together, these reflections provide an in-depth understanding of Thomas’s cultural impact and the ways in which her work continues to inspire adults and students alike.
2021-2022 Workshop Archive
Develop strategies for identifying artworks that can help build and extend student comprehension of texts.
How do artists convey complex interconnections clearly and compellingly?
How can photographs challenge students to gauge what has changed and what has stayed the same?
What lessons can artists teach students, our future global leaders, about inspiring action?
Some artists are also veterans. How might their artworks give us and our students a way to feel loss and also connection? Presented with the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Join museum educators and art conservators from the Smithsonian American Art Museum for a "behind the scenes" look at the trailblazing artist Alma Thomas and the unique way she created her exuberant abstract paintings.
This online workshop was part of the Smithsonian’s First Annual Educator’s Day.
Past Programs
A Woman’s Place Is in the Curriculum: Women’s History through American Art and Portraiture
Learn how American art and portraiture can bring diverse women’s stories into your classroom.
2020-2021 Archived Workshop Recordings
Look into our archive to find even more interactive, web-based workshops.
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