For Schools
For Schools
The Contemporary Austin’s school programs support our mission to educate and inspire a diverse audience about the visual arts. In response to Austin’s substantive growth in the past twenty years, the museum continues to address the growing needs of Austin’s students, teachers, and schools through a variety of initiatives. Our education department meets regularly with AISD to ensure that its programs are consistent with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for visual art.
K-12 MUSEUM EXPERIENCES
The Contemporary Austin is excited to offer a variety of in-person Museum Experiences for K-12 audiences led by Education Staff at both our Laguna Gloria and Jones Center locations. Request an experience today by reviewing our 2025-2026 offerings and submitting the K-12 Education Museum Experience Request Form.
Check out the Educational Resources Hub for more information about guided museum experiences, self-guided materials, FAQs, and more!
Questions? please contact Sol Garcia, Education Coordinator, at [email protected] for more information.
Seeing Special Things
The Contemporary Austin’s year-long, multiple-visit program, Seeing Special Things, is the museum’s longest-running educational initiative. Offered to public elementary schools in Austin, with a focus on Title 1 schools (schools with low-income enrollment of 75 percent or more), this program is designed to integrate visual art into the classroom and enhance student literacy, critical thinking, observation, and communication skills through museum visits, classroom discussions, artist workshops, and art making.
Seeing Special Things introduces students to original works of contemporary art, a range of media and processes, and related vocabulary for the purpose of broadening students’ understanding of artistic concepts, increasing comprehension of visual vocabulary, developing art-making skills, and building student self-confidence and communication skills.
Want your school to be a part of this multi-visit experience?
Seeing Special Things Program 2025-2026 Application
Submit your application to Alice Brandenburg, Education Programs Manager, at [email protected].
Thank you to the 2024-2025 Seeing Special Things participating schools!
