Museums are in a unique position to support our PreK-12 schools, both teachers and students, with new experiences enhancing classroom learning. Grounds For Sculpture (GFS), a 42-acre sculpture park, museum, and arboretum, functions as a portal for visitors to enter and receive new learning opportunities through exploration and experimentation. The Education Department at GFS enhances this experience by offering art, horticulture, and wellness programs to all visitors to explore multiple pathways toward life-long learning.

We welcome our full community (students, families, teachers, administrators, and community partners) to consider our campus as a portal to enrich and amplify their opportunities for creativity, storytelling, and connections to both art and science.

GFS offers multiple resources for educators and learners to explore creative practice though ceramics, horticulture tours and workshops, lectures, Tai Chi, herbalism, sound baths, and much more. These offerings ensure students of all ages can explore their individual interests, gaining skills and bridging the portal between GFS and their own lives for greater exposure to personal expression and awareness.

Grounds for Sculpture is the perfect setting to explore STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) concepts. With over 300 sculptures on view, we offer a fluid learning opportunity on how 3-D forms are created with mathematical awareness of shapes and structures which become art. Or is it the other way around, does the creative process of artmaking arrive before mathematical awareness? From the molding of clay, the chemistry of metal in liquid and solid forms, to the geology of the stone used for massive sculptures; science is woven throughout the creative process of creating sculpture. Built as an integrative approach engaging student's interest across curriculum topics, this integrated style of learning, and discussion, develops a range of important skills for our future leaders.  STEAM learning promotes innovation, strengthens content knowledge, connects us to the real world, and provides hands-on learning opportunities for learners of all ages. The GFS Education Department is committed to STEAM within our creative process ensuring the natural environment is at the forefront of our programmatic offerings.

We also offer professional development workshops for teachers where participants can explore environmental impacts of global waste and learn to promote sustainability through art. Educators learn ways to empower students to address important messages, such as how climate change affects our world, using colorful and eye-catching creative images. Our website offers an Education Toolbox with free, theme-based Educator Guides providing teachers and families with thoughtful activities to explore sculpture practice and investigate various materials. By delving into these essential themes through the lens of closer looking, art making, horticulture and wellness, STEAM based exploration is a benefit for groups of all grade levels.

We invite you to visit our website to learn more, or contact us below for further conversations on integrating Grounds For Sculpture’s resources into your school curricula.