Teachers

Our field trips, workshops, and residencies, invite students and teachers to explore, debate, and reflect upon the important ideas that lie at the heart of contemporary art.
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All programs are free for Illinois K–12 schools and teachers. Sign up for our educator email list to be the first to hear about opportunities at the MCA for teachers and students.

For free admission to the museum, simply present a valid teacher ID (or a photograph of your valid teacher ID) at the Admissions desk.

Children look and point at a black and white drawing of tropical trees and foliage that is displayed on two walls.

Schedule a field trip with your class today!

Children look and point at a black and white drawing of tropical trees and foliage that is displayed on two walls.

Just want to visit the museum as group? Take advantage of free admission for student groups by emailing boffice@mcachicago.org to reserve tickets.

Teacher Residency

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Teacher Residency

This 10-month partnership with 10 Chicago-area K–12 classroom teachers of various disciplines includes monthly collaboration sessions, MCA class field trips, and curriculum development.

Working closely with MCA staff and other mentors, teachers develop new curricula focused on contemporary arts integration for classroom and museum learning, earning up to $1,000 in the process.

2025–26 Teachers-in-Residence

  • Lauren Griffin – Foster Park Fine and Performing Arts Magnet Cluster Elementary
  • Daphne Hill – Proviso East High School
  • Silvia Morales – Ogden High School
  • Jayla Neely – Wentworth Elementary School
  • Kathryn Paull – Great Lakes Academy
  • Erico Ramirez – Andrew Carnegie Elementary School
  • Katie Schmelzer – KIPP Academy Chicago Primary (KACP)
  • Oscar Villalobos, III – National Teachers Academy
  • Eleni Vryza – Elmwood Park Consolidated Unit School District 401

  • The Teacher Institute is the MCA’s professional development program for classroom educators. Designed to help you investigate, create, incubate, and implement innovative, contemporary curricula, this free, yearlong program includes year-round programming like the Learning Series and the Teacher Residency. Participants receive ISBE credit. Vouchers for free parking in the MCA garage are provided pending availability.

    Registration based. Applications are closed at this time.

  • Free and open to all, these skills-based trainings are designed in connection with the cultural assets of the MCA and the needs of Chicago-area educators. View our events page to view any upcoming Learning Series programs.

Educator Workshops

A quarterly professional development drop-in series curated to address the whole of Chicagoland’s educators. These workshops provide timely, high-value resources to ideate and create engaging curriculum while fostering responsive youth and personal development in the classroom. The MCA focuses on sharing resources and providing workshops led by artists, cultural leaders, activists, and wellness practitioners that give teachers toolkits to manage their personal development, mental health, and capacity.

Teacher Advisory

Teacher Advisory Committee

A community of classroom teachers who meet quarterly to advise the MCA Learning team on school and teacher programs and matters of interest to the larger school community.

Current members of the Teacher Advisory Committee (TAC):

  • Aespyne Alix
  • Philip Alvy
  • Andrew Breen
  • Bridget Doherty Trebing
  • Rhavin Haynes
  • David Hossler
  • Lindsay Johnson
  • Marcia LaPorte
  • Kristal Pacheco
  • Sydney Walters
  • Lisa Wax

For more details about the TAC, email Evelyn Sanford-Nicholson, Polk Bros. Associate Director of Learning.

Partnerships

  • School Partnership for Art and Civic Engagement

    A multiyear partnership with Chicago Public High Schools, SPACE embeds an artist-in-residence within a school, fostering the MCA’s learning philosophy far outside the walls of the museum.

    Learn more about SPACE.

  • Museums In the Park (MIP) is a coalition of Chicago museums
    located on Chicago Park District property. MIP works with the Chicago Park District, Chicago Public Schools, the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, and other entities to build greater awareness of museums’ intrinsic value. Many departments within the museum participate in this relationship through various committees. Learning meets with the cross-institution
    cohort around teen, educator, and CPS-based programs.
    We also contribute to Park Voyagers, a collective program.

  • The mission of Park Voyagers:

    • To connect Chicago’s youth with experiential learning across fieldhouses and the eleven participating Museums
      In the Park institutions.
    • To enhance youths’ natural ability to observe, explore,
      and nurture curiosity.
    • To encourage lifelong STEAM learning.
    • To connect MIP resources with Park District assets in Chicago.

Learning Resources

We currently create robust teacher guides in conjunction with our Object Lesson and Tour Video (TV) series.

View All Resources

Funding

Support for Teacher Programs at the MCA is provided by the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, the Polk Bros. Foundation, and the School Museum Fund, The Hees Family.

Additional generous support is provided by Capital One and Reyes Holdings.