NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — North Adams Public Schools, in partnership with Berkshire Museum, announced a residency project beginning December 2024. 

 

This initiative will engage second-grade students at Brayton Elementary School with seven Mobile Museum Units (MoMUs), incorporating museum objects focused on science and social studies into their visual arts curriculum.

 

"We are delighted that our second-grade students will have deep engagement with the new MoMU exhibits each month," said Danielle Bowe, visual art teacher at Brayton Elementary School. "It is an exciting opportunity to collaborate with Berkshire Museum to enrich our art curriculum with meaningful projects that relate to the exhibits."

 

The MoMU residency will provide second-grade students at Brayton with learning experiences that blend art, science, and social studies over a sustained seven-month engagement period. From December to June, a rotation of seven different MoMUs—small traveling exhibits that bring museum objects out into the community—will be installed in the school lobby monthly. Topics include geology, plants, Berkshire history, math found in nature, and more. Through interactive lessons with museum educators, students will explore the museum objects in each MoMU and create artwork inspired by the exhibits during their regular art classes.

 

"Mobile Museum Units are a critical element of the museum's educational philosophy, especially as we temporarily close for renovations," said Joe Mastronardi, curriculum developer at Berkshire Museum and lead museum educator for the partnership with North Adams Public Schools. "This is our way of staying connected to our county-wide community and emphasizing our profound commitment to everyone. Our MoMU lessons are engaging, object-based STEAM programming for any age; it's always so much fun to teach them."

 

To support this work, Berkshire Museum has been awarded a $5,000 Creative Projects for Schools grant from Mass Cultural Council, the state's arts agency. Creative Projects for Schools grants support "creative learning experiences in the arts, sciences, and humanities where K-12 students can uncover hidden talents, discover and express their own ideas, build confidence, explore the natural world, and connect to their history and community."

 

This residency at Brayton builds upon the district's previous partnership with Berkshire Museum—also supported by Mass Cultural Council—to bring art lessons connected to MoMUs to the former Greylock Elementary School during the 2023-2024 school year for students in second and fifth grades.