Opening Young Eyes to the World of Fine Art

Imagine leading a classroom of curious young minds through a museum, not with lectures but with leaps, stretches, and close-up looks at brushstrokes. That’s the fresh approach of the Portland Art Museum’s Learning Guide program, now entering its second year. College and graduate paid interns—including three per semester from Lewis & Clark—are reinventing the museum experience for K-12 students, creating an interactive, curiosity-driven journey that has received glowing praise from teachers and students alike.

Moving away from the traditional approach of lectures on art history and technique, the program is tailored to engage modern students. The visits are interactive, aiming to bring out the students’ natural curiosity. After a 15-minute discussion in front of one work of art, the learning guides take the creative reins. Students might copy poses in front of figural works, move around a painting to see it from all angles, feel the texture of a paint swatch, or take deep breaths and stretch to remain present in the moment.

Dawn Odell, professor of art history
Credit: Nina Johnson“The students have a chance to think about how to teach, and how to take the skills they’ve learned from art history classes and make them accessible to younger viewers,” says Professor of Art History Dawn Odell, who has been instrumental in bringing the partnership to life, alongside Associate Professor of Art Jess Perlitz. “This is just one of several initiatives where we’re trying to help our students get work, training, and experience in different environments throughout Portland, from cultural institutions to art collectives to art conservation programs.”

L&C’s art department is intentional about taking advantage of the artistic energy that can be found in all corners of Portland, a city some have deemed the third most creative in America. The Portland Art Museum, located in the heart of downtown, is home to one of the region’s finest art collections, with significant works from the Pacific Northwest and around the world.

Hana Layson, head of youth and educator programs at the museum, has noticed that K-12 students gravitate toward gallery works both old and new. French painter Jean-Baptiste Greuze’s The Drunken Cobbler, an oil-on-canvas painting from the 18th century, is an audience favorite, as well as the museum’s current exhibition, Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm. Generation Alpha, it seems, is still a fan of The Beatles.

“The learning guides are able to help students feel a sense of ownership at the Museum—the more students talk and have fun experiences, the more they feel like this is the place for them,” says Layson. “Each of the college interns brings a wonderful sense of thoughtfulness and care around wanting K-12 students to have that kind of experience.”

Jodi Fallas BA ’25, an art history major, learned about the partnership from Professor Odell. Fallas was eager to pursue the position because it allowed her to combine her love of both art and teaching. She describes her first weeks on the job as “extremely memorable.” At the end of her very first session as a learning guide, she was approached by a young student who expressed excitement to begin looking at art from a new perspective.

“I’m approaching being a learning guide with the idea that I’m a student, too,” says Fallas. “If I had the opportunity to visit a museum and talk about works without the constraints of context when I was younger, it would have completely changed the way I engage with art.” Indeed, the program prioritizes inclusion, and the guides are learning how to help all schoolchildren shake the sense of intimidation that viewing fine art can bring.

Professor Odell and the Portland Art Museum staff are hopeful that these are the earliest years of a long and fruitful partnership. The size of the groups has increased in the second year of the program, and the training college interns receive has become more extensive, increasing to 25 hours over three weeks in September.

For Fallas, the program has reinforced her passion for her studies and clarified the professional path she would like to take after graduation, which includes working toward a doctorate in art history and returning to the academic community as a professor. “In the future, I imagine looking back at this position as a foundational time for working inside cultural institutions, navigating new spaces in the city, and growing alongside a diverse group of people,” she says.

Art Arts@LC