It’s a Wrap! Three Art Cohorts Finish their 2026 Season

April 24, 2026

The three 2026 art cohorts met in April for their final sessions.

Media Arts Cohort participants create hybrid animations

The Elementary Art Cohort, elementary teachers relatively new to teaching visual arts, explored several phases in artmaking—exploring techniques, building purposeful designs, adding narrative meaning—all while engaging in reflection and critique to make thinking visible. Overall, the learning emphasized designing art experiences to develop student thinking, and not just on creating final products. Participants appreciated this opportunity to connect with other art teachers, as well as being able to work with the materials.

Participants in the Media Arts Intro Cohort learned about AI and practiced the development of narratives through storyboarding, filming, and editing techniques. The Media Arts Advanced Cohort expanded on these same skills to create hybrid animations which required both analog and digital techniques. They, too, explored how AI can inform—but not replace—creative decision-making. One participant commented, “I truly liked the AI info. I am very inexperienced with it so it was nice to hear and see [it in practice].” As with the Elementary Art Cohort, teachers in the Media Arts Cohorts also appreciated the opportunity to collaborate with other art teachers and take away so many new ideas.

These three cohorts are facilitated by Jeremy Holien, Perpich Center’s Visual & Media Arts Education Specialist. Following the workshops, Jeremy reflected. “I’m looking forward to continuing this work next year—especially seeing how these cohorts grow into true professional learning communities that support, challenge, and inspire one another,” he said. “It’s invigorating to watch educators develop together in that way, and I’m excited to keep refining how we connect process, concept, and emerging tools so that student thinking, creativity, and intentionality truly lead the work.”

Watch for information about the 2026-2027 cohorts in early September!