EDUCATION

Education programming served over 115,000 people at The Ringling throughout the fiscal year. Over 8,000 facilitated tours and programs were offered by the Education department.

Through these diverse and wide reaching offerings, Education has been instrumental in facilitating learning through positive and engaging visitor experiences.

EDUCATION PROGRAMMING

115,000 PEOPLE REACHED

8,000 TOURS & EVENTS

87,000 VISITORS SERVED ON DOCENT TOURS FAMILY PROGRAMS

300% ATTENDANCE INCREASE

3,500 ROAR ATTENDANCE

Through creative programs and the use of technology, the Education department removed barriers at the Museum for people with disabilities. Assistive listening devices, including induction neck loops, are now offered for all Ca’ d’Zan Mable’s tours and Museum of Art tours. These devices will be used in the Circus and on the Grounds tours in the future. The Ringling’s ongoing partnership with Southeastern Guide Dogs brings guide dog recipients to the Museum of Art for an interactive dog-themed tour of the collection. Education staff use visual description, tactile diagrams of paintings, touching of approved sculptures, and other props to help the group “see” the works in their mind’s eye. In the 2018 fiscal year, staff gave tours to 6 different classes of SEGD students, serving a total of 64 people (plus their dogs!). The Ringling also partners with Lighthouse of Manasota, an organization that serves people who are blind or low-vision. Educators use the same techniques (description, tactile props, approved touching) to help bring the artwork to life. The Museum hosted Lighthouse groups four times throughout the past fiscal year, serving a total of 31 blind or low-vision individuals who otherwise would not have been able to engage with the artwork.

The Ringling also provided American Sign Language interpreters on four different tours (including Museum of Art tours, Mable’s Tours, and John’s Tours) to serve our Deaf patrons. We offer this service free of charge upon request for anyone who needs it. Education staff also host a Community Access Advisory Group, made up of people with various disabilities, to inform how the Museum develops accessible programming. This community group meets twice a year to provide valuable input about how The Ringling can continue to become a more inclusive institution.

The Education Department is continually working to promote our strategic goal as a center for practice and presentation of art and culture. Staff initiated a “Ringling Remix” program to celebrate Pride Month by inviting local drag queen Beneva Fruitville to co-lead a tour with curatorial staff. This sold-out tour brought humor and delight to attendees as Beneva relayed her own unique take on our collection.

Our Viewpoints lecture series continued to present notable guest scholars to our community in thoughtful discussions on exhibitions and our collections. Lectures in 2017–18 included Talisein Thomas on Ai Weiwei, Rodney Huey on circus history, Carol McCusker on the exhibition Aftermath, Jan Bardsley on gender politics in postwar Japan, and Vanessa Toulmin on the European circus. Our docent tour program brought the museum collections to life for over 87,000 visitors through engaging, conversational tours. Adult programs offered everything from Slow Art Day to lectures, artist talks, and gallery tours. We continued to support emerging museum professionals via our two resident graduate programs with FSU and hosted five students at The Ringling for the academic year.

Family engagement and intergenerational learning in our Youth and Family programs continue to expand at a dramatic pace. We implemented new tour models and expanded existing programming in order to better serve visitors of all ages. The Education team began monthly Stroller Tours for adults with infants, creating a low-stress environment in which new parents can enjoy the company of other adults. Summer Museum of Art Mondays, free programs that encourage participants to connect creative art-making projects to objects they observe in the Museum, were significantly expanded. This summer, the revised program model allowed us to serve greater numbers and increase program attendance by nearly 300%! Our early literacy program Ringling Order of Art Readers (ROAR) served over 3,500 toddlers and parents. We also hosted regular Family Days on the weekends that connected families to specific areas in the collections.

School and teacher programs are essential to

The Ringling’s educational mission, and this year we welcomed over 10,000 students for on-site field trips. School tours are always offered at no charge and include optional bussing funds for schools in need. We offered several professional development training opportunities for teachers to support arts integration, including one in collaboration with the Circus Arts Conservatory. The Ringling continued our partnership with Any Given Child and hosted their teachers here several times to support arts-infused classroom learning.