Now in its fourth year, the Cleveland Museum of Art's StART SmART program —funded by PNC Grow Up Great—provides arts-enriched learning experiences designed to help underserved preschool children in the Cleveland metropolitan area succeed in school and in life. A comprehensive program, StART SmART provides each of its early childhood partners with:

• Educator professional development opportunities
• Field trips to the Cleveland Museum of Art
• Hands-on art projects led by the museum's teaching artists
• Art-focused family programs
• Themed resource kits connecting the museum's collection to a variety of curricular areas

Process-based visual arts activities and explorations promote kindergarten readiness by developing visual and verbal literacy, as well as creative problem solving.

StART SmART serves nine early childhood centers—over 400 children and approximately 45 teachers and assistants—within a three-mile radius of the museum. Partners include: Ministerial Day Care Association, Karamu Early Childhood Development Center, and Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

PNC Grow Up Great is a $350 million, multi-year, bilingual initiative that began in 2004 to help prepare children from birth to five for success in school and life. The program launched in Cleveland with a round of grants to the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Orchestra, PlayhouseSquare, and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum to create or further education programs to pre-kindergarten children.

Not in the StART SmART program? You can still take advantage of the museum's early childhood resources. Schedule a museum tour or studio [1] for your preschool class, or borrow kits developed in the StART SmART program from the museum's Teacher Resource Center [2] for use in your classroom.

For more information about preschool programming for teachers, students, and families, contact Liz Wilcox-Clay at lclay@clevelandart.org [3] or 216-707-2181.

Funded by:

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