Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Step Into Art in 2025!

Sunday, August 24, 2025

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Step Into Art!  We launched Step Into Art in 2005 through a partnership with the Newton Mayor’s Office for Cultural Affairs, and from that successful beginning, went on to develop programs serving students in schools all over Boston.  Step Into Art has now reached more than 6,000 children.

In May, we celebrated our 20th anniversary in Gutman Gallery at the Harvard Graduate School of Education with a magnificent exhibition of artwork and writing by sixth graders in our annual program with Mother Caroline Academy.  As the students presented their self-portraits inspired by artist Gio Swaby to a full-house of parents, friends, and supporters, they made everyone incredibly proud. 

All year long, third graders in our deeply-rooted partnerships with five Boston public schools brought their joy to SIA programs.  We are honored to work with the Murphy K-8 School and the Lee Academy Pilot School in Dorchester, the Haley Pilot School in Roslindale, the Guild Elementary School in East Boston, and the Warren-Prescott K-8 School in Charlestown.  

Step Into Art is unique in the Boston arts education landscape, offering a bridge between schools and museums. Our innovative model leads from classroom to museum and back again, actively engaging young students with great works of art, building excitement and connection, and giving all students the chance to shine through multiple modes of learning. Kids “step into art” through observation and discussion, posing and acting, music and dance, storytelling, sketching, self-portrait-making, and writing.

We have developed programs bringing students to the MFA, the Gardner Museum, the Harvard Art Museums, and the Peabody Essex Museum.  Over the years, students have created expressive art of their own inspired by artists ranging from Rembrandt and John Singleton Copley to Picasso and Jackson Pollock to contemporary artists Kehinde Wiley, Ekua Holmes, Bisa Butler, and Gio Swaby.  

We look forward to stepping into our next decade with programs that continue to offer wonder and uplift, discovery and imagination, creative expression and an expanded world — experiences of art that nurture all our students.

Step Into Art with Inspiration from Kehinde Wiley – a special event at the Harvard Art Museums on February 12, 2023

Sunday, January 15, 2023

© Photo by Mike Ritter, www.mikeritterphoto.com

Join Step Into Art in the Calderwood Courtyard at the Harvard Art Museums on Sunday, February 12th to create artful photo portraits inspired by Kehinde Wiley’s Portrait of Asia-Imani, Gabriella-Esnae, and Kaya Palmer, now on view at HAM. Museum admission is free for the day, and all are welcome at this special community event!

Step Into Art originally created the mural pictured above with 3rd graders from Lee Academy Pilot School to form an immersive installation for school portraits. Drawing inspiration from the magical, elaborately-patterned backgrounds in portraits by Kehinde Wiley, students created paper sculptures of birds, flowers, and bees, which were then assembled into a vibrant mural.  For the past two years, the school’s 190 children all had the chance to strike proud poses for photo portraits taken by photographer Mike Ritter in front of this shared community creation.

We invite you to let your imagination soar and enjoy a unique photo opportunity for portraits embodying the majestic poses of Wiley’s subjects. Create an art piece in the HAM Materials Lab to add to our mural installation or take home with you. Come view, pose, create, and celebrate! Step Into Art with us!

Step Into Art with Inspiration from Kehinde Wiley
Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St. Cambridge, MA
Sunday, February 12th, 2023
12:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Museum admission is free on Sundays
Our drop-in event is open to all!

Follow the event on Instagram @stepintoartinc

© Photo by Step Into Art

Pictured above: A Mother Caroline student posing in front of Kehinde Wiley’s
Portrait of Asia-Imani, Gabriella-Esnae, and Kaya Palmer during a recent visit to
the Harvard Art Museums with Step Into Art.

Greater Boston Museum Educators’ Roundtable, January 2007

Monday, January 15, 2007

“Boston-Area Museum Educators ‘Step Into Art’ with Abby Rischin at the MFA”

In a morning workshop dedicated to thinking about diverse learning styles and ways of engaging visitors with works of art, Abby Rischin from Step Into Art shared powerful teaching strategies with us. By asking us to literally “step into” paintings by acting out the gestures we saw, sounds we thought we heard, and emotions we sensed, each participant was able to begin to build a personal connection with the works of art. We connected with narrative paintings, landscapes, still lifes, and portraits in dynamic ways. As a museum educator, I dedicate my career to helping visitors of all ages actively engage with works of art in order to develop meaningful connections. The techniques employed by Step Into Art allow students to do just that. They use close looking, discussion, movement, art-making and imagination to better understand great works of art.

Jennifer M. DePrizio
Director of Visitor Learning, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and Committee Member, Greater Boston Museum Educators’ Roundtable