K-12 teachers in Whatcom and Skagit Counties are invited to apply for an expenses-paid, two-day art education conference hosted by the National Gallery of Art with participation from six Western U.S. museums, including the Whatcom Museum in Bellingham, WA. Part of the National Gallery of Art’s “Across the Nation” partnership program that launched this year, the regional institute — called Teaching the Whole Student Through Art — runs September 19 – 20, 2025, in Reno, NV, and gives participants tools and resources for incorporating art education into existing curricula and school subjects.
"Most elementary schools in Whatcom County don’t have a dedicated art teacher or program, and arts in middle and high schools are also being severely cut. That’s why it’s so important to make sure we are supporting and empowering teachers to bring art into their classrooms in inspiring and creative ways,” said Whatcom Museum Educator Kimberly Wulfestieg.
The application period for the 2025 Western U.S. Institute for Educators is open now and runs through June 30. Travel costs and hotel accommodations are included, and teachers will earn 15 professional development hours and a stipend for a substitute teacher to cover their classroom absence. Ten teachers from each museum’s region will be selected and notified by July 16.
Selected teachers will travel to Reno and meet with education teams from each of the participating regional museums – the Nevada Museum of Art, Boise Art Museum, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver Art Museum, Anchorage Museum, and the Whatcom Museum – along with educators from the National Gallery, artists, and educational scholars.
“This is a phenomenal opportunity for classroom outreach, and we’re thrilled to be part of it,” said Whatcom Museum Acting Executive Director Maria Coltharp. “It’s an honor for us to be a bridge between the National Gallery and the amazing teachers of our region.”
The Whatcom Museum’s connection to the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., began in 2024 when the museum was selected to receive three French artworks on long-term loan from the National Gallery’s permanent collection as part of its “Across the Nation” program. Now, the museum’s partnership with the National Gallery is growing to include local educators, who are often the first people to introduce students to art.
Conference details and application requirements can be found on the National Gallery's website.
About the Whatcom Museum
The Whatcom Museum was founded in 1941 and overlooks Washington State’s Bellingham Bay. Notable projects have included the 2019 retrospective exhibition WANTED: Ed Bereal for Disturbing the Peace, featured in The New York Times; the award-winning, co-curated exhibition Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea, which traveled to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., in 2023; and Verdant: French Masterworks from the National Gallery of Art. Also on view now are El velo exquisito / The Exquisite Veil: Works by Alfredo Arreguín and Not the Whole Picture, Garth Amundson & Pierre Gour.
Opening this summer are A Pull to the Pacific: West Coast Lithography of the New Deal Era; Mary Ann Peters’ myself inside your story; and Meander by Io Palmer. The Whatcom Museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.
The Whatcom Museum campus in downtown Bellingham includes three buildings: the Lightcatcher, Old City Hall, and Old Fire Station No. 1. For more information about exhibitions and admission, visit whatcommuseum.org.
