BOSTON, MASS.- The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum announced that Michelle Grohe, Esther Stiles Eastman Curator of Education, has been honored with the National Art Education Association (NAEA)’s 2020 National Museum Education Art Educator Award.

The prestigious award, determined through a peer review of nominations, recognizes the exemplary contributions, service, and achievements of one outstanding NAEA member annually at the national level within their division.

“I’m so appreciative to the National Art Education Association for this award,” Grohe said. “It means a lot for my work to be recognized alongside such an accomplished group of peers in arts education.”

“Michelle has accomplished so much here at the Gardner Museum,” said Peggy Fogelman, the Museum’s Norma Jean Calderwood Director. “She developed a new professional development program for our K-12 teachers that integrates arts across all subject areas, spearheaded our work on diversity, equity, and inclusion; and always makes sure education has a strong voice in our exhibition programs. She’s incredibly deserving of the NAEA award.”

At the Gardner, Grohe provides creative leadership for the Museum’s education activities and initiatives to ensure that multiple and new audiences engage with the Museum, its collection, and exhibitions. She works closely with other senior leaders and the director to advance the Gardner as a distinctive provider of innovative, inspiring cultural experiences that broaden and diversify the Museum’s audiences, motivate return visitation, and expand our network of community partners, artists, and affinity groups.

"This award is being given to recognize excellence in professional accomplishment and service by a dedicated art educator,” said NAEA president Thom Knab. “Michelle Grohe exemplifies the highly qualified art educators active in education today: leaders, teachers, students, scholars, and advocates who give their best to their students and the profession."

Grohe began at the Gardner in 2005 as Director of School & Teacher Programs, managing and refining the longstanding School Partnership Program and its related Thinking Through Art research project and symposium, and then additional longitudinal studies with elementary and high school students. As Assistant Curator of Education & School Programs beginning in 2015, she helped redesign the museum’s K-12 School Partnership Program into Thinking Through Art, an intensive professional development program currently serving 54 Boston public teachers that enables the Gardner to reach more than 2,000 students each academic year.

Previously, Grohe held education positions at the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy, Andover, and the Montclair Art Museum. She studied studio art at Millikin University (B.F.A.) and art + design education for museums at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD, M.A.). In addition to currently serving on the board of the National Art Education Association as the Museum Education Division Director, she is also a frequent presenter at local and national conferences. In 2010, Grohe was named Massachusetts Art Education Association’s Art Museum Educator of the Year.

Founded in 1947, the National Art Education Association is the leading professional membership organization exclusively for visual arts educators. Members include elementary, middle, and high school visual arts educators; college and university professors; university students preparing to become art educators; researchers and scholars; teaching artists; administrators and supervisors; and art museum educators—as well as more than 54,000 students who are members of the National Art Honor Society. We represent members in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, U.S. Possessions, most Canadian Provinces, U.S. military bases around the world, and 25 foreign countries.

The mission of NAEA is to advance visual arts education to fulfill human potential and promote global understanding.