Join Us for a Free Arts Integration Workshop in Bridgeport!

CAPE warmly welcomes educators, teaching artists, and anyone curious about arts education and creative learning to a hands-on workshop—completely free to attend!

This free workshop will highlight the power of arts integration—showcasing how creative practices like visual art, sound, and music can deepen students’ understanding of academic content, particularly in STEM subjects.

You’ll hear directly from CAPE’s dynamic Artist/Researcher Partners, teams of teachers and teaching artists who are transforming public school classrooms through arts integration. These partnerships will share their real-world classroom projects and lead engaging, practical artmaking activities you can take back to your students.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll experience:

• At Mosaic Fine Arts School, Mr. Gustavo Soto and Gwendolyn Terry guided 5th graders through art to explore emotions—learning to identify and manage anger.
• At Durkin Park Elementary, Ms. Luz Santellano and Niema Qureshi’s 4th grade students brought the abstract concepts of energy and sound waves to life through multi-modal, sensory-rich learning.
• Longtime collaborators at STEM Magnet Academy Ms. Magdalena Sandoval and Betsy Zacsek have blended scientific inquiry with artistic exploration, creating classroom experiences that mirror both the lab and the studio.

All K–12 educators will receive 2 CPDU hours for attending.

RSVP by May 26 here to reserve your spot, and don’t miss this opportunity to learn, connect, and create!

Explore more about our presenters below—we can’t wait to see you at CAPE!

Mosaic School of Fine Arts

Gustavo Soto is a fifth-grade Bilingual/ESL Teacher at Mosaic School of Fine Arts. He has been part of CAPE and working with teaching artist, Gwendolyn Terry for 11 years. Gustavo centers his work to engage students in the arts because it provides them an avenue to express themselves artistically and to learn about their individualities. Their CAPE projects have centered around themes of identity, social emotional learning, and environmental justice.

Gwendolyn Terry, a Chicago-based artist, has exhibited her commissioned pieces and large-scale installations in solo shows, universities, national exhibitions, and productions. In the past decade, she’s also mentored emerging artists through artistic collaboration and integration. Teaching at Marwen, CAPE, Columbia College, CCAP,  designing workshops and retreats for Lillstreet Art Center, and large-scale collaborative installations for the Land for People’s Trust at the 606 are a few examples.

Durkin Park Elementary School

Luz Santellano is a fourth-grade science and social studies teacher in a Chicago Public Schools classroom. She is passionate about creating engaging and inclusive lessons that connect academic content to students’ real-life experiences. She believes in the power of collaboration as a vital tool for supporting minority and bilingual children, which is why she has been a CAPE teaching partner for three years. By fostering a classroom culture of teamwork and mutual respect, she hopes to help students feel valued and empowered. She hopes to inspire her students to pursue careers in STEAM by showing them the exciting possibilities within science and encouraging them to see themselves as future innovators and problem-solvers.

Niema Qureshi is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist and educator whose work explores the intersection of art, education, and technology. She has been an Artist/Researcher with CAPE for over a decade, collaborating with classroom teachers and students in K-12 public schools. She is also an adjunct assistant professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she teaches and mentors future educators. Committed to arts integration as a way to break down disciplinary silos, her teaching and artistic practice explore how technology can be reimagined to create more sensory and tactile experiences. She is also a participant in the Art21 Educators program.

STEM Magnet Academy

Magdalena Sandoval has over 20 years of experience as an educator in Chicago Public Schools and brings the Chicago Arts Partnership in Education wherever she goes! She is currently teaching middle grades science and engineering at STEM Magnet Academy. CAPE creates an opportunity for her to foster a positive learning environment and continue her commitment to community engagement. She believes in the transformative power of education, teamwork, and community to help children thrive.

Betsy Zacsek has been a Teaching Artist since 2011. She is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago who has created and curated art in galleries, moving trucks, public spaces, parks, and schools.