CAPE invites all educators, teaching artists, and anyone interested in arts education and artmaking to a free workshop!

This arts integration workshop will explore how artmaking allows students to connect more deeply with academic content.

Educators will learn from CAPE teams of teachers and teaching artists who will present their arts integration projects in elementary social studies, and high school foreign language and diverse learner classes. Through the Artist/Researcher Partners program, these classes integrate visual arts, sound, and music. Each team will lead hands-on art activities, teaching practical skills that can be applied in the classroom.

Two CPDU hours are provided to K-12 educators. Please RSVP (below) by May 20, 2024.

Read below for more information about the featured presenters and their projects.

This Educator Workshop is part of CAPE’s annual Convergence exhibition celebrating arts-integrated investigations by over 900 CPS students from more than 45 classrooms across the city this year. The exhibition is on view between May 7-31, Tuesday–Friday, 11 AM–5 PM. For inquiries, contact mark@capechicago.org.

John B. Murphy Elementary School

Michele Sera is a 4th-grade teacher who spent the last 19 years of her 34-year teaching career at Murphy Elementary School. Her first partnership with CAPE was in 2015. Her projects have included partnerships with artists with expertise in ceramics, drawing, painting, digital media, music, sound, dance, and performance.

Ray Graham Training Center High School

Niema Qureshi is an interdisciplinary artist and Assistant Professor, Adjunct at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Since 2011, she has been a teaching artist with CAPE, collaborating with Chicago Public School teachers to develop and co-teach arts-integrated curriculum that fuses art and new technologies with contemporary practices. Her research focuses on engaging underrepresented youth in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math). Previously, Niema served on the CAPE board from 2016 to 2022, worked as a museum educator at The Art Institute of Chicago, and taught at Marwen, which offers free arts programs to students from under-resourced Chicago communities.

Katie Kurisch is a Special Education Art Teacher at Ray Graham Transition Center within the Chicago Public School District. Katie graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Viterbo University in La Crosse, WI, and her Masters in Special Education from The University of Illinois at Chicago. She has dedicated her life to working with individuals with diverse learning needs for over 26 years and is passionate about creating a supportive environment in which these individuals can create art as a means of limitless personal expression. She has worked with CAPE since 2013 and is grateful for the best-practice conversations and process-based art-making that CAPE promotes.

Lake View High School

Valerie Wadycki brings over twenty years of experience to her French students at Lake View High School where she also leads the World Language Department. She is a product of the Chicago Public Schools system. Spending her summers abroad in France has enabled her to keep her curriculum current. When Valerie is not teaching, she enjoys live music and exploring new cities.

Alicia Acosta brings ten years of Spanish experience to her Lake View High School students. As a world traveler, she brings in multiple cultural perspectives to her teaching. Alicia has lived in Venezuela, Mexico, Brazil, Romania, and Spain before settling in Chicago. Outside of the classroom, Alicia enjoys working with the community in different healing modalities.

Jason Roebke is a musician and composer living in Chicago. His work incorporates graphic composition, audio cassette manipulation, jazz, and improvisation. His newest recording, Four Spheres, was published in 2023 by Corbett vs. Dempsey. In addition to his work with Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education, Roebke has developed innovative youth programming for the Chicago Park District.