Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum connects students and the public with contemporary art through exhibitions, projects, and art education programs and initiatives.
Plugged-In Virtual Connections continues to serve elementary students in the Long Beach and ABC Unified school district with digital art activities at no cost to schools or students. A generous grant from the RuMBa Foundation allows Kleefeld Contemporary to extend and evolve important outreach in area schools through the new Plugged-In Virtual Connections program. Digital programming shared via YouTube will present arts-integrated learning lessons for elementary school and, now, also high school students starting in the fall 2020 semester.
In this new and improved model, educational materials incorporate relevant content created with working contemporary artists, all of whom are professionals who exhibit in museums and have robust, respected practices. The Plugged-In Virtual Connections program offers 4th grade classrooms artist talk video lessons designed to align with core curriculum standards. A multi-phase educational approach enhances classroom learning with art making projects in response to the series videos. Longer educational videos created with the same participating artists feature a hybrid format, with an additional studio visit segment to complement the artist talk; these videos will further establish our Art Encounter series, which is intended for high school and college audiences, as well as a adult viewers.
Digital interface tactics of the Plugged-In Virtual Connections and Art Encounter programs help ensure that no student loses out on arts education due to expected financial and resource shortfalls during these uncertain times. View Kleefeld Contemporary's YouTube channel.
Campus Collaboration
We welcome students from all academic programs to enjoy contemporary art with us. Kleefeld Contemporary encourages professors and campus communities to use our collections and exhibitions to create programs, panels, workshops and tours. We will work with you to connect our educational content to your curriculum to build enriched learning experiences for students.
Kleefeld Contemporary regularly facilitates collaborative programs with the School of Art, faculty and students as a partner in the presentation of the annual student exhibition, Insights, and the mentoring organization for the Museum Studies Program.
K-12 Programs
Kleefeld Contemporary offers docent-led tours of current exhibitions and the Outdoor Sculpture Collection for K-12 classrooms. All tours are free of charge and can be adapted to classroom curriculum and schedule. To aid in planning for your tour, please visit the Current Exhibition and Campus Sculpture information on this website for introductory information. Be sure to include at least one adult chaperone for every 15 students. Please review visitor policies on the visit page with your students to help protect the art for all to enjoy.
Plugged-In: Virtual Connections Program
The Plugged-In: Virtual Connections Program was developed for elementary school students to align with Common Core, State and National Standards in the areas of visual arts, social studies, language arts and mathematics. Every semester, this multi-phase program introduces students to collection works or current exhibitions, elements and principles of the objects, and contextual background, while connecting to grade subject matter. Students are introduced to the museum’s current artist(s) and exhibition(s) and create related studio art projects that encourage critical thinking, citizenship awareness and collaborative process skills.
Plugged-In Virtual Collections Program is made possible by generous grants from the The Earl B. and Loraine H. Miller Foundation, Arts Council for Long Beach and the Bess Hodges Foundation.