Teaching for Artistic Behavior
Connect with fellow art educators and explore choice-based learning at MassArt.
The 2026 Teaching for Artistic Behavior Summer Institute has concluded. Check back for information about the 2027 program, including dates, registration, and course details.
Each July, MassArt partners with Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) to offer an intensive one-week institute for Pre K–12 art educators.
The TAB Institute brings together educators from across the country and around the world to explore choice-based art education, develop new approaches to teaching, and spend dedicated time learning and making alongside their peers.
Participants work in cohort groups aligned with the grade levels they teach, including Elementary and Middle/Secondary cohorts. A Studio Cohort provides returning participants with an opportunity to focus more deeply on developing studio habits for themselves and their students.
What to Expect
The TAB Institute combines professional learning, hands-on studio experiences, collaboration, and opportunities for participants to develop ideas they can bring back to their classrooms.
Program Highlights
- Content for both experienced and beginning TAB practitioners
- Cohort groups for Elementary, Middle/Secondary, and Studio (for returning participants)
- Participant-led presentations, discussions, and exhibits
- TAB instructional practices, assessment tools, and classroom strategies
- Studio Center introductions and demonstrations
- Dedicated time for educators to work as artists and makers
- Opportunities to connect and share ideas with fellow art educators
The Institute is typically offered in person on MassArt’s Boston campus and may be taken for graduate credit or non-credit. On-campus housing is also typically available.
2026 Institute: Building Sustainable Studios
The 2026 TAB Institute, “Building Sustainable Studios,” took place July 13–17, 2026.
Visiting artists Joyce Husseini and Leneigh White of the Boston Modern Quilters Guild explored global quilting traditions and contemporary quilting practices, including their no-new-materials Denim Project.
Participants worked with community-sourced second-hand fabrics while considering ways quilting, reuse, and sustainable studio practices could be incorporated into K–12 art classrooms.
Graduate Credit & Professional Development
Participants in the TAB Institute may have the option to enroll for graduate credit or participate on a non-credit basis.
MassArt offers graduate credit and issues an official transcript for completed graduate-level work. Educators may also use a Certificate of Completion toward Massachusetts Professional Development Points, subject to applicable requirements.
Specific credit requirements, costs, and professional development information will be provided when registration opens for the next Institute.
Registrations are accepted on a first-come, first-served and space available basis.
On-campus housing is typically available for TAB Institute participants during the program.
Shared rooms are available in MassArt’s Tree House Residence Hall. Each room includes two beds and a shared bathroom, with linens provided. Participants should bring their own toiletries. Housing is generally available from Sunday through Saturday.
Massachusetts College of Art and Design offers graduate credits and issues an official transcript for work completed in the TAB Summer Institute. A Certificate of Completion may be used for Massachusetts Professional Development Points.
Requirements For 3 Graduate Credits
- Pre-institute online components including reading, reflection, and writing
- Attend a minimum of 135 hours combined class time, pre-institute work, and studio time
- Share a demo in Studio and/or present at the unconference on Thursday
- Complete a final project. Past projects have included class websites, room design plans, curriculum mapping, and advocacy brochures.
MassArt is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for documented physical and learning disabilities. Requests for any accommodation should be made two months before the start of the course. Please write to the Accommodations Office after completing this form.
A written withdrawal request must be sent to ce@massart.edu before June 1 in order to receive a refund of all payments.
