The Newberry Library will host two National Picturing America School Collaboration Conferences, on October 23-24, 2009, and April 16-17, 2010 and one Regional Picturing America Conference on August 19-20, 2010. These conferences will support teachers in the development of lessons using images from the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Picturing America program.

Conferences will feature presentations by distinguished scholars and sharing of resources in workshop formats. We will use the Newberry Library’s collections as well as a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago and a walking tour of Chicago’s Loop to model ways for teachers to use local resources in their own communities.

The Newberry Library’s Picturing America School Collaboration Conferences are made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The NEH has designated these conferences a We the People project.

To find more information about the April conference, or to apply, click here.

Conference Theme

Our conference theme is “Interpreting the American Landscape.” Conference sessions will explore the role of landscape imagery in shaping national identity, tracing the shift from a nineteenth-century emphasis on visions of pristine wilderness and rural landscapes to the twentieth-century’s urban and industrial scenery.

For information on participating scholars and staff, click here.