The Perpich Arts Integration Network of Teachers (PAINT) fosters collaborative arts integration in Minnesota through K-12 teacher professional development and funding to schools. With Perpich Center facilitation, teacher teams develop and implement arts-integrated lessons and units. PAINT program components include:

Professional Development and Facilitation: PAINT teachers work together to develop and implement arts-integrated lessons that are student-centered and standards-based. They learn strategies for integrating the arts with other content areas in meaningful, engaging ways; aligning standards, learning goals, and assessments; and reflecting on and learning from student work. Professional development opportunities include multi-day workshops in summers, several 1-day network meetings throughout the school year, and meetings with Perpich facilitators on-site and online.

Professional Network, Online and In-Person: Building bridges across disciplines involves tearing down silos and making connections—between content areas, within school teams, and across the region. Teachers network in two different spaces: in person at workshops and meetings, and in an online community of practice. Together, school teams share expertise, solve problems, build arts integrated curricula, assess student learning, and reflect on professional learning.

Documentation and Technology: PAINT is an arts integration laboratory to create, test, and refine lessons. School teams contribute to the big picture of arts integration in Minnesota by digitally documenting and sharing those exemplary lessons and practices.

Standards and Assessments: So what are students actually learning in arts-integrated lessons? Teachers want to know that too. While constructing arts-integrated lessons, teachers work together to address standards, build assessments that accurately reflect student learning, and review the arts-integrated student work to improve instruction and student learning.