Anne Spurgeon is an artist and educator who views these disciplines as vital conduits for human connection and understanding. With over twenty years of experience in classrooms, museums, and non-profit settings, Spurgeon is passionate about fostering community and engagement through her work. She has extensive expertise in working with participants of all ages and abilities.
As a museum educator at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, Spurgeon led thematic, inquiry-based, and multi-sensory tours and art studios for diverse groups, including school children, community members, and individuals with access needs. She developed monthly programs for people with dementia and Alzheimer's, as well as for individuals with autism and their families. Spurgeon also built adult community partnerships, working with groups such as English language learners, veterans, formerly homeless individuals, people living with HIV/AIDS, and those with mental health needs. Additionally, she established community partnerships with organizations like New York Restoration Projects and Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance. Her work included leading family and teen programs in collaboration with New York Public Libraries and facilitating K-12 partnerships with NYC Department of Education Hospital Schools, specifically in psychiatric units for children and adolescents.
At The Noguchi Museum in Long Island City, NY, Spurgeon served as both a museum educator and an administrator. She co-developed and facilitated youth projects, exhibitions, panels, and off-site field trips for the museum’s teen advisory board. She also facilitated a collaborative internship credit course for high school students and developed hands-on workshops and programming for adults. Spurgeon implemented professional development workshops for museum educators, focusing on inquiry and techniques for working with individuals with diverse physical, emotional, developmental, or learning abilities. She collaborated with teachers and coordinators to create responsive and inclusive lessons that complemented classroom curricula and extended partnership programs for school, community, and access groups.
Spurgeon has been an artist-in-residence at various schools in Queens, NY, and a TeachArtsOhio grant recipient, leading a year-long residency at Red Oak Community School in Columbus, OH. She has served as a visiting artist for BAM Thursdays at The Columbus Museum of Art and the studio art program at Denison University. Other visiting artist engagements include Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, NY, and Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ.
Currently, Spurgeon is an Arts & Culture Educator and Camp Director at Red Oak Community School while working towards her Ohio Department of Education (ODE) Alternative Resident Educator License. She is the founding member of Dream Land Art Studio. Spurgeon holds a BFA from The Ohio State University and an MFA from the School of Visual Arts.