NAMTA Initiates National Touring Exhibit for the Centenary Working in collaboration with the Montessori Training Center of Minnesota and Pacific Crest Montessori School, NAMTA is initiating a major traveling exhibit and Montessori museum collection that will be the first exposition of its kind in Montessori history. The Centenary event, titled A Montessori Journey 1907-2007, is a two-thousand-square-foot exhibit that will travel to six cities. The point of origin will be San Francisco, where the AMI/USA refresher course takes place in February, 2007. The exhibit will be finally installed as a permanent collection at the Montessori Training Center of Minnesota, creating a museum open to the public in November, 2007. The project is under the direction of David Kahn and recently appointed board member Gerard Leonard. Remaining Stops Click links for detailed site information. Washington DC:September 10-21, 2007 New dates and venue! (see below) Cleveland, OH: September 25-October 7, 2007 New dates and venue! (see below) Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN Exhibit will be open for NAMTA conference, October 18-21, and then have a permanent home at the Montessori Training Center of Minnesota

NAMTA's Exhibit Scheduled Stops Exhibit Description DVD of Photo Images from Exhibit Other Centenary Activities Montessori Centenary Declaration: NAMTA Campaign Official Montessori Centenary Web Site UK Montessori Centenary Committee media release (pdf file)

Washington DC Stop

Location (note new location): John Paul II Cultural Center, 3900 Harewood Road, NE, Washington, DC 20017, 202-635-5400
Dates: September 10-21, 2007. The exhibit will open on the evening of September 10 and close on September 21.
Days Open: Open to the public on September 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21. The exhibit is also available for touring school groups on September 12, 17, 19 by reservation only. Please contact Erica Mitchell at Aidan Montessori School, 202-387-2358 for reservations.
Hours: Monday - Saturday 10 - 5pm, Sundays 12 - 5pm.
Click here for a pdf brochure on the DC exhibit stop and concurrent local conference.

Cleveland stop

Location: Western Reserve Historical Society, 10825 East Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, (216) 721-5722, www.wrhs.org.
Dates: Wednesday, September 26 through Sunday, October 7.
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.
Admission: $4; includes admission to the rest of the museum as well. The admissions desk in the gift shop will have a sign-in book for Montessori visitors to check in to get the discounted rate.
Click here for a pdf brochure on the Cleveland exhibit stop.

Minneapolis-St. Paul Stop

Permanent Home: Montessori Training Center of Minnesota
Click here for information on seeing the exhibit at the MTCM during the NAMTA conference, October 18-21, as well as its permanent installation.

A Montessori Journey 1907-2007: Exhibit Description

A Montessori Journey uses historical and contemporary photos as well as artwork, Montessori furniture and artifacts to dramatically depict the development of Montessori and showcase its legacy.

As a result of an international effort involving Germany, the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom, in cooperation with Centenary Committee of the Association Montessori Internationale, the North American Montessori Teachers' Association (NAMTA) presents an exhibit of more than twenty historical and contemporary stations, including a photographic collection that has never before been assembled in one place. Visitors can tour a life-size representation of the Vienna Haus der Kinder indoor/outdoor environment form the 1920s and 1930s, view rare period Montessori artifacts, and interact with a video library that brings alive the widespread and rapid diffusion of Montessori's vision. The exhibit culminates in a mural of children's art from Montessori schools around the world, visually depicting our planet from the origin of the universe to peace on Earth.

The Journey begins on Via Di Marsi, San Lorenzo, Rome, in 1907, and takes the participant through a visual encounter with children through space and time, spanning a century. The exhibit features two routes, the historical route and the contemporary route. The historical route shows Italy, the United States, Australia, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, England, Ireland, Scotland, France, and India when their cultures first encountered Dr. Montessori's child-centered principles and prepared environments. The contemporary walk shows a wide array of countries with culminating Montessori themes touching on the spiritual convictions of Montessori's deepening vision of the universal child and peace through educational practice.

The event is sponsored by the Centenary Committee of Association Montessori Internationale, Nicholas and Orcillia Oppenheimer, John and Paula Lillard, an anonymous donation through St. Helena Montessori School, VS Furniture Company and the Montessori Training Center of Minnesota.

NAMTA Initiates Campaign for Signatures on the Montessori Centenary Declaration

NAMTA members and friends are encouraged to visit the official Montessori Centenary Web Site and sign the Montessori Centenary Declaration. Enter campaign number "NAMTA" when you sign.

back to top