Superintendent's Day Conference 2026
The Heckscher Museum of Art strongly believes in its role as an educational resource for professional development for K-12 teachers and administrators. Every school year, educators across all disciplines are invited to grow and learn along with their colleagues at the Museum!
Tuesday, November 3, 2026
9 am – 3 pm
The Heckscher Museum of Art & Old First Church
K-12 teachers are invited to join us for this full day of interactive and collaborative art discussions designed to inspire, invigorate, and broaden art-making techniques and perspectives!
Enjoy museum curator-led tours of the exhibition Eclipse of the Sun Now. One hundred years ago, George Grosz created Eclipse of the Sun, a masterpiece of political art and one of the most significant paintings in the Heckscher Museum’s Collection. To amplify its enduring message, this museum-wide exhibition explores politically engaged art created over the last century featuring more than fifty works by leading artists of our time.
George Grosz
Eclipse of the Sun, 1926
Oil on canvas
Museum Purchase
Meet, learn, and create with two inspiring contemporary artists, Courtney M. Leonard and Sherry Davis.
Above (left to right): Courtney M. Leonard; Courtney M. Leonard (Shinnecock, b. 1980), CONTACT, 2,023…, 2023, Canvas, ceramic, brass, and artificial sinew. 48 x 96 in. The Heckscher Museum of Art. Museum Purchase with Partial Funding from the Town of Huntington Art Acquisition Fund. 2023.1
At the Museum, Courtney M. Leonard, a multimedia artist and filmmaker, will share an inspiring presentation of her work, which engages Long Island’s colonial history, celebrates Indigenous knowledge and resilience, and addresses urgent ecological issues. Leonard is an enrolled member of the Shinnecock Nation and Assistant Professor in the Department of Art at Stony Brook University. In 2023, the Heckscher Museum commissioned Leonard to create CONTACT 2,023… for her retrospective exhibition at the Museum. This remarkable artwork will be included in the exhibition Eclipse of the Sun Now. Learn more about Courtney M. Leonard’s work.
Above (left to right): Sherry Davis, photo by Mark Alhadeff; The Woven Gate fm Boxwoods, photo by Sherry Davis.
At Old First Church, Sherry Davis, a mixed-media sculptor known for monumental, site-responsive installations that transform reclaimed materials into explorations of place, memory, labor, community, and renewal, will share more about her process. Grounded in fiber techniques, her practice is shaped by the belief that materials carry stories and that meaning emerges through the relationship among object, site, and viewer. Her installations are developed in dialogue with landscape, local history, architecture, and community, making the site an active element of each work. Learn more about Sherry’s Davis’s work.
$140 per person*
*Registration required. Space is limited. Fee includes all supplies. This program is BOCES aidable. No payment is required at the time of registration. Invoices will be sent after the conference takes place. Participants receive a certificate for 6 CTLE Hours after the program takes place. The Heckscher Museum of Art is a NYSED CTLE Approved Provider.
PRIORITY REGISTRATION
for School District Members
Now through September 28
This conference fills quickly! Join today as a School District Member and receive free admission for three teachers ($420 value) and enjoy priority registration for all of your teachers. Once you complete the School District Membership Form, you will receive the conference registration link via email.
Not a School District Member?
General Registration will open at 10 am on Tuesday, September 29.
The registration link will be posted here.
Questions? Email our staff at education@heckscher.org.
All activities meet the New York State Learning Standards for the Arts and Common Core Learning Standards. The Heckscher Museum of Art is proud to be an Approved Sponsor of Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE) pursuant to Section 80-6 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education of The New York State Education Department (NYSED).