Luned Palmer

Museum Education '14

My work in creating the best possible experience in museums, classrooms, and beyond was largely shaped by the teachers, atmosphere, and community at Bank Street. I have adopted Bank Street’s pedagogies of close listening, conversational teaching, teaching for multiple modalities, and respect for the whole learner. Every day, I feel comfortable and confident in my work thanks in no small part to my experiences in the Museum Education program at Bank Street.

After a cross country move from San Francisco to New York, artist and educator Luned Palmer discovered the Museum Education program at Bank Street College and decided to make a shift in her career from teaching art to museum education. For Palmer, selecting Bank Street Graduate School of Education “was an easy choice.”

“Almost everyone who I admired in the field had gone to Bank Street… it also is one of only a handful of programs in the states which offers a specific high-quality museum education program,” says Palmer, who is a self-employed contractor with four prominent museums in New York including The Guggenheim, The Noguchi Museum, The Jewish Museum, and The Morgan Library & Museum.

The Museum Education program integrates coursework with supervised fieldwork, which helped Palmer prepare for the leap into museum education. The Bank Street experience also opened up a network of professional contacts in the museum education community. “My Bank Street degree not only prepared me for this, but [it] garners respect and connections,” she said, noting that she remains in regular contact with her Bank Street network of industry professionals.

Originally from Newport, Rhode Island, which has a dynamic arts scene, Palmer has been inspired by art since she was a child. Prior to earning her Master of Science in Education at Bank Street, Palmer graduated from Swarthmore College with a degree in Studio Art.

While Palmer remains busy with her various museum work, she recently collaborated with another Bank Street alum to publish a paper about gallery activities in museums. “My desire to contribute to scholarship in the field was certainly shaped by my experience learning from others at Bank Street.”

Palmer has also managed programs for the Japan Society, the Montclair Art Museum, and the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian. “I lead museum experiences such as art-making workshops, gallery tours, and classroom visits for people of all ages and abilities—from families with toddlers, to access groups, to college students, seniors, and school groups.”