WASHINGTON, DC.- The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art announced a record‑setting gift from Carolyn Brehm, vice chair of the museum’s board of trustees, funding a museum education leadership role. The gift establishes the Ambassador Richard A. Boucher Museum Educator position for a five‑year term, appointed to Jennifer Reifsteck, a longtime educator at the museum. By extension, the gift supports the national expansion and extended access of the museum’s education programs.

Reifsteck has led several of the museum’s most innovative education initiatives including the development of Artful Movement, the museum’s first educational program focused on teaching social-emotional skills through art.

“Expanding educational initiatives is a core part of the museum’s strategic plan to ignite curiosity and promote understanding of the arts and cultures of Asia in future generations,” said Chase F. Robinson, director of the National Museum of Asian Art. “Carolyn’s gift recognizes the museum’s direction toward the next generation of art education—one that meets the needs of educators today and is accessible onsite and online, locally and nationally.”

Developed during the COVID‑19 pandemic in collaboration with mindfulness education nonprofit Create Calm, Artful Movement teaches students to engage deeply with works of art through slow looking, physical movement, emotional awareness and reflective observation. The program responds to a growing need for classroom tools that foster social connection and emotional regulation.

“It all started with the Thunder God—the perfect metaphor for the pent-up emotions and uncertainty of the pandemic,” said Reifsteck referencing a 19th‑century painting by Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) from the museum’s Japanese collection. “Students would use words like ‘danger’ and ‘devil’ to describe this red figure, but their interpretations and emotional responses shifted when they learned that in East Asian cultures, red is a color of vitality, growth and luck.”

That moment inspired Reifsteck to incorporate meditation, movement and social emotional reflection into art education. Initially serving Washington, D.C., schools, Artful Movement has since become a national model, leading to a three-year expansion grant supported by the Smithsonian’s “Together We Thrive” initiative.

Through this grant, Artful Movement will expand to eight states, with a focus on under‑resourced and rural schools, through partnerships with nine Smithsonian affiliate museums and their educator networks. Reifsteck will lead the program’s national implementation through 2028 in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service | Smithsonian Affiliations (SITES | Affiliations). All program resources will also be made available online for future classroom use.

“Artful Movement demonstrates how museums can support learning that extends far beyond gallery walls,” said Brehm. “This gift honors Jennifer’s leadership and supports the museum’s broader effort to help students use art as a tool for reflection, empathy and connection.”

Brehm’s gift is made in honor of her late husband, Ambassador Richard A. Boucher (1951–2025), and his lifelong dedication to education and global engagement. Her previous gifts to the museum were instrumental in funding virtual museum educator roles during the pandemic and significantly expanding national student engagement.

During the 2024–2025 school year, the National Museum of Asian Art engaged more than 10,000 students and educators through onsite and virtual field trips and professional development programs.. The museum is also among the few to invest in full-time educational outreach within its conservation department, expanding access to art conservation research for young audiences.

Founder and CEO of Brehm Global Ventures LLC, Brehm is currently a retired corporate executive and lecturer with more than 40 years of experience in global government relations, public policy and international business. She worked at two Fortune 100 companies and several nonprofits and business associations over the course of her career in Washington and Asia. She currently advises clients on commercial advocacy, government affairs, public policy and political risk.

She also co-chairs the board of global health NGO Health x Partners and is a trustee of the National Museum of Asian Art. She sits on the board of governors at the University of New Haven and the board of advisors of Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. She has taught as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and University of Michigan and was a regular lecturer on the Washington campus.

Brehm is a 1977 graduate of Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service with a concentration in Asian studies and holds a Master of Business Administration in international business from the University of New Haven’s program in Nicosia, Cyprus. She was an AFS International exchange student in Mumbai, India, in 1972. Brehm speaks Mandarin and has studied French.