FARGO, ND.- North Dakota Council on the Arts has awarded professional development grants to Sandra Ben-Haim, assistant director of education, and Pamela Jacobson, curator of outreach education. Both are staff members of Plains Art Museum. The will facilitate their attendance at the National Art Education Association conference in Minneapolis in April.

Ben-Haim has been with the Museum since 1999. She coordinates a vibrant Museum Visit program which serves more than 4,000 people annually including school children from the region. Ben-Haim lives in Fargo with her husband Meir. They have three grown children.

Jacobson has also been with the Museum since 1999. She is developing the Museum’s outreach program which will serve children and adults in largely non-urban areas of North Dakota and Minnesota. The program will feature a lending suitcase program which includes original artworks and curriculum that helps teachers integrate art into classroom subjects. The program also offers Learning Posters which pair curriculum with images from the Museum’s permanent collection.

The Museum plans to significantly expand its educational programs through its “Little artist in all of us” campaign. The campaign is raising funds for the Creativity Center for Lifelong Learning which includes Fingerprints Interactive Education Gallery and working with Fargo Public Schools and other educational entities to build teaching studios. The campaign will also strengthen operations by enhancing the Museum’s endowment and visitor services.