Anne Henderson (educator)

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Anne Henderson is an American museum educator who focuses on programs for children and schools. She is the Director of Education and Community Engagement at the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. Previously, she was the Curator of Education at the Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University and the Senior Educator for School Programs at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

She was born in Pampa, Texas, and grew up visiting local museums like the White Deer Museum and the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum. She earned a B.A. in English with a minor in Art History from Baker University in 1982 and an M.A. in Art History from the University of Texas at Austin in 1985. While at UT Austin, she worked as a docent at the Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, which later became the Blanton Museum of Art.

At SMU’s Meadows Museum in Dallas, Henderson served as Curator of Education, developing docent training and school visit programs. She curated an exhibition on French artist Rose Bonheur that traveled to the National Museum for Women in the Arts in 1988.

In 1990, Henderson joined the National Gallery of Art as Senior Educator for School Programs. In 1992 she piloted a high school seminar pairing students with teachers, featuring eight Saturday sessions with behind-the-scenes tours, gallery discussions, and lectures, ending with student presentations. The program continues today as “Museum Makers: Exploring Art and Museums.” In 1994 she created “Art Around the Corner,” an outreach program for fifth and sixth graders that emphasizes looking, critical thinking, and writing; it remains active and earned the Mayoral Award in 2002.

Henderson began at the Frist Center for Visual Arts in 2000; the museum was renamed the Frist Art Museum in 2018. As Director of Education and Community Engagement, she helped build the Martin ArtQuest (MAQ) space, which includes drawing, painting, printmaking, a zoetrope station, shadow theater, stop-motion animation, an interactive Everbright wall, a large textile-weaving installation, a full-body animated digital painting experience, and a sound-pattern station.

She has been active with professional associations, including serving as President of the Tennessee Art Education Association (2011–2013) and as Museum Division Director (2007–2008) and a board member (2009) for the National Art Education Association. She has also received awards from the NAEA.