The 2018 Formative Learning Lab for Summer Institutes for Educators piloted new ideas and progressive methods for developing closer relationships with K-12 teachers. Instead of choosing a single theme or topic for the institute, VMFA educators invited ten K-12 teachers, who represented a range of grade levels, disciplines, and teaching experience, to spend three days working with VMFA educators to develop resources on five diverse topics for the Learn website. All participants agreed to keep the underlying themes of empathy and inclusion in mind as they worked.