Philip Yenawine was Director of Education at the Museum of Modern Art from 1983 to 1993. In 1993, he began as consulting curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, and during the academic year 1993-94, he was Visiting Professor of Art Education at the Massachusetts College of Art.

Yenawine is the author of an introduction to modern art called How to Look at Modern Art, and has published six children's books about art: Stories, Colors, Lines, Shapes, People and Places. In addition, he has published Key Art Terms for Beginners. He is currently working on a book based on the work of Abigail Housen, a series of biographies for young people, materials for teachers to use in their classrooms as well as consulting on a variety of projects in the United States and abroad.