Self-Guided
Visits
| Title: |
|
A
Picture of America (American Gallery) |
| Audience: |
|
Grades
2 – 6 |
| Length: |
|
1
Hour |
| Program
Leader: |
|
Teacher |
| Type of Program: |
|
Self-Guided
Visit
All self-guided visits are theme-based and
emphasize active looking and discussion supported
by hands-on resources to reinforce ideas
and concepts. |
Subject area integration – To
reinforce the educational philosophy of the
Museum, the visits in the galleries will be
as interdisciplinary as possible. To that end
use a variety of resources to emphasize the
ideas and stimulate cross subject connections.
Description
Art - Glittery golden leaves. Shimmering
pink sunsets. Bright blue skies and fluffy white
clouds. Color abounds as students explore the
seasons and places of landscapes. Students will
discover the personal role color plays in our
lives, particularly its ability to stir our emotions
and awaken the imagination. Connections will
be established between what students already
know about color and the artists’ use of
this element.
Music – Music
can be played and several stanzas of various
songs can be passed around to stimulate students
understanding of how different artists use
the same subject matter to create various artistic
outlets. Use the vocabulary of the elements
of art to show cross curriculum ties.
Language Arts – Students
can close their eyes and listen to some poetry
or short prose about the subject of nature
and/or landscape at various seasons and different
times of day. Adjectives can be used to create
brief but clear descriptions of what students
see in the gallery. Different parts of the
county can be talked about, as well as different
approaches to the subject. The elements of
art can be used to tie the vocabulary together.
History – Students
can be introduced to the historical context
of the paintings by being guided to comment
on dress, historical markers, and condition
of the land.
Gallery Cart
Various size paint brushes, palette knife, various
tubes of oil paints
Landscape in different colors
Wooden artist palette with different colors
Tape recorder with music
Copies of several poems, subject specific
Map of early America
Weather map
Program Threads
Inspiration from nature
Going on a journey
The four seasons in art, music, science, and
written word
Importance of color and how it makes us feelOverview
of Program
Introduction
Approximately 10 minutes
- Seat
your group in a quiet area and begin by
introducing students
to the Museum. Ask them: Have you ever
been here before? What did you see? Have
you visited
other museums? What did you see there? Can
you guess what is in this Museum? Etc.
- Introduce
the theme of the visit by asking: Who can
name some different types of seasons? Some
different times of day? What is your favorite
season (time
of day)?
Why? If you were to paint a picture of outside
at this very moment, what colors would you
use? Why those colors? What do the trees outside look
like? Does anyone remember?
- Explain
to students that throughout the year’s artists, musicians,
writers, and poets have always been inspired by nature. Today on their visit
they are going to see lots of different types of landscape paintings and learn
how artists create them using different colors and techniques. Some of the works
here are by artists who were alive a long time ago while some of the artists
who painted these pictures are still living. Are they ready to go look?
- Review
Museum etiquette before entering the galleries.
In
Gallery
Approximately 35-40 minutes
- View
and discuss 5-7 landscape paintings in
the collection. Begin the adventure with
the oldest
pieces (Hudson River School, etc) and move
into the twentieth century. Use the idea
of traveling and adventure to engage the
students as you move from gallery to gallery.
It is
important to juxtapose different types
of landscape paintings created in different
periods to keep
the visit dynamic for students.
- When
you enter the gallery, briefly take the students
to a portrait and a still life painting.
Why is this not a landscape painting? Explain
that
artists (include all the artists, not just visual artists) like to paint
many different subjects and that portraits
and still life works are two examples of
other things artists to paint.
- From
this point on, move students through the
gallery to view and discuss a variety of
landscape paintings. See the suggested works
list for ideas. Make
sure your selection is varied in style, time period, and seasons or time
of day. Select at least one work where the
focus is not on the landscape i.e. Buttonwood
Farm by Wyeth, but where the landscape sets the stage. Also include a
seascape.
- With
every work you visit, begin by asking students
the question: What do you see? Use the
first painting they see to establish a basic
list
of landscape “ingredients” and
then use these suggested questions below to explore the various paintings.
With each painting focus on the season,
the colors, technique/style, and how the
work
makes them feel when they look at it. Can they guess the season and/or
time of day just by looking at it?
Note:
Use the materials on the gallery cart to support
the discussion, i.e. when asking students if
the artist used a big paint brush, a small
one, a palette knife, etc. hold them up for
the students and/or pass them around and help
the students make their decisions. Suggested
Questions:
- What
do you see? What time of day is it?
- What
is the most important thing in the painting?
How can you tell? Is the sky or land the
most important do you think?
- Does
this painting look the same as the one we
just saw? How is it different? How is it
the same? Do you think the artist painted
exactly what he/she saw or
do think the artist changed things? Why do you think the artist painted
this scene? Does this look like a place you
would like to visit? Does this look like
a place you have visited? Explain. Does it look like Reading or somewhere
else? Explain.
- If
you could walk into the painting, what sounds
would you hear? What smells would surround
you? Describe the scene for a friend as if
you were writing
him/her a postcard.
- What
colors do you see? Has the artist used “real colors” or
did he/she make up these colors? If not, why has the artist changed the colors?
Would it make a difference? Is it ok to change the colors? What if the artist
had painted this same scene during a different time of day or a different season,
what colors would you use? Explain how artists use a range of colors when creating
a painting. Show the artist’s palette to support the discussion.
- How
has the artist put the paint on the canvas?
Do you think the artist used a big or small
paintbrush or did he/she use a brush at all?
Did the artist
use a palette knife? How can you tell? Why do you think the artist
painted the landscape this way? How does
it make you feel? Does the sun/snow/morning/evening/clouds/trees/
make you feel hot/cold/sad/scared, etc? Do you think this is
how the artist wanted
you to feel when you looked at this work?
- Where
appropriate share any anecdotal information
you may have about the artists with students.
Make sure the information relates to the
theme, i.e.
did the artist keep a sketchbook (show an example of an artist’s journal/sketchbook),
did he go on journeys to paint? Share some memorable fact with the student so
that he/she can talk about it back in the classroom, can share it with their
friends and their family, and will want to come back to learn another fact!
- After
you have viewed several landscapes, seat
students in a circle or group in the gallery
and ask them: Do you think painters are the
only artists
inspired by nature? Explain that musicians are also inspired
by nature. One man named Vivaldi even wrote
music called The Four Seasons. Another musician
by the
name of Woody Guthrie sang a tribute to America called This
land is your Land, This Land is my Land.
Two poets, Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman
wrote about the
American landscape. Play the above on the tape recorder,
pausing between each piece.
- To
add variety to this visit include an abstract
work that may or may not be a landscape.
Have the students explore it in the same
way they did the
others to see if they think it is a landscape or not. Take
a vote.
Conclusion
Approximately 5 minutes
- Bring
the visit to a conclusion by asking students:
Before you came to visit today, did you
think the Museum had this many landscape
paintings?
Did you know that artists of all kinds
really like
to paint, make music about, and write about
landscapes?
- What
are some things your remember from your visit
today? What makes a landscape different from
other paintings? Do you have a favorite painting
from
the ones we saw today? Why is it your favorite?
- Encourage
the students to go home and draw a landscape,
write a story or poem about a landscape,
or sing or listen to a song about a landscape.
- Return
the gallery cart.
Evaluation
1. Teacher Feedback
Related
Academic PA Standards in the Arts and Humanities
and History
Students will:
- Identify,
explain and analyze common themes, forms
and techniques from works in the visual arts.
- Recognize
critical processes used in the examination
of works in the visual arts
Including compare and contrast, analyze, interpret,
evaluate, and form judgements.
- Know
that works in the arts can be described by
using the art elements, principles, and concepts.
- Know
how to recognize and identify similar and
different characteristics among
works in the arts.
- Know
how to communicate an informed individual
opinion about the meaning of
works in the visual arts.
- Recognize
that choices made by artists regarding subject
matter and themes
communicate ideas through works in the arts and
humanities.
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