Enjoyment of Art: Hands-On Art History

Art Leadership

Grade Level: 9 - 12

Art Experience: Every Artwork Tells a Story

Objectives:

Standard 1: Creating Art

1. 1AV-P1. Create a brochure that applies media, techniques and processes with controlled skill, craftsmanship, confidence, understanding and sensitivity.

Standard 2: Art In Context

1. 2AV-P1. Analyze and interpret how elements of time and place influence the visual characteristics, content, purpose and message of works of art to be presented in an art exhibit.
2. 2AV-P3. Analyze and interpret how technological and scientific advances in the visual arts and other disciplines (e.g., humanities, science, mathematics) influence the creation of work.
3. 2AV-D1. Analyze the origins of specific images in the visual arts and explain their importance and influence.

Standard 3: Art As Inquiry

1. 3AV-P2. Compare and explain the power of the visual arts to communicate universal concepts (e.g., love, birth, death, truth, fear) throughout time and across cultures by choosing specific works of art that reflect one of these concepts, to be presented in an art exhibit.
2. 3AV-P3. Identify intentions of those creating artworks, compare the implications of the various purposes, and justify analysis of purposes in particular works.
3. 3AV-D2. Analyze the unique characteristics of aesthetic perception as compared with those of general perception, which is only concerned with an immediate like or dislike of an image.
4. 4. 3AV-D3. Demonstrate the ability to make refined and subtle discriminations when analyzing works of art by others.

Procedure:

The following is presented to the students online:

Introduction:

A traveling art exhibit is coming to your school. Unfortunately, the museum docents are unable to travel with the collection and your school needs someone - YOU! - to "show-and-tell" these wonderful works of art so that the people who view them can better appreciate them.

The Task:

You have been asked to be a docent for a traveling art exhibit that is coming to your school. Your job is to research the artworks you will display in the show and provide exhibit visitors with appropriate commentary for each artwork. You will be an expert on the works of art that are in the traveling art exhibit. When the exhibit is opened to the public, you will lead small groups of exhibit visitors through the displays, providing an educational tour of the artworks. In your commentary of each piece, you will discuss elements of art and principles of design, historical context (the story behind the work), art movement, and biographical information about the artist.

Resources:

You may use the following websites to assist you in your research:

Art Museum Collections:

Metropolitan Museum of Art

http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/index.asp

Phoenix Art Museum

http://www.phxart.org/collection.html

National Gallery of Art

http://www.nga.gov/collection/collect.htm

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

http://www.lacma.org/art/perm_col/permcol.htm

Art History Resources:

Mark Harden's Artchive

http://www.artchive.com/ftp_site.htm

Art History Resources on the Web

http://witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTHLinks.html

The Mother of all Art History Link Pages

http://www.umich.edu/~hartspc/histart/mother/

Art Terms:

ArtLex Art Dictionary

http://www.artlex.com/index.html

The Process:

1. Choose an overall theme for your exhibit.
2. Choose at least 6 pieces of art in an existing collection that is part of the permanent display of an art museum, based on your chosen theme.
3. Research your works of art. Include the following information:
   • Artist, Title, Date, Medium.
   • Where it was created.The style or movement it was created in, and what characteristics of the work define it as this particular style or movement.
   • The elements of art and principles of design that are dominant.
   • The story or message of the piece.
   • Political or historical events that may have influenced the artist.
   • Events in the artist's life that may have influenced his/her work.
4. Present at least 6 works of art in an exhibit. You may use one of the following forms: (be consistent, don't mix forms!)
   • Fine art reproductions/posters.
   • Slides.
   • Computer projected images (PowerPoint).
5. 5. Create a brochure for the traveling exhibit that describes 3 pieces of artwork that will be displayed. Include the following information:
   • Title of the exhibit.
   • Location of the exhibit.
   • Exhibit dates and hours.
   • Tour schedule.
   • Photos of 3 pieces of art, with brief descriptions of each: Artist, Title, Date, Medium; Style/movement; Story or message of the piece.
6. Give an oral presentation on at least 3 pieces of art that are not featured in your brochure.

Learning Advice:

Your brochure and oral presentation will be evaluated on the following criteria:

1. Appropriate works chosen for the theme of the traveling art exhibit.
   • If your theme is "florals" for example, make sure that every piece is a still life of a floral arrangement.
   • Choose your works carefully! Remember, this is an exhibit for public display in a public high school (yours!) and the images presented will represent YOU and YOUR SCHOOL to the general public.
2. Depth of research on each artwork. You should know each artwork inside-out and be able to answer random questions presented by your audience.
3. Professionalism.
   • Use a brochure template in your word processing program to produce the most effective printed brochure.
   • Dress appropriately for your oral presentation.
   • Make sure there are no spelling errors in your brochure and use correct grammar in both the brochure and your oral presentation.

Conclusion:

When you have finished putting together your brochure and completed your research, you will present a class or school art exhibit of six pieces of art using fine art reproductions, posters, slides, or computer projected images. Your exhibit is a showcase of more than just your knowledge of art - in talking about your choices of artwork, you will not only share facts, you will share your personal preferences and taste in art. Your brochure will be an example of your own skills in creating art as well - how you place the graphics on the page, your choice of fonts, etc. is a display of your personal creativity. Touring a real museum will be more meaningful when you have experienced for yourself a taste of what it takes to present a body of artwork...and when you view a piece in "real life" that you have researched on the web, you can amaze your friends with your personal - and knowledgeable - critique!