• The museum as a window on the world
• The teacher as curator

AIM: Understand the importance of using art museums as an education resource. Consider the role of the classroom teacher as being similar to the role of an art curator who understands and carefully selects content for learning across multiple disciplines.

• How can a museum visit engage students with a variety of examples of artworks that reveal multiple knowledge modalities and cultural awareness.
• How can the use of hands on activities encourage creative problem solving through the understanding of the elements that make up the visual language.
• How does the viewers knowledge and experience with art medium effect interpretation and affect?         

OBJECTIVE:  Consider a work of art as a process and product, of the cultures, within the artists experience.  Experiencing an artwork visually calls upon the viewer to decode a variety of languages (color, shape, form, text and context).  From comments in our classroom conversations, it seemed that many students described their experience with art as having gone through a change, as individuals shared their own point-of-view about the art work. Context emerged through a community of responses. Students from Hunter College have ancestories from around the world and contribute profound meaning through the distinct cultural up bringing that they possess. Each person/student shares their own authority, teaching those who didn’t know a specific meaning. Know how to make connections between two or three different content areas in the arts.

OBJECTIVE: The use of contextual information should come out of a desire that is, based first, on having had an experience with the work of art. Being in, the language and materials of the art form in a creative way forms the most basic experience of communication. Often, within this group experience with a work of art, individuals call to question something that was noticed that takes us deeper into growing understanding.  This question, frequently calls attention to something that could be explored physically.   Elements that make-up an artwork can transform the everyday world into a language of symbols with multiple meanings.   Hands-on activities can be designed to reflect the desire to explore materials and artistic choices around the idea of this question.

Goal: To discover and develop a deeper understanding of relationships and connections between cultures?  Develop a deeper understanding of connections between cultures in your choice of teaching content? 

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Cultural symbols often exist over long periods of time. Representations of specific animals (turtles, snakes, bears, eagles) and plant forms (vines, flowers, stems, branches) may be used over thousands of years by one culture.

Often symbols may be shared worldwide.

Other representations and designs use visual symbolic languages using shapes and lines. Circles are associates with early North Americans.  Celtic line patterns resemble elaborate woven knots. 

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Write words that describe details in each artwork. Describe the process of each artwork. (painting, carving, hammered metal, woven rings, etc.)  Make a series of sketches for each artwork (front, back or side). (points of view)

1. One way to sketch is a line/scribble drawing Lesson1; Butterfly sketch or
2. Homework : Concrete Poem 

Think of ways to vocalize, dance or play a sound that the painting or sculpture evokes. Also, take note of teaching practice that you observe during the museum visit and write keywords that describe the process that you see.

REFLECTION QUESTION:
How would you describe the relationship between activity, looking at the work of art, personal / group reflection and the use of contextual information? Post your RESPONSE on the BB Discussion Board.

or if you REALLY can't make it to the museum... RESEARCH: 
Do a web search on art.  
Find and present a contextual link to one of the artists that you/we looked at on our first or second Museum /Gallery visit.  Go to http://www.Google.com