2022–2023 Museum to the Classroom Topics
Parts of Art
LOOK & LEARN. Discover the visual language of art: line, color, value, shape, form, space, and texture. Engage in simple activities designed to explore how artists use these basic elements of art to convey information and ideas.
CREATE (optional). Explore all of the parts of art and bring lines to life! Taking inspiration from Frank Stella’s Nogaro, students will create paintings and transform them into 3D sculptures that burst off the page!
My Art Museum
LOOK & LEARN. Learn about what museums do to collect, care for, and interpret art. Explore various subjects, styles, and materials, and become acquainted with some of Joslyn's most beloved treasures through a fun art criticism game.
CREATE (optional). Put on a curator’s hat and design an art exhibition! Determine a theme and select artworks that connect with it. Students will create simple 3D models to display their installation.
Art of the American West
LOOK & LEARN. Study North American Indigenous peoples, as well as the explorers and artists who connected with them starting in the early 1800s, to Native American artists today. Make connections to the Lewis & Clark Expedition and compare past and present artworks, and discover how Indigenous artists continually adapt to change while celebrating tradition.
CREATE (optional). Become an artist-explorer and scientist to record discoveries! Students will create instant book journals and travel through artworks, sketching and documenting the critters they find along the way, just like Karl Bodmer and Prince Maximillian.
Many Moods of Me
LOOK & LEARN. Build emotional intelligence through a mindful exploration of moods in art. Identify emotions artists depict and evoke in their work. Using a mood meter, students will connect to what they are currently feeling and see how art has the ability to convey and even alter emotions.
CREATE (optional). Express emotions and creativity in a safe place! Students will look inward to visually express themselves. Creating their own accordion journals, they will use various media to draw, write, and collage the moods they experience or encounter all in one place.
What's pictured (top to bottom): Frank Stella (American b. 1936),
Nogaro, 1982, mixed media on aluminum, 115 x 120 x 24 in., Gift of the Phillip Schrager Collection of Contemporary Art from Terri, Harley and Beth Schrager, 2014.2; Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917), Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, modeled 1878–81, cast 1920/21, painted plaster, fabric, metal armature, on plaster base, 39 x 19 1/2 x 20 in., Gift of M. Knoedler & Co., 1971.271. Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2019; Seth Eastman (American, 1808-1875),
Sioux Indians, 1850, canvas; oil, 32 7/8 x 44 7/8 in; 83.5 x 114 cm, Purchased from the Old Print Shop, 1946.27; Mickalene Thomas (American, born 1971),
Din, une très belle négresse 1, 2012, rhinestones, acrylic, oil, and enamel on wood panel, 102 x 84 x 2 in., Museum purchase, gift of The Sherwood Foundation, 2019.6