As a poet teaching in a museum environment, I often turn to writing-based activities to assist visitors in appreciating and understanding works of art. For the novice art viewer with a limited art background and art vocabulary, a writing exercise functions as a strategy to slow down the mind in …
A number of years ago, I happened to be on the grounds of Fort Knox, Kentucky, at the Patton Museum of Calvary and Armor, on the Fourth of July. Visitors that day had been promised a “parade” of some of the armored vehicles in the museum’s collection. I wasn’t expecting …
At the Dallas Museum of Art, education staff and docents often work collaboratively to develop and refine a variety of strategies for teaching in the galleries. Many of the DMAs 140 actively touring docents are practicing artists who bring their own perspectives to teaching about art in the collections. The …
Normally, when we think about appreciating art, we think of using our eyes. Questions such as, “What do You see?” or “What might the artist be portraying?” come to mind. But, there are other ways to perceive art —ways that involve other senses and other questions. Recently, an exhibit at …
Have you ever watched a house cat sitting outdoors? A cat is super-tuned to its environment. Ears, eyes, nose are all alert and taking in information. Its survival may very well depend upon its ability to perceive what is lurking in its environment. A cat will never just exit from …
The giant saguaro cactus, tall and powerful, depicted as the John Wayne of the desert. The majestic Hon, loud and troublesome, seen as a neighborhood bully. The Grand Canyon, diverse and full of life, perceived as a large, metropolitan city. An ancient piece of pottery thought of as a lost …
Our five senses are the portals through which we gather impressions and information. We experience the physical world around us by seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling it. The more sensorial routes through which we experience things, the more intellectual and emotional routes by which we can know, understand, and …
Somewhere between toddler and teenager, most young people misplace the wondrous creative drive that impels them to draw on every available piece of paper, dance around the room, and invent songs and stories. Yes, many of them still love to dance, draw, act, sing, but for the majority, “art” is …
Our five senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch) are the portals through which we gather information and knowledge. Therefore, it stands to reason that the more our senses are engaged, and the more of our senses that are engaged, the greater the opportunity for information retrieval and comprehension. This …
The words on the cards offer another dimension to learning how to look at works of art. “The glory of everything.” “Rest from care, my one and only.” “Deep in the dung and the dark.” “They’re fattening you up because they’re going to kill you.” “The night seemed long.” Taking …
Birthday cakes with candles for wishes. A freshly baked loaf of bread to welcome a new neighbor. Thanksgiving feasts and celebratory spreads for bar mitzvahs, christenings, graduations, and weddings. Food is more than nutrition in most cultures, and it is another tool teachers use to motivate and educate their students. …
Games in my institution? You must be joking! Our collection has been researched by scholars, our subject matter is serious and important, our approach is sophisticated, and our demeanor is dignified. Why would we play games in our galleries?” If you’ve perceived similar attitudes at your institution ╤ staff or …
Teachers understand that the school-museum field trip connection is a real “no-brainer.” You teach science? You take your class to science museums, aquaria, zoos, and nature centers. You teach social studies? You visit historic houses, sites, and history museums. You go to the art museum if you teach art, or …
Escher, Einstein, and Ellington? Warhol, Wagner, and Washington? Seurat and Dr. Seuss? Balanchine and basketball? There are those who consider the arts as separate, elite, apart from the regular world, mysterious, and unknowable. But, no child finds it “mysterious” to dance with delight before he knows how to express that …
Imagine that you are leading a group of fourth grade students to the gallery where you will begin your tour. Listen to their comments: “Oh, look! It’s much bigger than I thought it would be! And the blue-green is brighter than the print we saw.” “There’s the picture with “peace’ …
Did Governor Tryon have slaves?” “What was the African-American experience in colonial North Carolina?” As recently as 1990, visitors to Tryon Palace, the reconstructed colonial capitol of North Carolina, learned only sketchy answers to these questions. The original Palace was completed in 1770 for William Tryon, colonial governor of North …
by John Marshall Harris WANTED: Docents. Must be able to point, herd, communicate in one syllable words, and clean dirt from under fingernails (Ex-mud pie makers are perfect!). This seemingly whimsical wording is the product of hours of careful planning and coordination that also signals the beginning of the final …
Museum Objects as Springboards for Interdisciplinary Studies The concept of interdisciplinary studies is actually quite simple, based on the premise that children do not learn concepts and facts in isolation from one another. Parents know this. Teachers know this. Yet, ironically, schools tend to divide the day into forty-three minute …
Ask most first graders what they’ll find in a museum and they’ll say with assurance, “Dinosaurs!” I used to wonder why “museum” equaled “dinosaur” for our youngest visitors until I chanced upon a small, very bright, and infinitely mischievous monkey named George. “Curious George” is the principal character in a …
Regardless of suitability or circumstance, the traditional modes of teaching forged within schools tend to dominate education in museums, zoos, and other auxiliary educational institutions. For instance, many docents and staff educators instruct by lecturing. This form of teaching transferred to museums in spite of the profound differences (and considerable …
Discipline-Based Art Education, or DBAE, provides a useful, flexible structure that organizes thinking and provides effective parameters for discussing art work. The approach is based on ideas developed for over twenty years by art educators, and has been widely supported by The Getty Center for Education in the Arts and …