art and enquiry
TRANSCRIPT
12/01/2017 | s. ruggiero
STM Art across the Curriculum
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Contents
Art and Enquiry 4
20 Activities 14
Writing 15
Sensory 16
Drawing 18
Sound and Movement 19
Games 20
Subjects 24
Business Studies 25
Dance 27
English 29
History 31
Maths 33
MFL 35
Music 37
Science 39
SEN 41
Appendix I: Worksheet - Questions about art 43
Appendix II: Vocabulary for discussing art: Elements 44
Appendix III: Vocabulary for discussing art: Principles 45
Appendix IV: Wellbeing Umbrella 46
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Art and EnquiryEnquiry learning is a student-centred approach that emphasises higher-order thinking skills and has been the norm in museum education for over a decade. In this approach, educators foster close-looking by engaging in open-ended, enquiry-based conversations about art with students. However, not all students are comfortable with talking within a group. To address their needs, it is important that multi-modal activities are incorporated into the enquiry process. Activities develop critical thinking skills; fosters close looking; personalise learning by connecting experiences with artworks to other experiences in the students’ lives; introduce key concepts; and can ignite creativity and imagination. In this booklet we will consider a number of strategies employed by museum educators that can be applied to the secondary classroom.
Art provides an ideal stimulus within the enquiry cycle.
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Key Figures
A number of overlapping philosophies has shaped how museum curators, educationalists, folklorists, archaeologists and art historians use art and objects. Two central figures are the American philosopher John Dewey and the developmental psychologist Howard Gardner. Dewey was one of the first thinkers to begin writing about the importance of experiential learning and was a precursor to constructivism. He argued that learning best takes place when students relate new content to their own prior experiences. Art can act as a bridge between curriculum content and students own prior knowledge and experience. Gardner argued that there was no single intelligence, but rather, that different people are intelligent in different ways: linguistic, logical, musical, kinaesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalistic. By designing activities with multiple entry-points and different types of engagement, it creates more opportunity for all students to participate and gives them choice to engage with the artwork in a way suited to them.
Over the past century, discoveries in cognitive science and educational psychology has continued to move our understanding of learning away from the purely rational into one that includes physical, emotional and other embodied responses in learning. In order for embodied learning to take place, students have to be actively engaged in the learning process and the learning outcomes cannot be externally imposed. Student conceive, smell, taste, feel, hear, or observe the evidence for themselves and build off of the knowledge and experience they bring with them. Art is particularly well suited for embodied learning, as it has the potential to engage learners on a physical, sensorial, emotional, social, cultural and conceptual levels.
Themes
In order to identify an appropriate artwork, we must ask ourselves, “What big ideas do I want my students to learn?” These big questions can be explored through themes. The theme must be visually evident in the work of art; relevant to the students’ lives; relevant to the classroom content and provide deep thought. For example, a History class might examine the theme of identity. Students might examine how art conveys identity through the lens of symbolism, context and students’ own perceptions of contemporary culture. A teacher may then design an activity that focuses on individual and community identity, symbolism, personal environments or memory. After some research from the museum education websites listed, they might then choose to centre an activity centred on the highly personal and symbolic self-portraits of Frida Kahlo.
Content must relate to prior experienceDeepening connection with new knowledge
Dewey
Each learner has unique blend of intelligencesKinesthetic, Interpersonal, IntrapersonalArt provides multitude of Access PointsWriting, Drawing, Movement, Play, Discussion
Gardner
Embodied LearningMove away from rationalist view of learningArt potential for physical, sensorial, emotional, cultural, conceptual engagementActivities have embodied response
Gould
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Examples of themes for each subject.
Activities
When designing an activity, it is important to keep the following in mind:
1. Provide clear instructions and expectations: Introduce the theme at the beginning; ask students to repeat instructions to ensure understanding; and Pause to check understanding.
2. Incorporate one or more approaches and skills: Use all five senses and incorporate multiple modes: experienced/embodied learning.
3. Build on students’ own experience and knowledge.
4. The activity must relate clearly to the art work.
5. The activity must relate clearly to overall goal: Connect the activity to the theme but without simply providing facts.
6. Give students thinking time: to examine different perspectives, weigh different theories, debate, and come to original conclusions.
7. Allow for multiple outcomes: Culture of thinking when students empowered to come up with original thinking and come to own conclusion.
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Open-Ended Questions
In an enquiry-based model, the students lead the learning, as they investigate the themes and topics and move from observation to description, interpretation and finally making a personal connection with the artwork. However, the teacher still has an important role as a facilitator of learning and can encourage close looking and critical thinking through asking open-ended questions. Open-ended questions are questions that invite multiple responses and are the sort like ‘how would you describe this colour’, or ‘what might the subject be thinking’? The teacher also has a role to provide contextual information (title, date, artist, context, artist’s process) with the purpose to deepen understanding of the artwork and support exploration of the theme and topic. It is important that it is gradually folded into the conversation in order to give space for student interpretation.
Sens
ory
In the FramePostcard to a Friend Before and After
Draw
ing
ViewfinderObservational DrawingDraw and DescribeExpand the Frame
Soun
d an
d M
ovem
ent
Be the artTableauLiving SculptureRhythm SequenceArtwork SoundscapeFollow a line:
Writi
ng a
nd D
iscus
sion
Identity IcebreakerThought BubblesPost-It PoetryDebate
Gam
e
Observation and persuasionExquisite CorpseMaterial Bingo
Observation
Description
Interpretation
Connection
Small Group
Summary
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Example of questioning to support dialogue: Derain’s London Bridge
“Observation: Before we begin our discussion, why don’t we take a minute to look closely at this painting?
Description: What are some recognizable buildings or structures in this painting? Where is this scene? Indoors or outdoors? Are the artist’s brushstrokes visible? If so, describe them. What colors do you see in the water? What about the sky?
Interpretation: What is the overall feeling you get from this London scene? Why do you think Derain chose to paint this bridge? Do you think it held special meaning for him or that he saw it often? Why do you think the water is painted green and yellow? What time of day do you think this scene represents? What title would you give this work? Why?
Connection: How does this scene relate to your experience of the city? The most prominent aspect of this work is the bridge. When you think of bridges, is there one in particular that comes to mind? Why? Is this a place you’d like to visit? Why or why not? Can you think of other artists who painted city scenes? How do they compare?”
From Foundations for Engagement with Art. MOMA. 2009.
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Benefits
The new Ofsted criteria emphasise that for teaching and learning to qualify as “outstanding”, that there needs to be high pupil engagement and pupil-led learning. Students should be “curious, interested learners who seek out and use new information to develop, consolidate and deepen their knowledge, understanding and skills” (2015 Ofsted Handbook). The use of art, within an enquiry-based framework, can help engage a range of different learners and help foster pupil-led learning environment, where new meaning is built on students own prior knowledge. Through interacting with art and objects, students develop the critical thinking skills of synthesis and evaluation and fine-tune their observational skills, making them more thoughtful and independent thinkers.
Some of the advantages of using art in the classroom include:
Students fine tune observational skills. Students build on observation with greater depth; forming questions and developing their
own hypothesis or interpretations based on evidence acquired by close looking. Students experience ideas or perspective outside their own through peer-to-peer learning. Activities require no prior knowledge about the artwork itself, making it accessible. Activities allow for multiple entry points and divergent responses, meeting the diverse needs
of learners.
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Over to you
1) Select a theme and appropriate artwork.
2) Write three open-ended questions related to the artwork in the sequence they would be presented.
3) Write three bullet points of information about the artwork that is related to the theme and draws connection with the curriculum.
4) Design an activity (multi-modal approach) for this artwork.
Theme:
Open Questions1.
2. 3.
Activity:
Context1.
2. 3.
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Online Resources
Getty Education
Google Arts Project
MOMA Learning
Tate Learn
Further Reading
Barseghian, T. “Creating Classrooms We Need: 8 Ways Into Inquiry Learning.” In Mind/Shift (March 11, 2013).
Hubard, O. “Activities in the Art Museum” in NAEA Advisory (Fall 2006).
Hubard, O. “Complete Engagement: Embodied Responses in Art Museum Education” in Art Education (Nov. 2007). 46-53
Hubard, O. “Productive Information: Contextual Knowledge” in Art Museum Education in Art Education 60.4 (2007). 17-23.
Markham, T. “Inquiry Learning vs Standardised Content: Can they Coexist?” in Mind/Shift (May 2013).
Schmidt, L. “Great Teachers Don’t Take No (or Yes) for an Answer: Teaching by Asking Instead of Telling” in Classroom Confidential: The 12 Secrets of Great Teachers. (Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2004).
Shuh, H. “Teaching yourself to teach with objects” in Journal of Education 7.4 (1982). 80-91.
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20 Activities
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WritingIdentity Icebreaker
Ask students to reflect on their own identity and select three words that represents their identity. Don’t ask the students to share specific words but ask them what kind of words they might select, for example, does it relate to a hobby or their heritage?
Then ask the students to scratch out one word – ask ‘how does it feel to lose one item?’ 'Are they comfortable with the two items left'.
Then ask the students to scratch out another word and ask the same questions again. To finish up, ask students to reflect on their own identity. Do the words have more to do
with how others see them or how they see themselves? Did they notice how attached they became to those words and how hard it was to lose them?
Thought Bubbles
Hand out blank page with large thought bubble and ask students to write what subjects in painting are saying or thinking.
This pairs the students’ own imagination with information they observe in the artwork Helps students to get inside the head of the characters.
Post-It Poetry
Poem inspired by artwork they're looking at. After discussing the artwork, ask students to write one word on post-it note. In groups of 4 or 5 they then arrange the words inspired by the artwork into a poem. Each student can make a sentence each and the sentences can then be pieced together Encourages collaboration.
Debate Divide in 2 groups and assign each an opposing stance about the theme. Give the groups time to gather proof in defence of their positions. The evidence must be grounded in observation from the artwork. As debate begins, one team starts with one point, second responds, and continues Wrap up by asking the students 'did one team win or have stronger argument?' 'did students
have different opinion to one team had?' Helps students to understand multiple points of view.
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SensoryIn the FrameWrite a first-person narrative or dialogue from the perspective of a character in the artwork.
Postcard HomeMaterials needed: Large index card, coloured pencils, regular pencil
Activity: 1) Get students to think about place: ‘Look closely at painting’. ‘Think about what you notice’. ‘Especially place’. ‘What's familiar?’ ‘What's unusual?’ ‘Imagine yourself in this place.’
2) Ask students to write a note to a friend describing the surrounding. (2 min.) ‘Be as descriptive as possible’. ‘What do you hear?’ ‘What do you smell?’ ‘What do you see around you?’ ‘Where will you go next?’
3) Then on the other side of the postcard ask students to draw one part of the painting in detail (2 min.)
4) To finish, ask students to reflect: ‘What do you notice about writing and drawing?’ ‘Did activity help you look closer? ‘
Before and AfterMake a drawing before or after events that occur in the painting.
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Postcard Template
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DrawingViewfinder Create a viewfinder by cutting a hole into an index card. This can be used to focus students’ attention to one part of the image, which they can then draw. It is especially useful for engaging students who struggle to sit still and helps to channel excess energy.
Observational drawing Gets hand eye brain working together. Just give pencil and paper Teacher can highlight areas of composition they want to focus on: shapes, colour, form, lines,
patterns 'Draw and describe'
Get students to recognise the difference between the objective/observable and the subjective/interpretive.
Rules: In pairs one student is the drawer and the other is the describer. 'The drawer' can't ask questions just draw, 'the describer' can't respond to drawing just
describe the work of art in front of you Teacher then leads debrief conversation and asks drawers to share experience Works well with complex artworks that requires students to think, and engaging enough that
they won't be able to describe everything that they see in 3-5 minutes.
Expand the Frame
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Sound and MovementSound and movement activities are particularly well suited to those students who have strong spatial or musical abilities and kinaesthetic learners and can help overcome the linguistic divide Be the art
Act out gestures, poses, compositions of artwork. Some students might mimic line, others mood. Involve rest of class by comparing poses with artwork
Tableau
This is particularly effective with a large scale painting or sculpture Divide the class into actors and directors. Directors instruct actors to adjust their pose based on observation of the painting. At end ask actors to break poses and share their new insights into the paintings.
Rhythm Sequence
Assign sounds to what they see Listen to music with regular beat e.g. march Show students how artists also use regular rhythm e.g. Mondrian Assign each colour to symbol Divide class in orchestra, each section play a different colour Choose one student to be conductor, pass his finger over various patterns, shapes, colours Soundscape emerge.
Follow a line Good with abstract art such as Pollock. Ask students to choose a line, follow it with eyes and map its trajectory. Then ask students to do the same with another line. Teacher encourage observation by asking: ‘Is the line thick or thin?’ ‘Does the line rravel
over or under other lines?’ ‘Is it intermittent or continuous?’ ‘What does it tell us about the artist’s process?’
Living sculpture Engage kinaesthetic learners. Begin with observation of the artwork. Teacher encourages close observation by asking ‘how does the material affect its form?
‘Does it feel heavy or light?’ ‘Tall or short’? Ask students to take the pose that embodies what they see.
Artwork Soundscape
Assign sounds to visual elements that the students see in the painting Students can see the relationship between colour, form and pattern.
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GamesGames are fun and structured entryways into observing, interpreting and responding to art. There are a number of different misconceptions about games. Games i) aren't just for kids ii) lowtech games can be as engaging as digital games iii) and they do not require a lot of factual content to be educational. The pleasure of playing the game forms its own intrinsic reward and can lead to a deeper and more personally rewarding relationship with the artwork.
Exquisite corpse Invented by surrealists Poetry or drawing game Each student draws or writes on a piece of paper, folds it to hide their contribution, and then
passes it on. Drawing: must agree beforehand on sequence, e.g. head, torso, arms, legs Poetry: must agree beforehand sentence structure e.g. The (adj) (noun), (verb) (adverb), the
(adj) (noun). At the end, all players enjoy reward of seeing often absurd creation. This is a creative response to existing artwork. One ‘mod’ of this game is have students base their words or drawings to details they see in the
artwork. Material bingo
Substitute numbers with the array of materials art can be made of. Players explore gallery checking off box as they come across materials. First to complete row, across, up, down or diagonal wins. In one glance students see vast possibilities of materials around us and it transforms the space
into a gameboard. Slows people down and get them to look at objects around them. Can modify bingo card to include shape, colour or visual motifs.
Everyone's a critic
A game of observation and persuasion. Gather 3 or more people: 1 person is the critic, the rest are artists Artists find one work which exemplify theme and make argument to critic that their work best
fits theme. Critic must choose (evaluate).
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Everyone’s a Critic (MOMA): Themes
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Everyone’s a Critic (MOMA): 2 Players
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Everyone’s a Critic (MOMA): 3+ Players
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SubjectsA curated sample of real teacher submissions for MOMA’s
‘Art and Activity’ mass open online course.
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Subject Area: Business Studies
Artwork Title: Industrial Design
Artist: Christopher Dresser
Date: 1860
Materials: Metal
Activity description including directions and goals:
I) explanation for students about the activity - A exercise of imagination: Thinking about a forest and reflect what objects you can create with nature materials for a development of a business. The main idea is think about objects that industry can be manufacture in future that no impact environment.
1.The activity inspiration is Industry Design. You can create wooden objects, for example (not exclusively wood).- In this phase the educator can suggest a research in internet about different tips of nature material or in loco.
2. The second phase the educator conducts a brainstorm. In this case the students will select the best alternative for built one object or more. He will select alternatives of materials and design. In addition, can be created prototypical objects.
3. For development of objects the students can think in different perspectives, for example the potential use, the quality of design, the eco efficient materials, and functionality.
4. A reflection about industrial process that could be implemented. In this phase can be create a explanation about how was make the activity, phase to phase. In this presentation/seminar can be explained the prototypical, the photography of phases of development of activity.
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DANCE
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Subject Area: Dance
Artwork Title: Cat
Artist: Fernando Botero
Date: 1984
Materials: Bronze
Three open-ended questions in the sequence they would be presented:
1. What do you see?
2. Is it heavy or light? Cold or warm?
3. What movements come to mind when observing the sculpture?
Three facts about the artwork:
1. Botero is known for his large, rotund, oversized figures, especially of cats.
2. This is an example of public art and this ‘cat’ currently sits in Barcelona.
3. The dilation of his subjects gives them an abstract, unreal, and grotesque quality.
Activity description including directions and goals: (movement)
Corporal expression is an art in which the body is the instrument to express emotions and the interaction between the inner self and the environment.
Make the sculpture come alive
Encourage students to connect with the artwork through their body language and corporal expression through exploring the creative possibilities of movement. Start asking the students to observe this sculpture. Then, ask them to pretend to be the sculpture: ask about the material: it is heavy or light? Cold or warm? Ask the student to move as the sculpture would move. Add a story and ask the students to interpret through movement, you can use music or not.
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Subject Area: English
Artwork Title: Aello
Artist: Frances Picabia
Date: 1930
Materials: Oil on canvas
Three open-ended questions in the sequence they would be presented:
1. Describe what you think the two people are thinking.
2. Look at their facial expression. What emotions are they feeling?
3. Why do you think the artist has painted this picture?
Three facts about the artwork:
1. The ‘transparencies’ are perhaps portraits of a psyche; the things that come to mind when one views another’s face.
2. The figures are borrowed from European art, as are the plants, architecture and the lamb of the apocalypse.
3. The artist has left a lasting legacy through his questioning of the meaning and purpose of art.
Activity description including directions and goals: (writing)
Students will write a cinquain poem about their feelings of Francis Picabia’s artwork. The teacher and students will discuss Francis Picabias’ artwork and the emotions contained within it. Students will also discuss the feelings the artist expressed while creating the artwork. After discussion, students will brainstorm words that convey feelings found in the artwork. Then the teacher will introduce how to make a cinquain poem. Students will make a cinquain poem based on the artwork feelings.
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HISTORY
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Subject Area: History
Artwork Title: White Cloud
Artist: George Caitlin
Date: 1796
Materials: Oil on canvas
Three open-ended questions in the sequence they would be presented:
1. From what you’ve heard about White Cloud in this lesson and learned from looking at his portrait, why might he be considered heroic?
2. Many American Indian names are related to nature. This man was known by the names White Cloud and No Heart-of-Fear. What could these names mean?
3. If you were having your portrait painted and wanted to impress viewers with your strength or skill, how might you adorn yourself?
Three facts about the artwork:
1. Mew-hu-she-kaw, known both as White Cloud and No Heart-of-Fear, was one of several tribal chiefs of the Iowa people in the mid-nineteenth century.
2. Treaties, some signed by White Cloud’s father, and laws passed to promote America’s westward expansion had forced the Iowa people from their traditional territories on the plains of eastern Iowa to a small reservation in southeast Nebraska. Missionaries tried to convert the Iowas to Christianity and teach them farming, contrary to the tribe’s traditional beliefs and customs. Deprived of their hunting lands and related livelihood, the Iowas became increasingly impoverished.
3. Knowing Catlin’s sympathy for American Indian life and ways, the younger White Cloud hoped that he could raise money by performing within Catlin’s exhibition
Activity description including directions and goals: (writing)
Activity:
White Cloud was a hero to many. Ask students if they have a hero/heroine in their life? It may be someone in their family, school, or neighborhood or they may also respect athletes, musicians, activists, dancers, scientists, writers, etc. Ask students to pick their favorite hero/heroine and research his or her life. Students should describe their hero/heroine’s achievements in the form of a journal entry. The journal entry can recount an imaginary day in the life of the hero/heroine or retell a particular action he or she performed.
Extension:
Students will then present the entry as if they were the hero/heroine talking about his or her life. Encourage students to dress up and use props to bring the figure to life.”
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MATHS
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Subject Area: Mathematics
Artwork Title: Roman Stripes / Rising Sun
Artist: Willie Abrams / Mary Totten
Date: 1975 / c.1830
Materials: Textile
Three open-ended questions in the sequence they would be presented:
1. What shapes and patterns are in this quilt?
2. What differences can you see between each block?
3. Which of these artworks is symmetrical?
Three facts about the artwork:
1. “Ma Willie” Abrams lived in Rehoboth, Alabama, a settlement north of Gee’s Bend. She helped operate the Freedom Quilting Bee with her daughter, Estelle Witherspoon.
2. The “Rising Sun” pieced pattern in the centre of Betsy’s quilt is an eight-pointed star measuring 76 inches across. It contains 648 diamond-shaped pieces made of eleven different roller-printed cottons arranged concentrically by colour.
3. The Romans piece is dominated by a variation of the Roman Stripes pattern, made of rows of horizontal strips. However, Abrams rotated the rows throughout the design and manipulated the size of each block.
Activity description including directions and goals: (drawing)
Students would have studied geometry and be familiar with flip, turn, and rotate. In each example, students can observe all 3, but only one has symmetry (radial). Activity 1: Students will observe both works and decide which one has symmetry in mathematical terms. They will use their words and physical responses to imitate what they observe.Activity 2: Students will create a symmetrical work of art using their initials.MATERIALS: 12x12" paper, one triangle the same size as 1/8 of the work, pencils, sharpies, tape
1. Students will draw their initials in the triangle, from top to bottom (i.e. large). In the negative spaces between their initials, they will draw in the shapes - mostly geometric.2. Students will fold paper two times; once in half, then again on the half.3. Fold paper from point to point turned as a diamond (rhombus) shape two times. By doing so, the students will have 8 triangles in the shape of their small triangle with initials.4. Students will place two pieces of tape to their square, now unfolded, at the top to a window. By sliding the triangle under the square and aligning it to one of the folded triangles seen by the creases, the students will trace the design in a black marker. Student will rotate the shape for each subsequent triangle. 5. Once completed the students will have a symmetrical work of art that can be colored in or left in black and white.
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Subject Area: French
Artwork Title: Paris through the window
Artist: Marc Chagall
Date: 1913
Materials: Oil on canvas
Three open-ended questions in the sequence they would be presented:
1. What do you notice?
2. What can we learn about the artist from this picture?
3. Why do you the artist has painted this picture?
Three facts about the artwork:
1. This painting is an enlarged version of a window view in a self-portrait painted one year earlier, in which the artist contrasted his birthplace with Paris
2. The ‘double-faced’ Janus figure has been read as the artist looking at once westward to his new home in France and eastward to Russia.
3. The painting mediates between dual worlds—interior versus exterior space, past and present, the imaginary and the real.
Activity description including directions and goals: (drawing)
This activity uses one word in French from each student related to the artwork to make a whole story for the scene in the painting. Two goals: practice of the French language and comprehension of the artwork. Students are directly connecting with the artwork that takes place in Paris. And the artwork itself provides many levels of the comprehension due to its mysterious clues and extraordinary composition.
Instructions: 1- show the artwork 2- discussion about what students have observed 3- informing students about the artist and the painting background 4- make a list of words in French : each student pick a word to describe one element of the painting 5- each student say one word ، that makes a story at the end، the story has the same title of the painting " Paris through the window" 6- each student draw one scene of the story using the same original painting ( part of it or the whole) 7- all of the scenes are gathered to be put together in one story.
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MUSIC
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Subject Area: Music
Artwork Title: Yellow, Red, Blue
Artist: Wassily Kandinsky
Date: 1925
Materials: Oil on canvas
Three open-ended questions in the sequence they would be presented:
1. What do you see?
2. What parts of the painting appear to be "loud" or "soft"? Where would the music seem to be exciting, or maybe quiet?
3. What sounds come to mind while looking at the painting?
Three facts about the artwork:
1. Kandinsky merges the primary colours of yellow, red, and blue into complex clouds of colour.
2. The left side has rectangles, squares and straight lines in bright colours.
3. The right side features darker colours in various abstract shapes.
Activity description including directions and goals: (sound)
Activity One: Students will be provided with a large piece of mural paper. They will hear many different types and genres of music. They will be asked to let the music guide their painting with watercolours/markers for each type of music. They will hear some classical, dance, cultural, and some rock and possibly some heavier music because that seems to get some really interesting artwork. They should be using shapes colours and lines to show what they hear. They are encouraged to experiment as much as possible and use the beat or rhythm of the music. They can be as creative as they wish. They will take inspiration from Kandinsky and his shapes and lines and how the painting looks musical. After they fill the space with markers they will fill the spaces with watercolours. They can then add some other shapes with black sharpie if they wish.
Activity Two: (can be done in the music classroom) Have the students "play" the work of art. Look at Wassily Kandinsky’s Yellow, Red, Blue. Ask: What do you see? What parts of the painting appear to be "loud" or "soft" Where would the music seem to be exciting, or maybe quiet. Ask students to describe what sounds come to mind while looking at the painting and have them try to produce these sounds with their hands, mouths, voices, and instruments.
Encourage students to try to produce the sounds of the painting, first with their hands, mouths, or voices, and then with their instruments. Ask students: What attracts your eyes first? What elements of the painting are the most prominent (loud)? What elements seem to be in the background (soft)?
Students will then go into the computer lab to pick a song that would go with the painting. They can also choose another artist and painting to combine with a song of their choice.
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SCIENCE
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Subject Area: Science
Artwork Title: Persistence of Memory
Artist: Salvador Dali
Date: 1931
Materials: Oil on canvas
Three open-ended questions in the sequence they would be presented:
1. What do you notice about the painting?
2. What do you notice is in common with the paintings?
3. Why do you think you did not notice the face?
Three facts about the artwork:
1. The iconography may refer to a dream that Dalí himself had experienced.
2. The clocks may symbolize the passing of time as one experiences it in sleep or the persistence of time in the eyes of the dreamer.
3. It is possible to recognize a human figure in the middle of the composition, in the strange "monster" that Dalí used in several contemporary pieces to represent himself.
Activity description including directions and goals: (discussion)
The aim of the activity is to familiarize the students with the problems of observation and theory testing in science. They are expected to think about how our prior knowledge influences our observations.
Activity Description: The students will be asked to name what they see in the painting (such as clocks, a tree, ants etc.). They should be given at least 2 minutes. They will then be shown some other paintings by Dali such as The Great Masturbator or Sleep and will be told that in some paintings he draws a face from profile. After they have been shown the faces in the latter paintings they will look back to Persistence of Memory. They will be asked if they now see a face.
After seeing the face in Persistence of Memory students will then discuss why they failed to see the face the first time. It is quite large and in the middle, they were given enough time, so simple oversight is unlikely to be the cause. Hopefully they will realize that seeing is not a passive reception. What one knows influences what one sees. They may then discuss whether this is a case that may only occur with surrealist and/or abstract paintings or is it possible to have such cases with “realistic” paintings or even with photography. In case the group will meet again (part of a several week course) the students may be asked to bring some such examples for later meetings.
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SEN
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Subject Area: SEN
Artwork Title: The Scream
Artist: Edvard Munch
Date: 1893
Materials: Oil on canvas
Three open-ended questions in the sequence they would be presented:
1. What do you notice?
2. How does it make you feel?
3. What emotions may the character be feeling?
Three facts about the artwork:
1. The works show a figure with an agonized expression against a landscape with a tumultuous orange sky.
2. The original, 1893 version of The Scream was one of 22 elements in a semi-autobiographical cycle ‘The Frieze of Life’, which transmuted his own emotions concerning love, sexuality and death into universal symbols.
3. “I was walking along the road with two friends – the sun went down – I felt a gust of melancholy – suddenly the sky turned a bloody red. I stopped, leaned against the railing, tired to death – as the flaming skies hung like blood and sword over the blue-black fjord and the city – my friends went on – I stood there trembling with anxiety – and I felt a vast infinite scream through nature.” From Munch’s diary.
Activity description including directions and goals: (sensory)
This artwork and theme connects to the overarching goal of recognizing emotions and describing said emotions, which is a treatment goal for many of the students I work with in a residential treatment setting.
Materials provided would include: a reference image, white copy paper, coloured pencils, crayons, oil pastels, chalk pastels, and a pencil.
The students are asked to take a few minutes to look at the image, paying attention to the details, including the character's expression and the setting of the image. They are then asked to assign emotions to the specifics lines and colours in the image as they interpret them. The final step would ask students to use the assigned emotions and their original perception of the artwork to share what emotion(s)they believe the character might be feeling and why.
The activity will wrap up with a discussion of each student's personal process, focusing on their ability to stay thought and goal-directed, as well as the similarities and differences in their perspectives.
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Appendix I: MOMA WorksheetQuestions About Art
1. Describe the object. Think about line, colour, texture, pattern, and shape. Can you figure out what it is made of, or how it was made?
2. What do you know about this object? What is familiar? What is unfamiliar?
3. List words or ideas that come to mind when you look at this object. Why does this object make you think about those words?
4. What associations can you make from it? Why?
5. What questions would you like to ask about this object? Can you guess at the answers to any of them?
6. In one sentence, describe the most interesting thing about this object.
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Appendix II: VocabularyThe Elements of Design
line: the path of a point that moves through space. Line can be described in terms of width,
direction, movement, length, curvature, and even color.
shape: a distinct spatial form depicted in two dimensions and created by lines or a change in color,
shading, or materials.
form: a unit in an artwork that is defined or set apart by a definite contour; sometimes used
synonymously with shape, or used to refer to a shape that is depicted in three rather than two
dimensions.
space: the visual or actual area within and around shapes and forms. Positive space defines the
contents of a shape or form, and is bound by edges or surfaces. Negative space refers to the
“empty” area surrounding a shape or form, and also helps to define the boundaries of a shape or
form.
texture: the look and feel of a surface, which may be described in such terms as rough, smooth,
hard, soft, scratchy, silky, fine, coarse, and so on.
color: the hue, value, and intensity of an object. The primary colors are red, yellow, and blue; every
color except white can be created from various blending of these three colors.
value: the relative lightness or darkness of tones or colors. For example, white and yellow have a
light value; black and violet have a dark value.
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Appendix III: VocabularyThe Principles of Design
balance: the arrangement of elements in a work of art in one of three ways: perfect symmetry
(formal balance), in which every element in the work is perfectly balanced against every other
element; asymmetry (informal balance), in which there is no one-to-one, even correspondence of
elements; and radial (from the center) in which elements are balanced around a center, as in a
circular mandala design.
variety: the assortment of lines, colors, forms, shapes, or textures in a work of art.
rhythm (movement): regular repetition of lines, shapes, colors, or patterns in a work of art.
emphasis: the accent, stress, or importance of a part of an artwork. Opposing sizes, shapes, and
lines, contrasting colors, closer detail, and intense, bright color are all used to emphasize, or draw
attention to, certain areas or objects in a work of art.
proportion: the relationship of the distance of objects in a composition, as in, for example, close up
and far away; the relationship of the size of one part to another or to the whole.
contrast: significant degrees of difference between lines, colors, shapes, values, forms, and/or
textures.
unity: the interrelation, balance, and organization of all elements of an artwork to achieve a quality
of oneness, or a pleasing sense. (Note: a composition can be pleasingly exciting, pleasingly
disturbing, pleasingly tranquil and so on)
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Appendix IV: Wellbeing UmbrellaThis wellbeing umbrella, developed by UCL in collaboration with 20 national galleries and museums, can be used to evaluate the impact of using art. Students rate themselves on six measures of mood and emotion, which are indicative of psychological wellbeing. Ideally students should rate themselves before the activity and afterwards, in order to track change. The wellbeing umbrella can also be used at the start of the term and at the end of the term.
The full toolkit, including suggestions on what can be done with the data, can be downloaded at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/research/touch/museumwellbeingmeasures/wellbeing-measures