My Trip to the High Museum of Art

ART 3000

The High Museum of Art

1. Your favorite work of art. Why?

My favorite piece was in the Folk Art Gallery. I believe it was in the Fay S. and Barrett Howell Gallery. I loved Mattie Lou Kelley’s painting, the Yard Sale, 1979 and My Parents Farm, 1980. Both of these paintings were beautiful to me because they were bright and colorful and had a homey feeling to them. It was almost comforting to the eye and the soul.

2. A work of art that you liked but would not take home. Why?

I liked the Self-Portrait, 2005, by Vik Muniz in the Contemporary Gallery. I thought it was really cool how he made it from junk and trash and then put it together on the floor of an airplane hanger, so that tells how large it was. But it was a little too wild for me to want it in my house. I did enjoy looking at it though.

3. A work of art that taught you something that you did not know. Why?

I did not understand about the rhythm and movement within a painting until I saw this one particular painting in the Contemporary Gallery. It was called “The Great Pyramid”, 1980 by Alfred Jensen. It was really interesting to look at, because it looked like a huge quilt and it had little borders painted around each square that made your eyes move all across the painting. It was very interesting to look at and was very pretty with the use of bright colors an intricate pattern.

4. A work of art that felt sad to you. Why did it make you feel sad?

In the European Art, Marilyn and Don Keaugh Gallery, the painting by Eugene Carriere, “Untitled”, 1900. This painting was sad and gloomy. The trees were very ominous and the entire painting was just dark and drab. It felt lifeless.

5. A work of art that identifies a historic moment in time. When?

In the Contemporary Gallery, Kara Walker’s “The Emancipation Approximation” 1999-2000. It is a series of black, white and gray screen prints depicting this time in our nation. I was shocked in one of the photos, the heads are lying at the person’s feet!

6. A work of art that reminded you of something or someone in your life. Who?

In the American Art Gallery, Ralph Albert Blakelock’s “Moonlight” 1883-1889. This painting reminded me of the time I went night fishing with my dad because of how the water looked. It was very peaceful with the moon reflecting on the water.

7. A work of art that shocked you. Why?

In the Folk Art Gallery, Fay S. and Barrett Howell Gallery, the painting “The Flag Waver”, 1970. It was depicting racism and the man who was shouting obscenities had his head beheaded, which was shown by dripping red paint across his neck and chest. I don’t think everyone felt this way, so I was kind of shocked, really appalled by this painting. I have never felt racist like that before and it just a lot to look at.

8. Compare the contemporary gallery and the folk art gallery to everything else.

The contemporary gallery was very interesting. Not everything I saw I understood why it was called art. Not all of the pictures seemed to be what they really were at first glance. I liked to look at these works of art, but I would not want them in my house. They are a bit too bright and bold for my style. The folk art gallery I really enjoyed. It was very interesting to see all of the handmade items from people that seemed to do it just because they loved it. There were many carvings and paintings of home places and people. This gallery seemed to depict more of every day life things. There were many pieces of art that I would love to have hanging on my walls at home. I especially loved Mattie Lou O’Kelley’s works. The rest of the museum was nice. However to me, most of the paintings and sculptures were just interesting to see, but were not my taste. Some of the paintings were very large and eccentric to me.

9. What was your favorite gallery and why?

My favorite gallery as a whole actually was the Contemporary art Gallery. It was just very interesting to look at and many of the pieces were bright and fun. It was very open and to me it had a feeling of newness and airy.

10. Describe the part of your High Museum experience that was most meaningful to you. I think the part I enjoyed most was getting to go with my family, including my younger sister who is about to be in sixth grade. It was fun to see how she experienced the museum. I thought that she would be bored and uninterested in it all, but she was taken by it and wanted to look at everything. Plus, it was nice just to get to spend the day with them.

Paper Mache Cocoon

For our paper mache project about Eric Carles's The Very Hungry Caterpillar, I made the cocoon. I used a balloon for the form and then covered the balloon, following the paper mache technique. Once it was dry, I painted it with three different shades of brown to give it depth.

Crocodile Puppet

For our puppet show, I made the crocodile puppet. I used an old boot sock and painted it green and then added white felt triangles for teeth and googly eyes.

My ABC Book

My ABC book is a realistic book about careers. I used real photos to show the different careers. I felt like students need to some realistic images as well, other than just clipart.

Paper Towel and Finger Paint Technique

To paint my picture without using a paintbrush, I used my finger for painting the grass an a paper towel for painting the sky. I really like the depth that each technique gave to my painting.

Zoo Activity Book

WHO AM I?

ZOO MAMMALS SCAVENGER HUNT

I am a mammal.

I spend up to 16 hours a day eating bamboo stalks.

I am an endangered animal from China.

I prefer to live alone, only being around others sometimes.

I have black and white fur.

WHO AM I?

I am a mammal.

I am a carnivore (meat eater).

I spend up to 20 hours a day sleeping.

I am from Africa.

I have a yellow coat (fur).

WHO AM I?

I am a mammal.

I am a carnivore (meat eater).

I am from Africa. I have a yellow coat with black spots.

I can run fastest of all animals!

WHO AM I?

I am a mammal.

I am an herbivore (plant eater).

I am from Africa.

I have black and white stripes.

WHO AM I?

I am the largest land mammal.

I am from Africa.

I can eat over three hundred pounds of food a day!

I am an herbivore (plant eater).

I am gray and have a long trunk (nose).

WHO AM I?

I am the tallest land mammal.

I am from Africa.

I am an herbivore (plant eater).

I can hear and smell very well, which I use to protect myself.

I have a very long neck.

I am light brown with dark brown splotches.

WHO AM I?

I am a small mammal.

I am from Africa.

I eat insects, small reptiles, and plants.

I sleep underground in a burrow (hole).

I can see, hear, and smell very well, which I use to protect myself and alert my family of danger.

I have silver-brown hair and a white face.

WHO AM I?

At the Zoo

(Answer ID # 0188038)

Find each of the following words.

ZOO KEEPER REPTILE GIRAFFE MAMMAL PANDA

FLAMINGO TURTLE LION ELEPHANT ZEBRA

TIGER SNAKE CHEETAH MONKEY MEERKAT

GORILLA LEMUR

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DRAW YOUR ANIMAL AND ITS HABITAT HERE:















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Using Art to Teach the Basics in Elementary School

Teaching Basics Through the Arts

by Mona Brookes

There was a moment when I thought I would see the extinction of the arts in our education system. I heard the cry for huge budget cuts that resulted in canceled art classes. I was surprised to learn how much parents cared about those cuts as they flocked to private art programs and developed after- school enrichment programs. School districts that wanted their teachers trained in how to integrate the arts into their teaching methods began to have trouble finding the funding.

Then a wondrous thing happened. Elementary teachers began to sign up for supplemental training on their own. I saw them purchasing resource materials and educating themselves on how to understand multiple intelligence theory and integrated curriculum concepts. Their dedication astounded me. They said they felt that eliminating the arts was a mistake. They talked about how children learn in various ways and how academics were suffering from the loss of the arts. They made me understand the role of the arts in basic education. They expanded my focus from realistic drawing instruction to an entire curriculum that uses drawing to teach academic subject matter.

As an artist and the founder of the Monart drawing schools, I simply wanted to help children draw for enjoyment. Symbolic stick figure drawing came naturally to all my students, but realistic drawing did not. It seemed apparent that they needed instruction to achieve realism, just as they did to learn music, dance, creative writing, and endless other artistic endeavors. As a result, I had to develop a structured curriculum that taught enough basics for success and enough freedom for creative expression. It was a delight to find that the structured lessons did not interfere with the symbolic drawings they did on their own. I would never have guessed that the structured method would also lead to helping students in their other subjects. Hundreds of teachers, from all over the country, taught me the connection. Their stories were too consistent to ignore.

Teachers who taught reading reported that children who learned to draw and see through my visual alphabet had dramatic increases in letter recognition and reading readiness. These teachers noticed that the motivation to read expanded when the children drew the characters and subjects from their books. Drawing the content of science, geography, and social studies lessons resulted in noticeable differences in speed of learning and retention. When teachers used the abstract design lessons to teach math concepts, they witnessed children break through conceptual blocks with ease while having fun.

Teachers observed that students who had attention problems could learn through drawing to stay on track for unbelievable lengths of time. In order to achieve realistic drawings the students automatically learned to focus, concentrate, and problem solve. With motivation at its peak, teachers witnessed peak learning of course content. After a year of using the program, school districts began reporting as much as 20 percent increases in reading, writing, and math scores. I watched the same phenomena occur when teachers integrated music, movement, visual games, journal writing, and other artistic fields of study into their lessons.

The arts are coming back, stronger than ever, whether they get funded or not. In the last ten years I have watched the awareness and implementation of the arts increase dramatically. At a time when art budgets are still threadbare, teachers have educated themselves in how to use the arts as one of the most powerful teaching tools they have. The reason the shift is taking place is because it works.

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About the Author

Mona Brookes is the author of Drawing with Children and Drawing for Older Children and Teens. She is also the founder of Monart Drawing Schools.

You can reach her at:
Monart
P O Box 1630
Ojai, CA 93024
(805) 640-0929
FAX (805) 640-0859

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