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Overview: Students create a small exhibit of four to six pieces of artwork based on a THEME. They will use the websites at the bottom of this page or others that you choose.

• Students will record the necessary information for each artwork they choose--artist, title, date, medium, size, museum/location, etc. They will write a brief description of each work, telling why it fits their chosen theme. They will write an introduction and create a brochure or poster advertising their exhibit.
• Students can download the images and print them or save them to a computer document. If the software is available at school or home, the students can create their exhibits using Hyperstudio, PowerPoint, etc. Or, the students can mount copies of the artwork on poster board or a classroom wall where their classmates can visit each exhibit and offer comments and critiques. Check out our project EXAMPLE.

OBJECTIVES:

• Students will understand that a curator learns to make choices and organizes art exhibits based on a theme.
• Students will learn about specific artworks and learn how to present information in a coherent and creative manner.

Teach:

• (1) Roles and responsibilities of a curator
  • Occupational Outlook Handbook
  • BLS Career Information


• (2)Different ways art shows can be organized, with specific examples of actual exhibits from museums
  • Speed Museum Special Exhibitions
  • Art Institute of Chicago Special Exhibitions
  • San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Special Exhibitions


• (3) That a exhibit will often be organized around a theme
• Examples of possible themes:
  • Subject matter: animals, portraits, landscapes, still lifes, flowers.
  • Genre: Abstract Expressionism, Impressionism, Cubism, Surrealism
  • Media: sculpture, watercolors, prints, photographs.
  • Time period: Classical, Medieval, Contemporary.
  • Content: Religion, Social Protest, etc.
  • Culture: American, African, Native American


• (4) That themes can come in many different shapes and forms and can be combined, i.e. Far Eastern Paintings, American Indian Pottery, etc.

Up for a video? Consider using our Electronic Field Trip to the JB Speed Art Museum as a starting point for this project. Click the link for air dates and a complete print packet. This program is also available as Broadcast 28, Humanities through the Arts.

A field trip? After your students have watched KET's Electronic Field Trip to the Speed Museum and created their own art exhibit, they are probably ready for the real thing! (But are YOU??) Click on the following web sites for names and phone numbers of museum personnel who will help make the planning easier.

• JB Speed Museum
• The Cincinnati Art Museum
• Huntington Museum of Art
• The Art Institute of Chicago

Portfolio option: Have students write a review of a project other than their own. The subject may be an exhibit that they found interesting, disturbing, or thought-provoking.

For starters, some web sites:

• Art Institute of Chicago
• WebMuseum, Paris
• The British Museum
• Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
• The Louvre, Paris
• Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy
• The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• The Musee' d' Orsay, Paris
• Guggenheim Museum, New York
• Web Gallery of Art

This assignment addresses these KDE Academic Expectations:

• 1.13 Students make sense of ideas and communicate ideas with the visual arts
• 2.23 Students analyze their own and others' artistic products and performances using accepted standards
• 2.24 Students have knowledge of major works of art, music and literature and appreciate creativity and the contributions of the arts and humanities