Inner City Art Critics

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I’m sure this activity isn’t a groundbreaking innovation, but I thought it’s worthwhile sharing something that’s worked with Winnipeg inner city junior high students who are sometimes resistant to trying new things.

This term I’ve used ‘A​Smarthistory Gallery’​in ‘G​oogle Art Project’​to teach grade 8 ELA students that art can be a powerful way to both depict/record/describe one’s culture as well as pass on beliefs/ideas/values to future generations. The gallery contains 119 high definition photos of famous and/or influential art pieces, as well as accompanying videos of 2 art historians who explain the techniques and, more importantly, the meaning behind each piece.

My students made a 2 column chart in their notebooks in order to record their responses and questions for the paintings we studied. I assured them that the art historians would be using some vocabulary they won’t be familiar with, but that they shouldn’t let that dissuade them from gleaning the overall message of the painting. For the above painting (“The Proverbs” by Bruegel), students were not only interested in the many strange scenes but also in how many of the proverbs/idioms they were familiar with (to bang one’s head against a brick wall, to be armed to the teeth, to crap on the world, don’t cry over spilled milk, etc.).

Students will next choose 1 of the 8 pieces we’ve studied and do some individual research into the painting and the artist behind it, then create an expository essay that includes their initial reaction to the painting, their immediate questions after watching the video, and a link to a modern day equivalent art/music piece. My short term goal here was to develop students’ questioning and writing skills, but my long term goal is to expose students to the idea that the world is infinitely interesting and can largely be understood if they are observant and take healthy risks.

Warren du Plooy
Hugh John Macdonald School

Cluster 2010