Format
Videoconference presenters show American artworks from the museum’s collection using PowerPoint and/or green screen. Through inquiry-based questions and discussion, presenters engage with participants as they explore artworks together.
Objectives
Through active discussion about thought-provoking works, students will be better able to:
• Understand the difference between making an observation about an issue and inspiring engagement with a cause;
• Identify an issue’s multiple causes and effects and compare and contrast the ways artists have drawn inspiration from them;
• Assess how artistic practices range from reflecting upon historic circumstances and current issues to disrupting or even transforming the status quo;
• Interpret visual and contextual evidence to articulate meanings of issues and actions.
Standards Alignment
National Standards
Videoconferences can touch on one or more of the following standards
National
Visual Arts
• K-12.7: Perceive and analyze artistic work
• K-12.8: Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work
• K-12.9: Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work
• K-12.11: Relate artistic ideas and works from a variety of sources with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding
Historical Thinking
• K-12.2: Draw upon the visual data presented in photographs, paintings, cartoons, and architectural drawings to clarify, illustrate, or elaborate upon information presented in the historical narrative, and appreciate and consider past historical perspectives
• K-12.3: Analyze and interpret multiple perspectives in history to compare and contrast differing sets of ideas, values, personalities, behaviors, and institutions, and to challenge arguments of historical inevitability
• K-12.4: Obtain and interrogate historical data from a variety of sources, including library and museum collections, in order to formulate historical questions from encounters with art and other records from the past
U.S. History
• 5-12, Era 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
• 5-12, Era 7: The Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930)
• 5-12, Era 8: The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
• 5-12, Era 9: Postwar United States (1945 to Early 1970s)
• 5-12, Era 10: Contemporary United States (1968 to the Present)
Civics
• 5-12.1: Civic Life, Politics, and Government
• K-12.5: Roles of the Citizen in American Democracy
Social Studies
• D2.His.3.9-12: Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context
• D2.Civ.14.9-12: Analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts/Literacy, College and Career Readiness
Standards have been slightly modified to expand the definition of "text" to include artworks.
Reading
• R.1: Read closely to determine what the [artwork] says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific [visual] evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the [artwork].
• R.2: Determine central ideas or themes of a[n artwork] and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
• R.6: Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a[n artwork].
• R.7: Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
• R.9: Analyze how two or more [artworks] address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the [artists] take.
Speaking and Listening
• SL.1: Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
• SL.2: Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
• SL.3: Evaluate a speaker’s [or an artist’s] point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.
• SL.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.