Be a Museum Curator!

PICTURE THIS
Have you ever wondered who gets to choose the works that a museum will put on display? Who decides how an exhibit of artworks should be shown to the public, or what particular style should be highlighted? Such important and creative decisions are made by the museum curator. The curator is responsible for selecting the artwork to be featured and arranging it in displays that are both appealing and informative. The job is as challenging as it is fun. Consider the choices a curator faces. Art shows and exhibits are usually organized around themes. Here are some common themes:

Subject Matter animals portraits landscapes still lifes flowers Style or Genre Abstract Impressionism Expressionism Pop Art

Content Social Protest Environmentalism Religion Labor Media sculpture watercolors drawings prints photographs

Time Period Ancient Classical Renaissance Contemporary Culture American European African Native American

These are just a few examples of the possible choices a curator can make when organizing an exhibit or show. As you can imagine, the job of a curator requires a knowledge of art as well as a creative outlook. You might even say that curating is an art in itself!

Your Assignment:

1. Read your textbook pages 345 before you begin this web quest.

2. Read through the webquest below and READ ALL directions beforehand. You will be responsible for printing out your own worksheet (see below right side? click to open). If you finish early, you may be the curator for multiple shows (and multiple themes) for extra credit.

3. Homework: read textbook pages 342-345 and complete reading comprehension (given to you by the teacher).

Remember to use complete sentences and Standard English for full credit!

Imagine that you have been named Fine Arts Curator of a Cyberspace Museum. Your task is to plan your first art show. First, click on the button that will print out your worksheet. Print enough copies for each museum site you visit. Next, view the artworks at the sites listed in the Artist's Passport. Each museum website will be different and it is up to you to find the links to explore the collection. Then, decide on a theme. Choose five or six works that will suit your theme. Gather information about each work and organize the details you will need to complete your worksheet. You are ready to begin your job as curator.

Artist's Passport Web Links

Monet Bierstadt O'Keeffe Cassatt Latin American Art

Morisot Egypt Petroglyphs Greek & Roman

Mexico Africa Miró Picasso

A Room Interior

What is the difference between 1-point and 2-point perspective?

(besides the fact the number of vanishing points they each have)

HW: Using the technique similar to the one you see below in Da Vinci's Last Supper, draw a picture of a room in your home. Include furniture and other objects. Make sure that if something is sitting on the floor (like a chair) that the legs of that chair stay on the floor!

Linear Perspective

Read through Linear Perspective pages 128-129.

Analyze fresco by Raphael, The School of Athens:

What is a fresco? How is it different from a mural?
Who are the men in this fresco? What do you think the artist's intentions were?
Can you find the vanishing point? horizon?
What techniques were used (besides linear perspective) to create the illusion of 3-D depth on a 2-D surface?

HW: bring in a image that contains 1-point perspective
(cut out from a magazine or a newspaper)

One-Point Perspective Basics

Now that you have learned how to determine scale, use negative space, and understand the basic rules to create the illusion of depth and volume through size, placement, contrast and overlapping, it is time to learn the basic rules of linear perspective.

You did not have to use linear perspective before because your objects were round. When drawing objects that have angular shapes, you will use the techniques of linear perspective.


Linear perspective can become complex with mathematical calculations. For now, we will keep this real simple:












Vocabulary:

1-point perspective
vanishing point
horizon
converging lines


Here's what One-point boxes look like from above and below, right and left of the vanishing point:

















Practice this technique using a real box. Start by drawing the part of the box that is FACING you first. Let the converging lines create the top or bottom.

If you are viewing the top of a box, is it above or below your eye level?

Don't Keep it All Bottled Up!

We learned an easy way to draw bottles
(which are basically stylized cyllinders).


What a workout! Which muscles did you use most?
Did this surprise you?


Remember: It's your shoulder and your legs that do the work--not your wrist or elbow.

From Shape to Form!

The term value is used in art to describe the lightness or darkness of lines, shapes, and colors.

Look carefully at the sectons of Picasso's drawing Woman in White. Locate at least five different values and try to draw them .

Artists use values in various ways. Picasso shaded objects to make them look three-dimensional (not flat). Shading is a very gradual change from light to dark values.

Describe where you see shading in Woman in White. How does Picasso's use of value effect the work's meaning?

Classwork: turn a circle into a sphere by following the easy guidelines.

HW: Sphere worksheet