Instructify

August 15, 2008

Do you remember as a school age child taking trips to the art museums to see great works such as Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”, Seurat’s “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte”, or Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”? Yeah me neither. What a great trip that would have been. Don’t let money or geography prevent you from providing this opportunity to your students. Take them on a virtual field trip to The National Gallery of Art for a first-class artistic experience.

Students can stroll through the Sculpture Garden with a child-character named Gordon. As they wander through the garden then can view actual art sculptures and read Gordon’s description of the sculpture from his perspective. This is a great way for students to generate their own questions and conclusions on the art work.

After leaving the Sculpture Garden, your students can tour the artwork in the gallery by viewing art work of famous artists such as Tissot, Rogier van der Weyden, Heade, Leonardo da Vinci, Monet, O’Keeffe, and many more. In addition to viewing their work, this site provides information on the artist along with descriptions of their art work and questions to ponder as you view it. Once your students have toured the artwork they can give their own artistic abilities a try by visiting the Art Zone. There students can interact with and create many different types of art. From still life to abstract art to collage and mobile pieces, the sky’s the limit. -MONIQUE ST.LOUIS

The National Gallery of Art