VSSGAA Discussion Plan Theme: Artist s use their imagination to Tell a Story. Focus Object: Free Floating Clouds, by Sam Francis Audience 1 st grade PART 1: Outline: 1. Introduction Discover how Artists use their imagination to tell a story a. Museum before? Here? Where? b. See different art at 4 different stops. c. Museum manners, 2. Free Floating Clouds Abstract/Modernist Painting a. Size b. Shapes using hands c. Color feeling of color d. Paint application brushes e. Groups of 2 what do you see? f. Not representational, but how he used the medium and what you see. 3. Antelope and the Hound Bronze Sculpture a. Motion b. 3 dimensional c. memories of childhood in Austria/Germany d. Metal feeling e. Compare with bust of horse Introduction: Hello Children, I am Mrs. X and I will be one of your docents today. Miss Y will also be your docent. Do you know what docent means? Teacher. We only teach at the museum. Has anyone been to a museum before? Walk Over We are going to have a good time looking at different types of art. You will learn some new words and the names of the different types of art. Today we will teach you that The Artist uses his imagination to Tell us a Story We will discover the stories in each piece of art. Before we go in remember your museum manners. When we are walking inside,
keep your hands at your side or in your pockets. We can't touch anything. Do you know why? Get dirty, tear, etc. We will have 4 different stops in the museum on our tour. We will Look Listen Talk about the art we see today. Our first stop will be art that looks very different for some of you. Let's go in with hands at our sides or in our pockets. Stop 1 : Free Floating Clouds, Sam Francis, 1980 Goal of Focus Object stop: How the artist uses paint. Discover shapes and application of paint and color. Connections to make: Creating their own drawings. How Sam Francis created his painting. Transition to stop: This is our first stop on our tour and first lets just look. Opening Question: Tell me about this painting. It is big!! This is an abstract/ modernist painting. We ll talk about what that means in just a minute. Deeper Questions: Using your hands, show me what shapes you see? Do you see anything else? What colors: How do those colors make you feel? How does the paint look to you? Thick in some places, thin in others. The artist used different size brushes. What do you use to paint? - big brushes, small brushes, sponges. How would you paint a big picture like this? How do you think the artist was able to paint such a big picture? Let s get in groups of 2. Let s quietly look at the painting again. Now, let s sit down with our partner and very quietly tell each other what you see. Now let s share. The abstract artist did not paint pictures of things we know, but expressed his imagination with colors, how he placed his design on the canvas, and how he used the paint.
Essential Information: Sam Francis was born in California and started painting while he was hospitalized during WWII. He was known for abstract paintings that look to the future. He was a pilot in WWII, some feel his work reflects perspective of an aviator. Perceptions of light, space, movement, and growth. Explored the emotional qualities of color. Contrast between light and dark. Characterized by freely applied paint with underlying structure;a grid provides an armature for biomorphic shapes. Transition from stop and/or Conclusion: The artist made this painting so you could use your imagination and decide what it means to you. It is not a story about a person but what you see. Next we will see a different type of art. Remember to walk with your hands at your side. Stop 2 : Antelope and the Hound Goal of Focus Object stop: Introduce sculpture and motion in art Connections to make: Fun memories of homeland influenced this artist to create the sculpture. What memories can they use. Transition to stop: We just saw an abstract painting. Now this is something we recognize. Opening Question: What do you see? Dog, antelope/deer This is a sculpture. Deeper Question: What are they doing? Running, chasing, How did the artist make it look that way? Feet extended on antelope. Get new partners and let s look at it with your partner and stand all around the sculpture. How is this different than the painting? - Motion - Reality - 3 dimensional we can see it from all sides, we can walk around it. What do you think it is made from?
How would it feel? Let s look at this sculpture, how is it different? It s a head of a horse, it doesn t look like its moving. Factual Information - The artist made this from his memories of home where there were antelope and dogs. He lived in the mountain area of Germany, another country. Transition to next stop: We have seen an abstract painting that isn t a picture of things we have seen before, but a painting where we use our imagination to decide what it means to you, and we have seen a sculpture, which is made of metal and we can walk all around it. Ms. Y will now be your docent and show you another type of painting. PART 2: Docent #2 Theme: The artist uses imagination to tell a story Focus Object: Chimborazo Connections to make on tour: the ways in which an artist uses a medium of choice and personal experience and/or imagination to make art. Goal of Focus Object: to investigate what the artist has painted and how that comes directly from his personal life and what elements of his imagination are present. Transition to stop: so far we ve seen a BIG painting that let us use our own imagination to decide what it was, a sculpture who s artist used what he remembered as a child growing up to help him create. And now we re looking at another painting to see how this artist used his idea s to tell a story. Opening Question:
1) Take a long-look at this picture and then share with us the different things you see? 2) Does this look like a real place? Why or why not? Deeper Question: 1) What type of story do you think Frederic Edwin Church is trying to tell us through this painting? What elements in the picture made you come up with that answer? Key Factual Information: --Frederic Edwin Church traveled all over the world including the Arctic, Middle East, and Central America (where Ecuador is, the place that inspired this picture) --Chimborazo is the name of a volcano in the country of Ecuador (the mountain illustrated in this painting) Transition from stop: our 1 st painting used color and shape ONLY in its story leaving our imagination to work. And the sculpture and 2 nd painting we looked at used the artist s experiences and different medium to tell a story. We re going to move onto one more piece, which we call a decorative art piece what do you think that is? Well lets find out. Theme: The artist uses imagination to tell a story. Focus Object: Delftware Connections to make on tour: the ways in which an artist uses a medium of choice and personal experience and/or imagination to make art. Goal of Focus Object: to find ways in which the artist(s) turned everyday kitchen items into art, using a specific craft method (i.e. tin-glazed) and elements of imagination along with their environment. Transition to stop: so far we ve seen a BIG painting that let us use our own idea s to decide what it was, a sculpture who s artist used what he remembered as achild growing up to help him create, and we looked at another painting that brought its artist s travels and point of view to life. Now let look at some pottery and see what we find. Opening Question: 1) What type of pottery do you see here? 2) Does any of this look like some of the dishes mom has at home? Deeper Question:
1) Can items we use everyday, like dishes, be art? If you think so, why? 2) What type of pictures of illustration do you see on the Delftware? What about these may or may not make you think the artist s imagination was at work? Key Factual Information: --Delftware is blue & white, tin-glazed (makes ceramics glossy), and makes them more valuable --The word Delftware comes from its place of origin; Delft around the Netherlands --Delftware is Dutch; the Dutch were one of the many foreign groups of people that settled in America during and after the Colonial Era. Conclusion: today we ve seen how people tell a story through are by the medium they use and their imagination. We looked at paintings (large and small), sculpture, and special dishes we call decorative art pieces. Now we encourage you to think and create your own are using materials and mediums you like and most importantly, your IMAGINATION!!