Historical Art Week

Hello,

Visual literacy is a vital component to understanding the world around us. We all view countless visual stimuli each and every moment. Often our ability to function in this world relies upon our sense of sight. Art, being a primary source of historical data can offer a means of deciphering the past that is both challenging and exciting. This past week the students learned how to examine pieces of art and interpret their meaning. The goal of this unit is to have students examine primary sources from early American artists and be able to write a one paragraph analysis about the message of the artwork.

 We began the week by considering the concept of interpretation and learning that each of us might have a different idea about any given piece of art. We also learned that since we have limited historical background on each piece of art that this would surely challenge us to "look deeper" into the art and try to unveil it's hidden meaning: if there is any.

The students really seemed to enjoy using this method of inquiry, but, as with anything new, are still in the beginning stages of developing this skill. As I looked over their work, I noticed that they seemed to understand that somewhere within the elements and principles of design, the artist uses her/his skill to relay a message. They did struggle a bit with trying to find that message, but that is will take time.

Overall, I have to say they did well. They will have more chances to develop this skill of interpretation as the year progresses.