What museum/art center do have in your area that could be a great resource for an advanced art program? How would this assist students to move beyond trite/cliched subject matter?
The Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum is the closest museum to my school. The museum offers a juried art show at the end of each school year. The director of education at the museum offers many different programs and classes. I have also spoken with her recently about coming to visit my AP class next year to talk about museum quality vs high school art. Within this conversation she will be talking with the students about their artwork, and how to push it to become museum quality. Another way we can utilize the museum is to visit it, and talk about what the artist's are creating and how. This can lead them to research about the artist and find out their inspirations and give them ideas to incorporate within their artwork.
A relationship between the Director of Education at your local museum sounds like a perfect win-win! It's wonderful she is willing to reach out to the schools to visit the students and have conversation about the work. What a great resource!
What a great opportunity your students have to learn directly from the director of education at the museum about how to push their artwork to the next level. This will be an eye-opening and inspirational experience for many of your students!
The director is so amazing! She really has a wonderful experience set up for the students every time I go. I'm excited to be there with you for the juried art show this year!!!!
Brittany that sounds awesome about the education coordinator coming to talk to your AP students about museum quality versus high school quality. I think hearing something from someone besides me would be great.
I teach in Fort Mill which is right down the road from Charlotte. Charlotte has so many amazing options for the students, 2 Mint Museums (Randolph and Uptown), Bechtler Museum, Harvey B. Gantt Center and a few others. The Mint Museum is what i have the most experience working with, they are very helpful. They do seminars on their art, have special events, and will work with teachers. The Uptown location has a permanent Romare Bearden exhibit and they have lesson plans and activities to go along with the exhibit. The uptown location is their modern and contemporary art exhibit which the students always love when we go there. There are works by Kehinde Whiley, Ansel Adams, Chihuly, and many more. Each year that i take students these are some of the works they are most interested in. I think the Uptown location is a good way for students to see art that explores outside the traditional subject matter.
You are so fortunate to have so many museums nearby! I would love to have close access to these with my Art History classes. It's also so nice that they have interactive lesson plans for a permanent exhibit!
I teach in Greenwood which is actually a very supportive community when it comes to the arts. We have the Uptown Cultural Arts center which serves as a free gallery to the community. This building houses the Greenwood Arts Council which offers art classes and keeps many different artists on display. Not only do they offer summer classes, but they work with District 50 art teachers to create a yearly District Art Show which showcases student artwork to the community. We also have the group pARTners in Clay which is a large independent studio that focuses on ceramics classes for the community. They are always so helpful whenever teachers or students have questions. Lastly, there is Main on Maxwell which serves as a gallery shop for local artists. This is a great way for new artists to get their work and ideas out into the community. It is also a great way for the people of Greenwood to buy local art. All of these places serve as great sources of inspiration for art students looking for new ideas.
It is great that you mentioned students have the opportunity to learn from and work with local artists. It's beneficial for students to learn how they can become an active part of their community. I can see how students can be inspired by local artists, not only with new ideas, but also to become a respected artist in their own community one day in the future.
I taught for seven years in McCormick. I found the Greenwood and Abbeville area supportive of the arts. They often collaborated for larger events. My husband and I participated in many of these events. We were members of the Abbeville Artist Guild and he was even their president at one time. We frequently try to get back for special events including Festival of Flowers.
I live in Greenville and teach at the Fine Arts Center. We are fortunate to have the Greenville County Art Museum and the Bob Jones Gallery within a 10 minute drive. Our school also has a permanent art collection that we use throughout the year to help students reflect and analyze work. We have an extensive Native American pottery collection, Robert Rauschenberg, Sue Coe, and Alice Neel, and many others works. We also take students to one major field trip per year, rotating between the High Museum and the Mint Museum. It is important for students to see, up close and personal, the work of others and especially the wide range of art being made by contemporary artists on a variety of subject matter.
I teach at JL Mann and we do a similar field trip each year! We go to either the High or the Mint. This year we added a tour of SCAD Atlanta and the students loved it! SCAD has tons of work on display by both students and instructors with the added bonus that students can see the many career paths there are in the arts.
How amazing that your school has a permanent collection for students to experience daily! We are fortunate to have an art gallery in our school where we are able to professionally display student work. They love seeing their own creations framed and hanging in this space. We are also able to host receptions for parents and community members to experience the art.
I love getting to see the permanent collection every time I get to visit the FAC! You guys have an amazing program, and do such great work with the students in our community. I have had several parents e-mail me asking about summer programs in the area, and Explore the Arts is always at the top of the list. I attended Explore the arts when I was younger, and it was one of the best arts experiences that I had as a young person, and it really helped to foster my love of the arts, not just visual arts!
Fortunately, being in Fort Mill provides many opportunities to experience several art museums in Charlotte which include The Mint Museums, The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, and a variety of smaller galleries such as The Light Factory. The Catawba Cultural Center in Rock Hill provides students with the opportunity to learn about their rich culture in pottery, basketweaving, beadwork, and more. We also have access to the galleries at Winthrop University and other college campuses near by. The Columbia Museum of Art is also a reasonable drive from Fort Mill. Experiencing the artwork in person is much more impactful than simply viewing it online or in a book. Exposing students to a variety of museum and gallery experiences allows them to see how artists are inspired and convey their messages in their artworks. It allows students to see their brush strokes and layers, the scale of their work, and the craftsmanship involved. Students get to see how artists push the envelope with media, composition, and concepts – often pushing the boundaries. Many classroom discussions can evolve from a museum or gallery experience – challenging students to think about composition, media, subject matter, process, and more. Students can indicate a handful of artworks they feel are interesting based on subject matter and discuss why. They can also indicate and discuss new media or processes they discovered at the exhibit.
I know that the Catawba Indians also do a week long celebration in Lancaster at USC-L. They have exhibits, speakers, dancers, and folk art on display. It is a unique experience if you don't know a lot about the tribe and want to learn about the different facets of Catawba Indian culture.
Do they also do something at Winthrop? A few years ago I went to Winthrop for some Native American Event and it was so fascinating. I just wonder if it was similar.
I think the idea of incorporation folk art in to the discussion of Craft vs. Art is crucial. I think that showing students a narrative of art formulated independently of the cannon helps students of different ethnicities feel more involved it the history of art which can be quite isolating for students of color.
I don't know about Winthrop....I am from Lancaster and I worked with several professors from USC-L during the summers that worked with different people from the tribe. It was a very cool.
Being in Chapin, a suburb of Columbia, we are in close proximity to the Columbia Museum of Art and are able to visit annually. This short trip to Columbia allows our students the opportunity to experience the permanent collection and special exhibitions first hand, expanding their perception of art and art making. In the past few years our students have had the opportunity to view the work of Annie Leibovitz, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, J. Henry Fair, Georgia O'Keefe, Mark Rothko, and Andy Warhol, among many others. I love the conversations I am able to over hear while they are touring and exploring the exhibits. They leave refreshed, inspired, and ready to experiment and create. These individualized experiences provide an opportunity for our students to expand their perceptions of art, art making, and inspire their own work. We also participate in opportunities at CMA that allow students to have their own art juried into special exhibitions at the museum. Columbia Museum of Art is an exceptional resource for me, my colleagues, and our students.
CMA has also hosted the National Art Honor Society State Conference for a couple of years now. These conferences are also a great way for students to experiment with new materials and medias. The CMA has some really great resources.
We attended CMA National Arts Honor Society State Conference 2 years in a row! The students loved the workshops and the opportunity to meet students from other cities. The workshops were very engaging and the students that attended really liked having something to bring back and share with classmates.
The Upstate has a thriving art community, and I am short drive (2 hours or less) to major art museums in Atlanta, Columbia, and Charlotte. A few years ago, I worked for The Arts Center in Clemson. They offered classes in art and music for adults, teens, and children. It was an amazing opportunity. I was able to learn about the business side of running an arts program. It allowed me to network and make valuable contacts with local artists. I would love to see a mentor program develop between local arts centers and my AP students. Local artists can demonstrate their art making process and discuss their inspirations. In return, students are exposed to different media and techniques.
The Mint Museum in Charlotte and the High in Atlanta are AMAZING! Definitely would recommend for student exposure! Especially the older kids. They'd get a lot out of seeing their exhibits. REALLY wish I could bring a group!
I live in Greenville and teach at JL Mann. We very lucky to have the Greenville County Art Museum in town. Greenville is also host to many other visual arts outlets such as endless galleries, working studios and festivals (Artisphere being the largest). We also take our advanced students on a field trip to either the High Museum in Atlanta or the Mint Museum in Charlotte. This past year we visited the High Museum and also toured SCAD's Atlanta campus. It is important for students to view artwork of the past as well as have the opportunity to seed what artists are making right now.
I would love to take my students to SCAD for a field trip, I think it would be great for some of my very serious art students since I teach middle school.
I teach in Rock Hill, SC and we are fortunate to have several different museums close by to visit. Right here in Rock Hill we have the Center for the Arts, where local artists show their work as well as Winthrop Galleries. They can get two different perspectives between student/professor work at Winthrop and working artist work at the Center for the Arts. Then in Charlotte there are several museum opportunities, mainly the Mint Museum being the one I have the most contact with. The Mint Museum has exhibits, but they also have festivals, and seminars which is a great way to get involved. Seeing all the different artist's approaches helps expand student's idea and hopefully could help them with generating new ideas.
I am from Rock Hill and I must say from growing up there and what Rock Hill has become now, there are so many opportunities for art education around the entire town. I remember when I was in high school, my art teacher had us be apart of an art competition that was through the city itself. We were to create an artwork that showed love through everyone through the community. Promoting civil and equal rights. Those whose artwork won were put on a banner and displayed through downtown Rock Hill. Im not sure if they still do this but it was eye rewarding as a high school student to see your artwork in the middle of downtown.
In downtown Gaffney, we have the CAVA Gallery. It’s not the biggest gallery, but occasionally they feature a variety of work as well as college level exhibits too. At my schools, our theme for the year revolved around college and career readiness, so being able to show my students the artwork of college students and local artists is a pretty great opportunity. I’ve really focused my past 3 years on what people are doing NOW as far as art, and they’re always pretty amazed that people can still do art outside of school! Haha Not only art, but art related jobs. I tell them that art and design is just about everywhere and in just about everything! From the clothes on their backs, to the cars their parents drive, to the homes they live in, even the food they eat! Showing them innovative techniques can really grab their attention, especially when they get to the stage of thinking they already know all there is to know about everything. Sometimes you’ve got to shake up their world a bit with something new, even if just a different technique! Having them explore other’s work is the best way for them to start formulating their own aesthetic.
I believe it is so important to show our students that art is thriving in our local community. So, although the gallery may be small in Gaffney, I think it is wonderful that you are letting your students experience it rather than just opting to go to bigger museums and galleries. I also agree that it is so important to connect art to the lives of our students. If they have a connection, they will be more engaged in the lesson. I love the phrase, "shake up their world a bit." This is so important for all artists. We have to witness new and different things. Who knows what will inspire us and our students to create something fabulous!
I teach in Blythewood, SC and we have an art center called Bravo Blythewood with classes available for anyone who is interested in learning how to draw or paint. My school is also approximately 20 minutes away from the Columbia Museum of Art. The CMA has a wonderful permanent exhibit and has excellent travelling collections available. As Stephanie mentioned in her post, the CMA has brought many well known traveling art exhibits into the area. Many people come from all over Columbia and the surrounding areas just to view these exhibits. Through these collections, students get to discover artists and why their work was so monumental and how their work was uniquely their style. Students can view these artists as mentors and use their work to discover their own techniques or approaches. The CMA also provides summer classes for children and teenagers who want to challenge themselves and expand their art horizons. As artists, we see inspiration in all things and it's important for students to visit local art centers and museums so that they can broaden their horizons and get inspired by how an artist approached a similar idea or problem.
It is great that you are so centrally located. I have taken a trip 3 hours each way to the Columbia Museum of Art and it was so worth it. I wish we have an art center that offered art classes. Most around her are taught be retired people during the day to other retired people, so my students can not benefit from them.
I teach in Horry County, and we have the closest access to the 'Burroughs and Chapin' art museum. I have actually taken 3 classes of students there, and plan to continue this trip annually. They have a wonderful art education program, and I know the director personally. She does amazing programs for all ages that include guided tours and production activities. I feel there are many exhibits that will come through that will assist students placed in the advanced art program. I feel the most excited about finally being able to have students enter into the high school juried art show. As Brittany was saying, it's a HS art show that is put on by the museum, and there's a formal opening for the show after it's juried. I, actually, was in this show and won 1st place 3D and the overall scholarship award when I was a junior and then senior. I appreciate this being held, and feel it's a wonderful and encouraging way to teach students how to present themselves as professional artists.
I will be moving to Charleston, Sc very soon and there is a museum that is located in downtown Charleston. It's called the Gibbes Museum of Art. The permanent collection of the Gibbes Museum of Art spans four centuries and provides a dynamic introduction to the visual culture of America and the American South from the colonial era to the present. Paintings, sculptures, miniature portraits, works on paper, decorative art objects, and multi-media installations, created by American artists, express the evolving aesthetic tastes of this city. It also has the first-ever American miniatures that were painted in Charleston and today the Gibbes is home to one of the most prestigious American portrait miniature collections in the country. Since I will be teaching photography, I could use the permanent collection of the miniature portraits to teach my students about how people were captured before cameras as this was the early form of photography for people.
This all sounds amazing! Charleston is pretty close to where I am, about an hour and a half drive. I also have an advanced photography class, so this would be awesome to take them to as well! It would be cool to work collaboratively between our schools too. Maybe have our students talk to each other about their ideas and what they are doing! This will help them see what other students their age are doing too!
We have several art galleries located in Spartanburg. USC Upstate has an on campus gallery and a gallery located downtown. We also have galleries located on the Wofford and Converse campuses. It is easy to pull up excellent images from museums around the world. Students are then exposed to art from great artists. However, seeing a flattened image on a computer screen will never equal the experience of seeing a piece of art in person. Students can really see the texture, technique, stroke and the artist's hand in the work. Whenever I visit a museum or gallery, I am instantly inspired. I want to rush home and try something new and different that I experienced. This inspiration pushes me beyond my own boundaries. I look at new materials and ways to use them. Therefore, I create new and interesting art pieces that move me beyond trite and clichéd subject matter. I expect that giving my students the same opportunities will do the same for them.
I agree with you, there is something about a trip to the galleries to inspire and motivate me. I took some students last year and I can tell it was a first for half of them, they were so amazed just seeing the art. When they came across a work of art they saw online, they were even more ecstatic. Galleries are such a great experience for students and for fellow artist
I teach in Greenville County, where we have the Greenville County Art Museum, as well as a large number of galleries and artist co-ops in the area. We are also fortunate to be so close to so many other major cities with excellent art museums- Columbia, Charlotte, Atlanta, etc. are all within an hour or two drive and make great field trip destinations. We are so lucky to have Artisphere, an amazing arts festival every May to showcase the best of the arts in our community. They also sponsor a high school student art show which allows us to display all of our students' amazing work to a much larger audience. In addition, we are lucky to have such beautiful scenery here in Greenville! This past year we took a field trip to downtown Greenville with our upper level students to Falls Park, where students spent several hours drawing, painting, and enjoying nature. Having all of these amazing resources so close by allows us to expose our students to a wider variety of art styles and techniques, and to show them that art isn't just pretty portraits and landscapes hanging in a museum, and that they can find success as artists regardless of what technique or style they choose to embrace.
I love the fact that you were able to take your students to draw in Fall's Park! My students always get so excited to go outside and draw because of the change of scenery and the fact that it pushes them out of their comfort zone. I would really love to be able to take mine to Fall's Park to do some field drawing. Drawing from life often helps students move past cliche imagery because they have to draw what they really see.
There are several museums and centers that are a reasonable drive from my school. The USC Lancaster Native American Center offers a large collection of Catawba pottery and artifacts. The York County Museum and the Columbia Museum of Art are also within driving distance. The museums and centers in Charlotte would take longer to get to for a field trip, but they still would be worth the drive especially for special programs. I have been to both Mint Museums. I am more familiar with their special programs than the other museums. All of the mentioned museums and centers work with educators to teach about the artists they have on display.
In Greenwood we have several facilities that are great resources for an advanced art program. First, we have the Federal art gallery. They are always stepping up and helping with art programs and resources. They have the Youth Art Show which showcases our middle and high school art. Students get to see their work in a "real" gallery. The Federal Art gallery also host local artist. I usually offer incentives to get the students to go But once they see, their reactions are always of awe. We also have the Lander University gallery. They host scholastic and juried shows. My students love seeing what other school in the area are doing. This lets them see why I push them to be better artist. They can see the level that others are on and they want to do more difficult projects. Often times I have students coming back with pictures of art that they likes and want to tackle next.
Being in Piedmont/Powdersville means there really aren't any close art museums to my school. However, the Greenville County musuem of art is about 30 minutes away and has a really nice Andrew Wyeth Collection. The Anderson's arts center is also about 30 minutes away and often shows student exhibits and community work. When I was a student, we often took field trips to The High in Atlanta (2 hrs) or the Columbia Museum of Art (2hrs.) Those were amazing exhibits and really expired me to create art outside my comfort zone. Just in October, I took my students to see the Chihuly exhibit at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and got very positive feedback from my students. I think seeing work in a gallery can help students see what's out there beyond their preconceived ideas about art production. They've often never been to a gallery at all, so when they do get to go, the experience really jump starts the creative process for many of them. Seeing a range of material, especially local work hopefully will help steer students away from cliche and kitschy material because they will be aware of what other's are making.
The main and only museum we have is the Burroughs and Chapin Art Museum in Myrtle Beach. It is a renovated beach house. They have a juried show for the local high schools at the end of each school year. This is a great opportunity for our students to be in a juried show and is sometimes their first art show. This allows students to see what other high school age students are creating in the county. Sometimes this motivates students by seeing what other students are capable of. One set back is that it is small and can only hold so many students. I think by visiting the museum and actually seeing a body of work in real life versus digital will help them be more engaged with the work by actually getting to see first hand the texture and scale of a work. I think the students senses will be more engaged. Plus the student will be exposed to different subject matter and media.I have taken two field trips when they have had Ansel Adams exhibits and my students have been overwhelmed both times.
I work in Greenville county and the closets art museums would be the Bob Jones gallery along with the he Greenville Country Art museum. I would also love to take my students to the open studios downtown Greenville to get a sense of how the artist work in action. They could see how a art work studio is setup and how each artist does things differently. They could also go to falls park and explore while creating some sketches on their own from real life.
I teach in Summerville which is not too far away from downtown Charleston. There are many different gallery's, museums, and local craft shops that students could have access to, and all for free. College of Charleston has not only student art shows, but the Halsey gallery as well where professional artist exhibit work. Using these two resources students would be able to see both College student level work as well as professional gallery work. In addition to the two galleries are many many local galleries where artist sell their work. By viewing the art in these for profit galleries students would be able to see the ability of artist to make real money and the kinds of work artist make to sell. This will allow them to understand the dichotomy of work for personal growth vs. work made for sale and how these two ideas intersect.The Gibbes museum Is also located downtown and has a more classic collection of art and artist. By taking students here they would be able to see works by old masters and really get a feel for the difference in classical vs. post modern art. I would also like for students to see the classical iron work and sweetgrass basket weaving that are so crucial to the history of Charleston. I think that by introducing these works to students they will have a better understanding of Craft vs. Art and be able to draw inspiration from the narrative of both kinds of work.
Nathan, I agree that Charleston can provide so many rich and valuable resources for our students. I really like your idea of making a connection to the classic iron work and sweetgrass basket weaving found in Charleston. I think a walking field trip with students to observe the iron work, architecture, and local basket weavers would be exciting and educational for students.
The Charleston area has many museums/art centers that could be great resource for an advanced art program. Providing a variety of resources to my students would this assist students to move beyond trite/clichéd subject matter. Many of the Charleston area galleries and Museums provide web based resources. Developing a series of lessons and activities for my students based on our local artists and art museums would help my students make a connection to these online resources provided. A virtual “art walk”, For Example, The Robert Lange Studio, http://robertlangestudios.com/, provides an online connection to many local artists and exhibits. The Robert Lange Studio website provides high resolution images of artist work, information on the artists, and videos of the artists talking about their art. The Robert Lange Studio also welcomes students with field trip opportunities to view the artwork in person. In addition, The Robert Lange Studio provide an opportunity for students to view artists while they work. Students are invited to observe working artists in their individual studios and ask questions. The Gibbes Museum of Art is another valuable resource in the Charleston Area. The Gibbes Museum of art provides online resources, http://www.gibbesmuseum.org/, and field trip opportunities. Gibbes Museum of Art provides other resources such as Pre-K – 12 group tours, Pre-Visit Materials, Teacher workshops, In-school programs, art classes at the museum for adults as well as children, and opportunities to talk to an artist in residence.
The Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum is the closest museum to my school. The museum offers a juried art show at the end of each school year. The director of education at the museum offers many different programs and classes. I have also spoken with her recently about coming to visit my AP class next year to talk about museum quality vs high school art. Within this conversation she will be talking with the students about their artwork, and how to push it to become museum quality. Another way we can utilize the museum is to visit it, and talk about what the artist's are creating and how. This can lead them to research about the artist and find out their inspirations and give them ideas to incorporate within their artwork.
ReplyDeleteA relationship between the Director of Education at your local museum sounds like a perfect win-win! It's wonderful she is willing to reach out to the schools to visit the students and have conversation about the work. What a great resource!
DeleteWhat a great opportunity your students have to learn directly from the director of education at the museum about how to push their artwork to the next level. This will be an eye-opening and inspirational experience for many of your students!
DeleteThe director is so amazing! She really has a wonderful experience set up for the students every time I go. I'm excited to be there with you for the juried art show this year!!!!
DeleteBrittany that sounds awesome about the education coordinator coming to talk to your AP students about museum quality versus high school quality. I think hearing something from someone besides me would be great.
DeleteI teach in Fort Mill which is right down the road from Charlotte. Charlotte has so many amazing options for the students, 2 Mint Museums (Randolph and Uptown), Bechtler Museum, Harvey B. Gantt Center and a few others. The Mint Museum is what i have the most experience working with, they are very helpful. They do seminars on their art, have special events, and will work with teachers. The Uptown location has a permanent Romare Bearden exhibit and they have lesson plans and activities to go along with the exhibit. The uptown location is their modern and contemporary art exhibit which the students always love when we go there. There are works by Kehinde Whiley, Ansel Adams, Chihuly, and many more. Each year that i take students these are some of the works they are most interested in. I think the Uptown location is a good way for students to see art that explores outside the traditional subject matter.
ReplyDeleteYou are so fortunate to have so many museums nearby! I would love to have close access to these with my Art History classes. It's also so nice that they have interactive lesson plans for a permanent exhibit!
DeleteI teach in Greenwood which is actually a very supportive community when it comes to the arts. We have the Uptown Cultural Arts center which serves as a free gallery to the community. This building houses the Greenwood Arts Council which offers art classes and keeps many different artists on display. Not only do they offer summer classes, but they work with District 50 art teachers to create a yearly District Art Show which showcases student artwork to the community. We also have the group pARTners in Clay which is a large independent studio that focuses on ceramics classes for the community. They are always so helpful whenever teachers or students have questions. Lastly, there is Main on Maxwell which serves as a gallery shop for local artists. This is a great way for new artists to get their work and ideas out into the community. It is also a great way for the people of Greenwood to buy local art. All of these places serve as great sources of inspiration for art students looking for new ideas.
ReplyDeleteIt is great that you mentioned students have the opportunity to learn from and work with local artists. It's beneficial for students to learn how they can become an active part of their community. I can see how students can be inspired by local artists, not only with new ideas, but also to become a respected artist in their own community one day in the future.
DeleteI taught for seven years in McCormick. I found the Greenwood and Abbeville area supportive of the arts. They often collaborated for larger events. My husband and I participated in many of these events. We were members of the Abbeville Artist Guild and he was even their president at one time. We frequently try to get back for special events including Festival of Flowers.
DeleteI live in Greenville and teach at the Fine Arts Center. We are fortunate to have the Greenville County Art Museum and the Bob Jones Gallery within a 10 minute drive. Our school also has a permanent art collection that we use throughout the year to help students reflect and analyze work. We have an extensive Native American pottery collection, Robert Rauschenberg, Sue Coe, and Alice Neel, and many others works. We also take students to one major field trip per year, rotating between the High Museum and the Mint Museum. It is important for students to see, up close and personal, the work of others and especially the wide range of art being made by contemporary artists on a variety of subject matter.
ReplyDeleteIt is incredible that your school has a permanent display of art. Its is right there at your fingertips. The Native American pottery sound beautiful!
DeleteI teach at JL Mann and we do a similar field trip each year! We go to either the High or the Mint. This year we added a tour of SCAD Atlanta and the students loved it! SCAD has tons of work on display by both students and instructors with the added bonus that students can see the many career paths there are in the arts.
DeleteHow amazing that your school has a permanent collection for students to experience daily! We are fortunate to have an art gallery in our school where we are able to professionally display student work. They love seeing their own creations framed and hanging in this space. We are also able to host receptions for parents and community members to experience the art.
DeleteI love getting to see the permanent collection every time I get to visit the FAC! You guys have an amazing program, and do such great work with the students in our community. I have had several parents e-mail me asking about summer programs in the area, and Explore the Arts is always at the top of the list. I attended Explore the arts when I was younger, and it was one of the best arts experiences that I had as a young person, and it really helped to foster my love of the arts, not just visual arts!
DeleteFortunately, being in Fort Mill provides many opportunities to experience several art museums in Charlotte which include The Mint Museums, The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, and a variety of smaller galleries such as The Light Factory. The Catawba Cultural Center in Rock Hill provides students with the opportunity to learn about their rich culture in pottery, basketweaving, beadwork, and more. We also have access to the galleries at Winthrop University and other college campuses near by. The Columbia Museum of Art is also a reasonable drive from Fort Mill. Experiencing the artwork in person is much more impactful than simply viewing it online or in a book. Exposing students to a variety of museum and gallery experiences allows them to see how artists are inspired and convey their messages in their artworks. It allows students to see their brush strokes and layers, the scale of their work, and the craftsmanship involved. Students get to see how artists push the envelope with media, composition, and concepts – often pushing the boundaries. Many classroom discussions can evolve from a museum or gallery experience – challenging students to think about composition, media, subject matter, process, and more. Students can indicate a handful of artworks they feel are interesting based on subject matter and discuss why. They can also indicate and discuss new media or processes they discovered at the exhibit.
ReplyDeleteI know that the Catawba Indians also do a week long celebration in Lancaster at USC-L. They have exhibits, speakers, dancers, and folk art on display. It is a unique experience if you don't know a lot about the tribe and want to learn about the different facets of Catawba Indian culture.
DeleteDo they also do something at Winthrop? A few years ago I went to Winthrop for some Native American Event and it was so fascinating. I just wonder if it was similar.
DeleteI think the idea of incorporation folk art in to the discussion of Craft vs. Art is crucial. I think that showing students a narrative of art formulated independently of the cannon helps students of different ethnicities feel more involved it the history of art which can be quite isolating for students of color.
DeleteI don't know about Winthrop....I am from Lancaster and I worked with several professors from USC-L during the summers that worked with different people from the tribe. It was a very cool.
DeleteBeing in Chapin, a suburb of Columbia, we are in close proximity to the Columbia Museum of Art and are able to visit annually. This short trip to Columbia allows our students the opportunity to experience the permanent collection and special exhibitions first hand, expanding their perception of art and art making. In the past few years our students have had the opportunity to view the work of Annie Leibovitz, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, J. Henry Fair, Georgia O'Keefe, Mark Rothko, and Andy Warhol, among many others. I love the conversations I am able to over hear while they are touring and exploring the exhibits. They leave refreshed, inspired, and ready to experiment and create. These individualized experiences provide an opportunity for our students to expand their perceptions of art, art making, and inspire their own work. We also participate in opportunities at CMA that allow students to have their own art juried into special exhibitions at the museum. Columbia Museum of Art is an exceptional resource for me, my colleagues, and our students.
ReplyDeleteCMA has also hosted the National Art Honor Society State Conference for a couple of years now. These conferences are also a great way for students to experiment with new materials and medias. The CMA has some really great resources.
DeleteWe attended CMA National Arts Honor Society State Conference 2 years in a row! The students loved the workshops and the opportunity to meet students from other cities. The workshops were very engaging and the students that attended really liked having something to bring back and share with classmates.
DeleteThe Upstate has a thriving art community, and I am short drive (2 hours or less) to major art museums in Atlanta, Columbia, and Charlotte. A few years ago, I worked for The Arts Center in Clemson. They offered classes in art and music for adults, teens, and children. It was an amazing opportunity. I was able to learn about the business side of running an arts program. It allowed me to network and make valuable contacts with local artists. I would love to see a mentor program develop between local arts centers and my AP students. Local artists can demonstrate their art making process and discuss their inspirations. In return, students are exposed to different media and techniques.
ReplyDeleteThe Mint Museum in Charlotte and the High in Atlanta are AMAZING! Definitely would recommend for student exposure! Especially the older kids. They'd get a lot out of seeing their exhibits. REALLY wish I could bring a group!
DeleteI live in Greenville and teach at JL Mann. We very lucky to have the Greenville County Art Museum in town. Greenville is also host to many other visual arts outlets such as endless galleries, working studios and festivals (Artisphere being the largest). We also take our advanced students on a field trip to either the High Museum in Atlanta or the Mint Museum in Charlotte. This past year we visited the High Museum and also toured SCAD's Atlanta campus. It is important for students to view artwork of the past as well as have the opportunity to seed what artists are making right now.
ReplyDeleteThe opportunities in Greenville almost seem limitless. I encourage my students to visit local artists during Greenville Open Studios.
DeleteI would love to take my students to SCAD for a field trip, I think it would be great for some of my very serious art students since I teach middle school.
DeleteI teach in Rock Hill, SC and we are fortunate to have several different museums close by to visit. Right here in Rock Hill we have the Center for the Arts, where local artists show their work as well as Winthrop Galleries. They can get two different perspectives between student/professor work at Winthrop and working artist work at the Center for the Arts. Then in Charlotte there are several museum opportunities, mainly the Mint Museum being the one I have the most contact with. The Mint Museum has exhibits, but they also have festivals, and seminars which is a great way to get involved. Seeing all the different artist's approaches helps expand student's idea and hopefully could help them with generating new ideas.
ReplyDeleteI am from Rock Hill and I must say from growing up there and what Rock Hill has become now, there are so many opportunities for art education around the entire town. I remember when I was in high school, my art teacher had us be apart of an art competition that was through the city itself. We were to create an artwork that showed love through everyone through the community. Promoting civil and equal rights. Those whose artwork won were put on a banner and displayed through downtown Rock Hill. Im not sure if they still do this but it was eye rewarding as a high school student to see your artwork in the middle of downtown.
DeleteIn downtown Gaffney, we have the CAVA Gallery. It’s not the biggest gallery, but occasionally they feature a variety of work as well as college level exhibits too. At my schools, our theme for the year revolved around college and career readiness, so being able to show my students the artwork of college students and local artists is a pretty great opportunity. I’ve really focused my past 3 years on what people are doing NOW as far as art, and they’re always pretty amazed that people can still do art outside of school! Haha Not only art, but art related jobs. I tell them that art and design is just about everywhere and in just about everything! From the clothes on their backs, to the cars their parents drive, to the homes they live in, even the food they eat! Showing them innovative techniques can really grab their attention, especially when they get to the stage of thinking they already know all there is to know about everything. Sometimes you’ve got to shake up their world a bit with something new, even if just a different technique! Having them explore other’s work is the best way for them to start formulating their own aesthetic.
ReplyDeleteI believe it is so important to show our students that art is thriving in our local community. So, although the gallery may be small in Gaffney, I think it is wonderful that you are letting your students experience it rather than just opting to go to bigger museums and galleries. I also agree that it is so important to connect art to the lives of our students. If they have a connection, they will be more engaged in the lesson. I love the phrase, "shake up their world a bit." This is so important for all artists. We have to witness new and different things. Who knows what will inspire us and our students to create something fabulous!
DeleteI teach in Blythewood, SC and we have an art center called Bravo Blythewood with classes available for anyone who is interested in learning how to draw or paint. My school is also approximately 20 minutes away from the Columbia Museum of Art. The CMA has a wonderful permanent exhibit and has excellent travelling collections available. As Stephanie mentioned in her post, the CMA has brought many well known traveling art exhibits into the area. Many people come from all over Columbia and the surrounding areas just to view these exhibits. Through these collections, students get to discover artists and why their work was so monumental and how their work was uniquely their style. Students can view these artists as mentors and use their work to discover their own techniques or approaches. The CMA also provides summer classes for children and teenagers who want to challenge themselves and expand their art horizons. As artists, we see inspiration in all things and it's important for students to visit local art centers and museums so that they can broaden their horizons and get inspired by how an artist approached a similar idea or problem.
ReplyDeleteIt is great that you are so centrally located. I have taken a trip 3 hours each way to the Columbia Museum of Art and it was so worth it. I wish we have an art center that offered art classes. Most around her are taught be retired people during the day to other retired people, so my students can not benefit from them.
DeleteI teach in Horry County, and we have the closest access to the 'Burroughs and Chapin' art museum. I have actually taken 3 classes of students there, and plan to continue this trip annually. They have a wonderful art education program, and I know the director personally. She does amazing programs for all ages that include guided tours and production activities. I feel there are many exhibits that will come through that will assist students placed in the advanced art program. I feel the most excited about finally being able to have students enter into the high school juried art show. As Brittany was saying, it's a HS art show that is put on by the museum, and there's a formal opening for the show after it's juried. I, actually, was in this show and won 1st place 3D and the overall scholarship award when I was a junior and then senior. I appreciate this being held, and feel it's a wonderful and encouraging way to teach students how to present themselves as professional artists.
ReplyDeleteI will be moving to Charleston, Sc very soon and there is a museum that is located in downtown Charleston. It's called the Gibbes Museum of Art. The permanent collection of the Gibbes Museum of Art spans four centuries and provides a dynamic introduction to the visual culture of America and the American South from the colonial era to the present. Paintings, sculptures, miniature portraits, works on paper, decorative art objects, and multi-media installations, created by American artists, express the evolving aesthetic tastes of this city. It also has the first-ever American miniatures that were painted in Charleston and today the Gibbes is home to one of the most prestigious American portrait miniature collections in the country. Since I will be teaching photography, I could use the permanent collection of the miniature portraits to teach my students about how people were captured before cameras as this was the early form of photography for people.
ReplyDeleteThis all sounds amazing! Charleston is pretty close to where I am, about an hour and a half drive. I also have an advanced photography class, so this would be awesome to take them to as well! It would be cool to work collaboratively between our schools too. Maybe have our students talk to each other about their ideas and what they are doing! This will help them see what other students their age are doing too!
DeleteWe have several art galleries located in Spartanburg. USC Upstate has an on campus gallery and a gallery located downtown. We also have galleries located on the Wofford and Converse campuses. It is easy to pull up excellent images from museums around the world. Students are then exposed to art from great artists. However, seeing a flattened image on a computer screen will never equal the experience of seeing a piece of art in person. Students can really see the texture, technique, stroke and the artist's hand in the work. Whenever I visit a museum or gallery, I am instantly inspired. I want to rush home and try something new and different that I experienced. This inspiration pushes me beyond my own boundaries. I look at new materials and ways to use them. Therefore, I create new and interesting art pieces that move me beyond trite and clichéd subject matter. I expect that giving my students the same opportunities will do the same for them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, there is something about a trip to the galleries to inspire and motivate me. I took some students last year and I can tell it was a first for half of them, they were so amazed just seeing the art. When they came across a work of art they saw online, they were even more ecstatic. Galleries are such a great experience for students and for fellow artist
DeleteI teach in Greenville County, where we have the Greenville County Art Museum, as well as a large number of galleries and artist co-ops in the area. We are also fortunate to be so close to so many other major cities with excellent art museums- Columbia, Charlotte, Atlanta, etc. are all within an hour or two drive and make great field trip destinations. We are so lucky to have Artisphere, an amazing arts festival every May to showcase the best of the arts in our community. They also sponsor a high school student art show which allows us to display all of our students' amazing work to a much larger audience. In addition, we are lucky to have such beautiful scenery here in Greenville! This past year we took a field trip to downtown Greenville with our upper level students to Falls Park, where students spent several hours drawing, painting, and enjoying nature. Having all of these amazing resources so close by allows us to expose our students to a wider variety of art styles and techniques, and to show them that art isn't just pretty portraits and landscapes hanging in a museum, and that they can find success as artists regardless of what technique or style they choose to embrace.
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that you were able to take your students to draw in Fall's Park! My students always get so excited to go outside and draw because of the change of scenery and the fact that it pushes them out of their comfort zone. I would really love to be able to take mine to Fall's Park to do some field drawing. Drawing from life often helps students move past cliche imagery because they have to draw what they really see.
DeleteThere are several museums and centers that are a reasonable drive from my school. The USC Lancaster Native American Center offers a large collection of Catawba pottery and artifacts. The York County Museum and the Columbia Museum of Art are also within driving distance. The museums and centers in Charlotte would take longer to get to for a field trip, but they still would be worth the drive especially for special programs. I have been to both Mint Museums. I am more familiar with their special programs than the other museums. All of the mentioned museums and centers work with educators to teach about the artists they have on display.
ReplyDeleteIn Greenwood we have several facilities that are great resources for an advanced art program. First, we have the Federal art gallery. They are always stepping up and helping with art programs and resources. They have the Youth Art Show which showcases our middle and high school art. Students get to see their work in a "real" gallery. The Federal Art gallery also host local artist. I usually offer incentives to get the students to go But once they see, their reactions are always of awe. We also have the Lander University gallery. They host scholastic and juried shows. My students love seeing what other school in the area are doing. This lets them see why I push them to be better artist. They can see the level that others are on and they want to do more difficult projects. Often times I have students coming back with pictures of art that they likes and want to tackle next.
ReplyDeleteBeing in Piedmont/Powdersville means there really aren't any close art museums to my school. However, the Greenville County musuem of art is about 30 minutes away and has a really nice Andrew Wyeth Collection. The Anderson's arts center is also about 30 minutes away and often shows student exhibits and community work. When I was a student, we often took field trips to The High in Atlanta (2 hrs) or the Columbia Museum of Art (2hrs.) Those were amazing exhibits and really expired me to create art outside my comfort zone. Just in October, I took my students to see the Chihuly exhibit at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and got very positive feedback from my students. I think seeing work in a gallery can help students see what's out there beyond their preconceived ideas about art production. They've often never been to a gallery at all, so when they do get to go, the experience really jump starts the creative process for many of them. Seeing a range of material, especially local work hopefully will help steer students away from cliche and kitschy material because they will be aware of what other's are making.
ReplyDeleteThe main and only museum we have is the Burroughs and Chapin Art Museum in Myrtle Beach. It is a renovated beach house. They have a juried show for the local high schools at the end of each school year. This is a great opportunity for our students to be in a juried show and is sometimes their first art show. This allows students to see what other high school age students are creating in the county. Sometimes this motivates students by seeing what other students are capable of. One set back is that it is small and can only hold so many students. I think by visiting the museum and actually seeing a body of work in real life versus digital will help them be more engaged with the work by actually getting to see first hand the texture and scale of a work. I think the students senses will be more engaged. Plus the student will be exposed to different subject matter and media.I have taken two field trips when they have had Ansel Adams exhibits and my students have been overwhelmed both times.
ReplyDeleteI work in Greenville county and the closets art museums would be the Bob Jones gallery along with the he Greenville Country Art museum. I would also love to take my students to the open studios downtown Greenville to get a sense of how the artist work in action. They could see how a art work studio is setup and how each artist does things differently. They could also go to falls park and explore while creating some sketches on their own from real life.
ReplyDeleteI teach in Summerville which is not too far away from downtown Charleston. There are many different gallery's, museums, and local craft shops that students could have access to, and all for free. College of Charleston has not only student art shows, but the Halsey gallery as well where professional artist exhibit work. Using these two resources students would be able to see both College student level work as well as professional gallery work. In addition to the two galleries are many many local galleries where artist sell their work. By viewing the art in these for profit galleries students would be able to see the ability of artist to make real money and the kinds of work artist make to sell. This will allow them to understand the dichotomy of work for personal growth vs. work made for sale and how these two ideas intersect.The Gibbes museum Is also located downtown and has a more classic collection of art and artist. By taking students here they would be able to see works by old masters and really get a feel for the difference in classical vs. post modern art. I would also like for students to see the classical iron work and sweetgrass basket weaving that are so crucial to the history of Charleston. I think that by introducing these works to students they will have a better understanding of Craft vs. Art and be able to draw inspiration from the narrative of both kinds of work.
ReplyDeleteNathan, I agree that Charleston can provide so many rich and valuable resources for our students. I really like your idea of making a connection to the classic iron work and sweetgrass basket weaving found in Charleston. I think a walking field trip with students to observe the iron work, architecture, and local basket weavers would be exciting and educational for students.
DeleteThe Charleston area has many museums/art centers that could be great resource for an advanced art program. Providing a variety of resources to my students would this assist students to move beyond trite/clichéd subject matter. Many of the Charleston area galleries and Museums provide web based resources. Developing a series of lessons and activities for my students based on our local artists and art museums would help my students make a connection to these online resources provided. A virtual “art walk”, For Example, The Robert Lange Studio, http://robertlangestudios.com/, provides an online connection to many local artists and exhibits. The Robert Lange Studio website provides high resolution images of artist work, information on the artists, and videos of the artists talking about their art. The Robert Lange Studio also welcomes students with field trip opportunities to view the artwork in person. In addition, The Robert Lange Studio provide an opportunity for students to view artists while they work. Students are invited to observe working artists in their individual studios and ask questions. The Gibbes Museum of Art is another valuable resource in the Charleston Area. The Gibbes Museum of art provides online resources, http://www.gibbesmuseum.org/, and field trip opportunities. Gibbes Museum of Art provides other resources such as Pre-K – 12 group tours, Pre-Visit Materials, Teacher workshops, In-school programs, art classes at the museum for adults as well as children, and opportunities to talk to an artist in residence.
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