Students from Brooklyn High School and Brooklyn School developed a stronger appreciation and knowledge for various artwork, as well as inspiration for their own artistic pursuits during a recent trip to the Cleveland Museum of Art on Tuesday, October 4th. The field trip included students from the Ninth Grade Honors ELA class taught by Bethany Berg, as well as National Art Honor Society (NAHS) and Jr. National Art Honor Society (NJAHS) members led by Chris Kaspar and Joanne Becker respectively. Cleveland Museum of Art staff graciously made accommodations by tailoring the tours to meet the students’ learning interests and assignment guidelines.
For the Ninth Grade Honors ELA class, the trip initiated a multi-genre independent study project which involved the students participating in a guided tour that highlighted cross-curricular elements of purpose, perspective, narrative, and setting. Each ninth grader was asked to select one piece of artwork that caused a personal response, and upon their return to school, begin to develop an independent project that provides a background on the artist, historical context, a creative response, and a written critique. Students presented their independent study project to their peers at the end of the first quarter.
The Cleveland Museum of Art trip provided NAHS students the opportunity to further strengthen their overall knowledge of the arts through a self-guided tour, with each member tasked to identify two pieces of artwork, one that evoked a positive reaction and one that they did not respond to positively. Students then explained their choices through a written response.
During their guided one-hour tour, NJAHS students analyzed four different works of art which enabled them to apply a four-step analysis learned in the classroom. Students was asked to observe, describe what they saw, infer meaning, and make judgments about each piece of artwork. The tour also served as a helpful source of inspiration, knowledge, and resources, as many of the students who had been struggling with generating ideas for class projects were able to create and refine their topic of study.
The visit to the Cleveland Museum of Art proved to be an engaging experience for all participating students, with many of the NJAHS students visiting the acclaimed museum for the very first time! A special thank you to the Cleveland Museum of Art for helping to broaden our students’ understanding and appreciation for the arts.