top of page

Investigating the Craft of the Taft

 

Timeline:

Monday, September 1st, 2014

Visit the Taft Museum: 11:30 am- 1:30pm.

Questions to investigate while on site of museum (outside): 

  1. Who founded the city of Cincinnati?

  2. When was the city of Cincinnati founded?

  3. What was the main demographic of the citizens in the city of Cincinnati at that time?

  4. Why was this building built and who for?

  5. Who ceased the building when Mr. Baum was forced to sell it?

  6. Who were the Taft's and why was it so important for them to collect the art that we will be seeing?

 

Questions to investigate while on site of the museum (inside):

  1. What are some major characteristics of the Renaissance (time period, art related characteristics, etc.)?

  2. Who are some major artists from the Renaissance?

  3. What is artist of this piece trying to say? 

  4. How does this work make you feel?

  5. Why do you think the Taft's felt this piece was important enough to include in their collection?

 

Incorporate investigation techniques for the pieces of work, such as:

  • Stare at the painting for 10 seconds and turn around and ask the students questions

  • Identify a specific artists' characteristics in one work and ask the students to browse the room to identify the other works by that artist

  • Ask the students what is really happening in the painting, beyond what the surface context is saying.

 

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2014

  • Talk to students about their experience at the Museum. Create a class outline on topics that were discussed and information that was given to them (history and art related). 

  • Start on sketching out ideas on specific pieces and information that seemed particularly interesting for them individually for their "visual response".

  • Create a list of all needed materials and gather those that are available.

 

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2014

Officially start on their visual response to their trip to the Taft Museum.

 

Thursday, September 4th, 2014

Continue working on their visual response to their trip to the Taft Museum.

 

Friday, September 5th, 2014

Finish their visual response to their trip to the Taft Museum.

 

Metaknowledge: The various time periods in the history of art and their characteristics that established them as a historical period. Listing famous artists that are related to these artists that both existent and non-existent in the Taft Museum.

 

Materiality/ Un-example(s): The Taft Museum; China from the Qing and Ming Dynasties, Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, Jean-François Millet, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, etc.

 

Student Context/ Grade Level: Highschool introductory to art course; including students from all backgrounds and social status. 

 

Materials (for visual response): Paint, pastels, pencils, ink, clay, glaze, paper, construction paper, canvas, watercolor, colored pencils, markers, etc.

 

Activities/ Procedure/ Sequencing: Everyone must include an aspect, topic, or characteristic of an issue that was explored while on their visit to the Taft Museum. This could include replicating piece, incorporating an artists specific style or techniques, or demonstrating simliar contextual ideas. 

 

Evaluation/ Critique/ Assessment/ Interpretation: Discussion about each students visual and written responses, including what they learned from their experience and what they created, once they are installed in the exhibit. Asking the students if they enjoyed the process of this project, and what should be changed/ tweaked if we were to do it again.

 

Student Learning Outcomes:

Developing skills and knowledge from the historical pieces in the Taft Museum, helping them characterize eras and artists from those areas in the history of art. 

 

Synthesizing the concepts and characteristics of each era in the history of art and incorporating these concepts and characteristics into their work.

 

Demonstrating their use of skills and knowledge that they have previously learned to formulate new ideas and progress in their work.

 

Developing a set of vocabulary that will help them formulate and reflect on their current and future artistic experiences, allowing them to use this vocabulary in their future works. 

 

bottom of page