I observed the artist used grays, monotone colors. There is an old vent, bent, with paint chipping off. There are glass blocks, dirtied so you can't see through them. There is a brick wall that has been painted over white with stains of brown dripping down it. Everything is falling apart in the picture. I noticed a rock dove sitting right on the edge of the sidewalk almost falling off. I noticed the bird is looking down with his bright orange eyes.Why did he use such monotone colors, but then use orange for the rock dove's eyes? Why was the bird off to the right and bottom of the picture?—Cheri Matthaides Two years ago, during the spring semester, students in the American literature classes at Wausau West High School found a new way to approach the language arts, one that gave new dimension to an age-old activity—the field trip.
That April, 125 10th graders traveled to the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum here in Wausau, Wisconsin. The museum's curator of education, Michael Nelson, led the students around the galleries, selecting one work of art to critique. She filled out the same activity sheet the students use for their American literature classes, responding to three prompts: I observe, I think, and I have these questions.
Having seen this model of a learner in a museum, the students were ready to respond to works of art themselves. They were divided into groups of from 12 to 20 and assigned different museum areas. There, they had 20 minutes in which to select a painting, reflect on it, and fill out the worksheet. They weren't left entirely on their own. Nelson, the three teachers involved, and the museum's projects coordinator acted as facilitators. We circulated throughout the rooms, helping the students as they became artistic and literary detectives, searching for stories in the paintings: Somebody left those flowers by that bag of groceries—why in such a hurry? Why did the artist have all the flowers in bunches of threes? Is that significant?
Just as in their classroom discussions of literature, which they lead themselves, the students' written responses served as the basis for discussing the paintings. Each group gathered in turn in front of each member's chosen artwork. They observed, questioned, agreed and disagreed, and murmured comments. Some edged closer to a painting to get a better look or moved around the room to get a different perspective.
Making Connections
Our artistic field trips were inspired by a discussion among our language arts teachers. They were considering ways of enriching the response-based, student-centered learning approach that they used, an approach modeled after the pioneering work of New York University Professor Emerita Louise Rosenblatt.
The chair of our English department, who formerly coordinated language arts for our school district, suggested that if this approach helps literature students form and express more complex ideas with more clarity, then it should work elsewhere with other media. A group of us envisioned visual arts as refining students' capacity for reflective observation and thought, and thereby giving them a greater appreciation for literature.
After observing the method in action in several American literature classes, the museum staffers were convinced that the approach was a natural for museum education. Teachers and museum staff proceeded to establish joint goals for the program, which we called Project Engage: Exploring Intellectual Access through Personal Connection. Museum administrators made an initial three-year commitment to the project. The ongoing partnership had begun.
Good Show
Since that trial session in 1994, every American literature class at Wausau West (more than 1,600 students) has visited the museum. The experience has convinced the teachers of the genuine, lasting value of the response-based, learner-centered approach. They have found that students can respond as deeply and personally to art as they do to the variety of literature they encounter in the classroom. Their classes are invigorated by the interdisciplinary connections between the visual and language arts.
One unforseen benefit has been the effect of the visual arts on students who are often silent during literary discussions. At the museum, many of these same students become animated and articulate. Further, students say that they are not threatened by having teachers as members of their museum discussion groups; the teachers seem to be exploring art with them. In fact, students seem to feel empowered to take learning into their own hands by following their personal connections. I think the reason that Rockwell named the piece what he did, "Glass Bricks," is because he made the glass bricks on the building really stand out and when I first looked at this piece, that was the first thing that I saw. I also think that in our society today many of the little things are left out and taken for granted, like glass bricks and heat vents. I think that Lance Rockwell is trying to show us what we leave out and don't notice. —Justin Larson
Project Engage has also made a major impact on the museum. Says curator of education Nelson: "At a time when field trips are being eliminated from a lot of school budgets, the project makes the museum a resource for the English curriculum." She adds that it helps teenagers not only become comfortable in a museum, but also interested. "They come armed with tools of access' that are familiar to them; they merely have to apply these tools to a new art form." Nelson notes that some students enter the museum apprehensively, even making fun of the visit, but by the end of a session many of these same students have to be coaxed to leave the galleries. This, for us, is an amazing result.
A Work in Progress
Project Engage continues to grow and develop. Last year, Wausau West Principal Karen Goetz scheduled an all-staff inservice at the museum: 121 teachers, counselors, and aides took their own tours. Teachers have suggested combining these tours with all curriculums, including English as a Second Language and even Earth Science, Chemistry, and Technology Education.
Future plans also include expanding the collaboration with a multiple intelligence-oriented component. Students would craft alternative responses to works of art in forms that best match their preferred style of learning. In addition, faculty and museum staff plan to construct a two-part museum assessment that will focus on cognitive as well as affective change in selected students. Many students already are including their art responses in their portfolios for American literature. As one young man said during a class discussion: "I never knew I could say so much about one picture of flowers! I guess a picture really is worth a thousand words!"
