Combining Voices
Before the Visit Mini-Lesson
What's a museum?
Before your visit to the museum, talk to your students about the Morris Museum of Art. For younger students ask questions like “Who can tell me what a museum is? Now that we know what a museum is, what things might we see when we visit?” This helps students create a definition in their own words. Remember to mention that the Morris Museum of Art focuses on Southern artwork. The Morris has artwork and objects from the late eighteenth century to the present day: paintings, photos, sculptures, and even furniture that were made in the South or made by Southern artists.
Older students, too, need to know where they are going and what to expect during their visit.
Museum: a place devoted to the care, study, and display of objects of lasting interest or value; a place where artworks are shown.
What's a docent
Introduce the concept of a docent. After defining a museum, you could say, for example, “Museums have their own teachers, just like schools. They are called docents. When you visit the museum, a docent will teach you about the things that you will see.“
Docent: a person who leads guided tours through a museum; a teacher of the museum
Who else will we see at the museum?
Besides docents, they will see visitor service and security staff. Explain to younger students that they are our "museum friends." They help if you have any questions. They are also there to protect you and the artwork.
What are “Museum Manners”
Talk to students about helping the museum protect the art by being careful when walking around the museum. For younger students, we call this special set of rules “M & M's” or Museum Manners. The M & M's include:
- Look with your eyes, not your hands. This includes the art and the walls.
- Do the “Museum Walk”: walk with you hands behind your back or close to your sides. This helps us remember not to touch.
- Listen while others are talking. Talk in quiet voices so everyone can be heard.
- No running. If you run, you might damage an artwork.
Explain to students how important these M & M's are.
The visit will go more smoothly for older students if they know ahead of time to:
- Stay with the group.
- Keep their hands away from the walls and the artworks.
- Walk down the middle of the galleries.
Activity: Character Building
One aspect of the Combining Voices literary competition is creating a story. On the tour, docents will help students create their own characters, settings, and plots. Use this activity to “prime their creative pumps.”
At the beginning of the lesson, look at these two portraits from the museum collection to create a character that may be used in a story. Both are portraits of men, but they are aesthetically very different.
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| Philip Morsberger, Man with a Necktie, 2000 Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, Georgia View larger image of this artwork |
Thomas Sully, Portrait of Levi Fletcher, 1380 |
Looking at the Artwork
Help students look at art more closely by asking leading questions. Encourage descriptive adjectives.
- “What is the first word that comes to mind when you look at Morsberger's Man with a Necktie? How about Sully's Portrait of Levi Fletcher? How do they make you feel?”
- “Let's describe both works. What makes these paintings alike and what makes them different?” You could make a T-table on the chalkboard or overhead. Start with the subject matter. They are of the same subject, but they are completely opposite in manner. Why? Explain how both were made (oil on canvas) and describe the brushstrokes. You can see the brushstrokes clearly in Morsberger's work but not Sully's. How does this change the feeling of the work?
- Now make an interpretation of both works. “What do you think these men's personalities are like? Which person would you rather be friends with? Why?”
Materials
- Chalkboard or overhead projector
- One sheet of white construction paper
- Pen
Procedures
- After looking at the artworks, review the three main parts of a narrative:
- Who's who: Stories have characters. Developing characters and personalities helps to set the tone of the story. "Where are your main characters from? What are they like? What are their names?"
- The setting: The setting is a place in which your characters interact. "Where do they live? What does the place smell or sound like? Are you characters happy there? What is in their environment that makes them feel that way?"
- What happened: The events of your story are the plot. Characters usually have a problem to work through. "What is the problem and how is the character going to solve this problem?"
- Allow the class to create a class story about one or both of the two men. Write their ideas for the story on the board or overhead. Questions to get them started:
- Where did they come from?
- Where are they going?
- What are their names?
- Could these men be friends?
- Where do they live?
- Who else lives there?
- What do they like to eat?
- What kind of work do they do?
- Describe how to put the story together. Write it out on large paper and hang it up.