Art Institute of Chicago Educator Programs

07/06/2021

Marc Chagall's America Windows | Art Institute Essentials Tour | The Art Institute of Chicago

Marc Chagall’s (French, born Vitebsk, Russia {present day Belarus} 1887-1985) America Windows offer a meditation on freedom of expression through the arts. From left to right, the panels that comprise this work expressively depict music, painting, literature, theater, and dance as well as details such as the Statue of Liberty and the Chicago skyline. Chagall created this work as a gift the Art Institute during America’s bicentennial in 1976. He admired America and took refuge here for several years in the 1940s after fleeing the N***s.

Find tips for teaching this work in this Educator Resource Packet: https://www.artic.edu/collection/resources/educator-resources/13-educator-resource-packet-america-windows-by-marc-chagall

Learn more about Chagall and America Windows through this Art Essentials Tour video: https://www.artic.edu/videos/25/marc-chagalls-america-windows-art-institute-essentials-tour

07/01/2021

Works by Rufino Tamayo (Mexican, 1899-1991) recently installed in gallery 136 help connect the ancient Mesoamerican art historically displayed in this gallery to the modern era. Tamayo was influenced by his Zapotec heritage and study of the kinds of pre columbian sculptures on view here, including the Storyteller Figure from Jalisco (100/800A.D.). Tamayo’s blending of these influences with cubism and other international avant-garde art movements can be seen in his paintings on view, María Izquierdo (1932) and Woman with a Birdcage (1941).

Illinois teachers receive free admission to visit the museum’s galleries. Register here: https://www.artic.edu/educators/visit-on-my-own/educator-admission-request

Learn More about Rufino Tamayo: https://www.artic.edu/artists/36878/rufino-tamayo

Learn more about the Storyteller Figure:
https://www.artic.edu/artworks/73795/storyteller-figure

06/17/2021

Edward Hopper's Nighthawks | Art Institute Essentials Tour

ART ESSENTIALS TOUR: NIGHTHAWKS
Take a closer look at Edward Hopper’s classic American painting and consider how some of its unsettling elements—clashing colors, lack of depth, and no diner door!—are key to its abiding appeal.

Edward Hopper, Night Hawks, 1942

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--hoDMroROw&t=142

On this episode of Art Institute Essentials Tour, take a closer look at Nighthawks, painted by Edward Hopper in 1942.Inspired by “a restaurant on New York’s ...

06/11/2021

FLAG DAY
Today, June 14, is Flag Day. Benny Andrews painted this image of a Black man wrapped in the American flag in 1966 during the Civil Rights era. Titled "Flag Day," this powerful image poses numerous questions, both relevant to the time it was made and resonant in American society today: What ideals are represented by the American flag? Do you think all people have equal access to those rights? Why? What do you think is happening in this image? What do you think this artist was trying to express or communicate? Why?

How can you use your voice and creativity to activate change?

Learn more about Benny Andrews: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/154124/flag-day

Learn more about Art + Activism: https://www.artic.edu/highlights/28/art-activism

FLAG DAY
Today, June 14, is Flag Day. Benny Andrews painted this image of a Black man wrapped in the American flag in 1966 during the Civil Rights era. Titled "Flag Day," this powerful image poses numerous questions, both relevant to the time it was made and resonant in American society today: What ideals are represented by the American flag? Do you think all people have equal access to those rights? Why? What do you think is happening in this image? What do you think this artist was trying to express or communicate? Why?

How can you use your voice and creativity to activate change?

Learn more about Benny Andrews: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/154124/flag-day

Learn more about Art + Activism: https://www.artic.edu/highlights/28/art-activism

06/04/2021

CHARACTER MAPPING
Use clues from works of art and your imagination to make inferences about the lives of the people portrayed. We’ve suggested Archibald Motley’s 1943 work Night Life for this activity but it can be done with any work of art that includes figures.

Use the Character Map resource below to get started. Explore: https://www.artic.edu/collection/resources/educator-resources/86-student-activity-character-map

Learn more about the work of Archibald Motley: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/117266/nightlife

CHARACTER MAPPING
Use clues from works of art and your imagination to make inferences about the lives of the people portrayed. We’ve suggested Archibald Motley’s 1943 work Night Life for this activity but it can be done with any work of art that includes figures.

Use the Character Map resource below to get started. Explore: https://www.artic.edu/collection/resources/educator-resources/86-student-activity-character-map

Learn more about the work of Archibald Motley: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/117266/nightlife

06/01/2021

INSPIRING VIEWS: THE HARTWELL MEMORIAL WINDOW

What view or place inspires you? What are the sights, sounds, smells and feelings that you associate with that place?

More than 100 years ago, Agnes F. Northrop designed this window for Tiffany Studios as a commission from Mary Hartwell in honor of her husband, Frederick Hartwell, for the Central Baptist Church of Providence, Rhode Island (now Community Church of Providence). Standing over 25 feet high by 18 feet wide, the window depicts lush natural scenery and a distant view of Mount Chocorua in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

It remained housed in the sanctuary of the church until 2018, when the congregation decided to relocate the window to the Art Institute of Chicago, where it could be conserved to ensure its long-term stability. The window is now on view in the museum’s grand staircase.

Learn more about the Hartwell Memorial Window (1917): https://www.artic.edu/artworks/243516/hartwell-memorial-window

INSPIRING VIEWS: THE HARTWELL MEMORIAL WINDOW

What view or place inspires you? What are the sights, sounds, smells and feelings that you associate with that place?

More than 100 years ago, Agnes F. Northrop designed this window for Tiffany Studios as a commission from Mary Hartwell in honor of her husband, Frederick Hartwell, for the Central Baptist Church of Providence, Rhode Island (now Community Church of Providence). Standing over 25 feet high by 18 feet wide, the window depicts lush natural scenery and a distant view of Mount Chocorua in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

It remained housed in the sanctuary of the church until 2018, when the congregation decided to relocate the window to the Art Institute of Chicago, where it could be conserved to ensure its long-term stability. The window is now on view in the museum’s grand staircase.

Learn more about the Hartwell Memorial Window (1917): https://www.artic.edu/artworks/243516/hartwell-memorial-window

05/27/2021

CREATIVE WRITING PROMPT: I WISH I’D HAD A CAMERA
Visualize a moment from your life—a fleeting scene or cherished memory—that you wish you had captured in a photograph. Without stopping to edit, write a stream of descriptive words that evoke the sights, sounds, and feelings of that moment. Share this written memory with a friend or classmate.

Photographer Robert Frank was known for working in the “street” style, using his small camera to quickly capture fleeting moments in everyday life. Stylistically, his work was tied to that of his friend Beat poet Jack Kerouac (American 1922–1969), who often wrote using stream of consciousness, a way of writing that captures a subject’s thoughts and reactions to an event in a continuous flow.

Find more creative writing prompts on the Get Creative at Home Page: https://www.artic.edu/visit-us-virtually/create-and-learn/get-creative-at-home

Robert Frank. Bar, Las Vegas Nevanda, 1955/56

CREATIVE WRITING PROMPT: I WISH I’D HAD A CAMERA
Visualize a moment from your life—a fleeting scene or cherished memory—that you wish you had captured in a photograph. Without stopping to edit, write a stream of descriptive words that evoke the sights, sounds, and feelings of that moment. Share this written memory with a friend or classmate.

Photographer Robert Frank was known for working in the “street” style, using his small camera to quickly capture fleeting moments in everyday life. Stylistically, his work was tied to that of his friend Beat poet Jack Kerouac (American 1922–1969), who often wrote using stream of consciousness, a way of writing that captures a subject’s thoughts and reactions to an event in a continuous flow.

Find more creative writing prompts on the Get Creative at Home Page: https://www.artic.edu/visit-us-virtually/create-and-learn/get-creative-at-home

Robert Frank. Bar, Las Vegas Nevanda, 1955/56

05/25/2021

TEEN POETRY COMPETITION: DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 5/30/21!

Teen Poetry Competition

Do you know students interested in poetry, art, spoken word, and prizes? Chicago high school teens are invited to create an original poem inspired by one or both of The Obama Portraits, on view at the Art Institute June 18 through August 15. Poems could be featured on the Art Institute’s website and social media, reviewed by a panel of youth and adult artists, and possibly recognized as a competition winner! Deadline to submit entries is May 23. Get more information and submit poems here: https://form.jotform.com/210734612875053

Learn more about the exhibition here: https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/9507/the-obama-portraits

05/21/2021

CREATE: SELF-PORTRAIT AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY
The title of this work, "Self Portrait and Autobiography" (1948), connects artist Alice Rahon’s creative practice as both a poet and painter. What might we learn about her from what we see in this work? Why? What words would you use to describe this person?

Think of ten words that describe you. If you were to make a “selfie” that incorporates these qualities, how might you make them show? Make that image. Share and compare your self-portrait to those made by friends or classmates. What do you learn about each other?

Alice Rahon was influenced by the surrealist movement and paleolithic cave art found in Mexico, her adoptive home after she immigrated from France in 1939. Learn more about her here: https://www.artic.edu/artists/55561/alice-rahon

Related: The Meandering Paths of Four Artists in Latin America: https://www.artic.edu/articles/830/the-meandering-paths-of-four-artists-in-latin-america

CREATE: SELF-PORTRAIT AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY
The title of this work, "Self Portrait and Autobiography" (1948), connects artist Alice Rahon’s creative practice as both a poet and painter. What might we learn about her from what we see in this work? Why? What words would you use to describe this person?

Think of ten words that describe you. If you were to make a “selfie” that incorporates these qualities, how might you make them show? Make that image. Share and compare your self-portrait to those made by friends or classmates. What do you learn about each other?

Alice Rahon was influenced by the surrealist movement and paleolithic cave art found in Mexico, her adoptive home after she immigrated from France in 1939. Learn more about her here: https://www.artic.edu/artists/55561/alice-rahon

Related: The Meandering Paths of Four Artists in Latin America: https://www.artic.edu/articles/830/the-meandering-paths-of-four-artists-in-latin-america

05/18/2021

Virtual Artist Talk: Laurie Anderson on the Thorne Miniature Rooms | The Art Institute of Chicago

Virtual Artist Talk: Laurie Anderson on the Thorne Miniature Rooms
May 21, 2021
6-7pm
The Thorne Miniature Rooms have been a beloved stop for generations of museum visitors since they were first displayed at the Art Institute in 1954. Join pioneering multimedia artist Laurie Anderson as she explores and discusses the Thorne rooms, while also reflecting on her own groundbreaking practice in music, spoken word, visual art, and theater. Laurie Anderson is joined in conversation by Sianne Ngai, author and professor of English at the University of Chicago.

Registration is at capacity for this program. The program will be livestreamed on the Art Institute of Chicago’s YouTube page for guests who were not able to register.

This program is presented as part of Artists on Artists, a public program series that highlights the creative process and creative communities. Through this series, leading artists, authors, musicians, and performers inspire new ways of understanding the museum’s collection while making connections to their own practice.

https://www.artic.edu/events/5168/virtual-artist-talk-laurie-anderson-on-the-thorne-miniature-rooms

Join pioneering multimedia artist Laurie Anderson as she explores and discusses the museum's collection of Thorne Miniature Rooms, while also reflecting on her own groundbreaking practice in music, spoken word, visual art, and theater.

05/14/2021

ART AND SELF CARE: IMAGE AND MOOD

Which of the below scenes best represents how you are feeling right now? Why? Share and discuss your choices with a friend, family member or classmate.

Learn more about these works:
Robert Delaunay, Champs de Mars: The Red Tower, 1911/23
https://www.artic.edu/artworks/66042/trompe-l-oeil-still-life-with-a-flower-garland-and-a-curtain

Hughie Lee-Smith, Desert Forms, 1957
https://www.artic.edu/artworks/212760/desert-forms

Adriaen van der Spelt and Frans van Mieris, Trompe-l’Oeil Still Life with a Flower Garland and a Curtain, 1658
https://www.artic.edu/artworks/66042/trompe-l-oeil-still-life-with-a-flower-garland-and-a-curtain

05/10/2021

CREATE IN THE STYLE OF KARL WIRSUM
Legendary Chicago artist Karl Wirsum died this week at age 81. Wirsum was known for creating bold, exuberant works inspired by comic book figures and popular icons such as this 1968 image of blues musician Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.

Throughout his life, Wirsum was a doodler who drew every day and worked spontaneously. Inspired by Wirsum, draw a favorite icon from popular culture. What colors, sights and sounds do you associate with that person? How could you make that show? Sketch quickly, without revision or correction. Make more doodles to hone your ideas and technique.

Wirsum was a founding member of The Hairy Who, a group of Chicago artists inspired by pop culture and non-western art that emerged in the 1960s and whose work influenced subsequent generations of artists around the world.

Explore the work of Karl Wirsum: https://www.artic.edu/artists/37327/karl-wirsum

Learn more about the Hairy Who:
https://www.artic.edu/artists/114577/the-hairy-who-art-green-gladys-nilsson-jim-nutt-jim-falconer-suellen-rocca-and-karl-wirsum

CREATE IN THE STYLE OF KARL WIRSUM
Legendary Chicago artist Karl Wirsum died this week at age 81. Wirsum was known for creating bold, exuberant works inspired by comic book figures and popular icons such as this 1968 image of blues musician Screamin’ Jay Hawkins.

Throughout his life, Wirsum was a doodler who drew every day and worked spontaneously. Inspired by Wirsum, draw a favorite icon from popular culture. What colors, sights and sounds do you associate with that person? How could you make that show? Sketch quickly, without revision or correction. Make more doodles to hone your ideas and technique.

Wirsum was a founding member of The Hairy Who, a group of Chicago artists inspired by pop culture and non-western art that emerged in the 1960s and whose work influenced subsequent generations of artists around the world.

Explore the work of Karl Wirsum: https://www.artic.edu/artists/37327/karl-wirsum

Learn more about the Hairy Who:
https://www.artic.edu/artists/114577/the-hairy-who-art-green-gladys-nilsson-jim-nutt-jim-falconer-suellen-rocca-and-karl-wirsum

05/06/2021

Woman About to Write a Poem | The Art Institute of Chicago

WRITING HAIKU
Get your creative juices flowing by taking inspiration from this woodblock print from the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection and responding to the ever-changing world around us in this new short and informative video from the Artful Encounters series: https://youtu.be/j270OsflZ48

Learn more about the work of art featured here: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/80963/woman-about-to-write-a-poem

Yashima Gakutei, c. 1824

05/03/2021

New Acquisition: Wu Zhang's Flowers in Four Seasons | The Art Institute of Chicago

ART AND SELF CARE: YOU DESERVE FLOWERS

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! Take a few minutes to relax and enjoy this beautiful and rare portfolio of paintings, "Flowers in Four Seasons," by 18th Century Chinese Court artist Wu Zhang (born 1670). Tao Wang, the Pritzker Chair of Arts of Asia, provides insights on this recent acquisition featuring plants that have medicinal, cultural, and symbolic significance in Chinese history and culture. https://www.artic.edu/articles/897/new-acquisition-wu-zhangs-flowers-in-four-seasons

As a curator, some of my greatest satisfaction comes from discovering and acquiring significant artworks to enhance the museum’s collection.