Koteen Family Grant: Exploring Creativity and Culture - A 5th Grade Field Trip to the New Britain Museum of American Art
- School Year: 2024-2025
- Applicants: Liz Schott, Lead Applicant
- School: Duffy
- Subjects: Visual Arts
The reason to visit a museum is to fully engage with the subject matter in a way that will inspire and enlighten beyond a book or a computer. This art enrichment opportunity will allow all Fifth graders at Duffy Elementary School to see artwork of the 19th century to the present day up close at the New Britain Museum of American Art. Students will be led on an hour long guided tour by a knowledgeable and trained museum docent through the diverse galleries to see various work such as the Hudson River School landscapes, Colonial and Federalists portraitists, the Impressionists and more contemporary works from artists like Thomas Hart Benson, Georgia O'Keefe and Andy Warhol. They will also view works from current exhibits like local artist Fritz Horstman's, Folded Cyanotypes, which make direct curricular connections to science and math units on light and shadow, the Arctic Circle and understanding fractions. Following the tours the students will have a hands-on experience of their own, creating a unique piece of art based on what they view led by a museum educator in their beautiful light filled studios. This work will be directly aligned with the National Arts Standards and connected to all other curricula. The work of the students, along with photos documenting the day, will be displayed at Duffy to show what the students learned and encourage arts enrichment.