Visual Art and the Humanities

A multi-arts approach has made Beth Stein's humanities unit on impressionism a meaningful and dynamic part of her high school students' learning. Beth and Janet Mandel, both special education teachers, attended the 1994 Teacher Institute and began to design a humanities curriculum. Due to increased enrollment, Janet was reassigned to another class, making their planned collaboration an impossibility. Beth did not want to abandon the project; she decided to teach the course by herself, bringing Janet into the class whenever her schedule permitted. Students began the unit with a lesson on: "Learning to Look at Art" based on Edmund Feldman's method of art criticism presented at the Teacher Institute. One objective was to move students away from quick subjective and judgmental response ("It stinks!" "It's pretty.") to a more informed, mature response. Using Picasso's The Tragedy as a focus, students saw the depth and variety of responses to art and learned something about tolerance of others' opinions. They also deduced that to know something about the life and technique of the artist helped one make a better evaluation of an artist's work.

The Feldman method was then transferred to film criticism when students analyzed a review of the 1991 film Juice, a raw and convincing study of the ghetto's dangerous codes of manhood. Using a supplemental vocabulary list and reading comprehension guide, students coded the film review to correspond to four critical categories: description, analysis, interpretation, and judgment. A group discussion on the various opinions completed this lesson.

As a way to introduce impressionism, students first considered traditional art vs. the "new style." Before being told that the name of this new style was impressionism, students worked for a definition of the style by comparing neoclassical, Barbizon, and Hudson River School paintings with impressionism. Connections were also made between the music and art of the same eras. From these discoveries, students went on to study and discuss major impressionist artists, their techniques, and their historical context. A creative writing assignment required the students to study a framed reproduction of Degas' The Glass of Absinthe.Inspired by poet Gregory Orr's presentation at the Teacher Institute, the lesson required students to imaginatively enter into the painting and write a story about their experience. The students and teacher enjoyed a lively discussion on the diverse reactions to the same work.

The unit continued with study of impressionist sculpture by Rodin. Students also compared the work of impressionist painters with that of writers influenced by impressionism. In discussions, they determined what the writers learned from the painters and what characteristics identified this writing style. Assessment of student learning required students both to identify facts and to speculate on meaning and interpretation of works of art and literature. Local artists were invited to lead the class in related studio activities.

An exhibit of art by district teachers in the school's gallery provided students with an opportunity to view and evaluate original works of art. (Established in 1989, the gallery exhibits crafts, photography, painting, and sculpture by district students and faculty throughout the year.) Students engaged in activities that included analyzing an impressionist-style painting as well as choosing a "masterpiece." Their answers to general questions on the gallery worksheet also served as an assessment tool, and the students revealed a deeper comprehension of art than they had before beginning the unit.