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American Connections
Grades 6 through 12

Students will consider works of art as primary sources that illuminate American history and culture, looking carefully at and exploring landscapes, portraits, and scenes of everyday life. The tour includes three to four stops, during which students will actively engage with work of art through discussion, creative writing, and sketching. This tour can be tailored to connect with different periods in American history.

Looking and Learning Skills

Students will practice these looking and learning skills:

• Making and articulating careful observations;
• Formulating questions that demonstrate curiosity and engagement;
• Comparing and connecting different works of art;
• Connecting new ideas learned on the tour to prior knowledge about American history and culture;
• Interpreting works of art as primary sources about American art and society.

Logistical Information

Length: 30, 45, or 60 minutes

Examples of Works Featured on Tour

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Thomas Moran, Green River Cliffs, Wyoming, 1881, oil on canvas, Gift of the Milligan and Thomson Families, 2011.2.1
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Elizabeth Catlett, Taller de Grafica Popular, Untitled (Harriet Tubman), 1953, linocut, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Florian Carr Fund and Gift of the Print Research Foundation, 2008.115.37
In this vertical portrait, an elderly woman with brown skin, wearing a blouse, apron, and skirt is painted with a limited palette of grays, browns, black, and whites. Her head, torso, and lap nearly fill the composition. She is shown straight-backed against a neutral gray background, facing and looking at us with her hands resting in her lap. Her wavy, iron-gray hair is parted in the center and pulled back from her face. Her eyebrows are slightly raised and her face is deeply lined down her cheeks and around her mouth. She wears a heart-shaped brooch with a red stone at its center at her neck and a gold band on her left ring finger. The light coming from our left casts a shadow against the wall to our right. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower right corner: “A.J. MOTLEY. JR. 1922.”

Archibald John Motley Jr., Portrait of My Grandmother, 1922, oil on canvas, Patrons' Permanent Fund, Avalon Fund, and Motley Fund, 2018.2.1
In a camp, two soldiers wearing blue uniforms are lost in thought as they listen to a military band playing music in the background in this vertical painting. Their uniforms consist of navy blue jackets, stone blue pants, and flat-topped, brimmed hats. Brass buttons line the open fronts of their jackets and a gold-colored emblem is affixed to the tops of their caps. One soldier, at the center of the painting, stands facing our left in profile with one hand on his hip. Another, to our right, sits in front of a tent, also looking towards our left. The seated soldier’s knees are spread wide. One hand rests a few papers on his thigh, perhaps a letter, and he rests his chin in the other hand, also propped on his thigh. A low, triangular tent, about waist-high, is pitched to the left of the standing solider. The inside is dark but closer inspection reveals the bottom of one boot, presumably on a solider laying down inside. At the lower left of the painting, gray smoke drifts up from a pot on a campfire. A knapsack and a pewter plate holding waffle-like hardtack biscuits are laid near the tent. A few branches cover the dirt ground to our right. A tan cloth draped over an arbor-like structure of sticks forms a partition between the two soldiers and the rest of the camp, dividing the composition. Rows of tents extend into the distance. A band of soldiers plays music in the distance, their gold horn instruments pointing upwards toward the light blue sky. A row of tents is visible in the deep distance, perhaps across a body of water. The horizon line comes about two-thirds of the way up the composition, and the blue sky is filled with white, fluffy clouds.

Winslow Homer, Home, Sweet Home, c. 1863, oil on canvas, Patrons' Permanent Fund, 1997.72.1

Additional Gallery Resources

Uncovering America

Art in the Classroom Poster
"The Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial," 1900, by Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Download poster (PDF 685KB)

Images and creative-writing prompts will encourage students to consider the perspectives of a famous regiment of African American Civil War soldiers. This poster explores the artistic challenges of creating a meaningful memorial and tasks students with conceptualizing their own memorials.

Learn more about how the poster links to Common Core State Standards (PDF 71KB).

Schedule a Tour

Tours must be scheduled at least four weeks in advance. Groups must contain at least 15 students.

Once your tour has been scheduled, you will receive an email confirmation in 10 business days.

Watch a video (grades 1-4) or download a presentation (grades 4-12) (PPT, 4MB) to show your students what to expect on their tour. Please review museum policies, location, parking, accessibility, security, lunch options, and other important visitor information.

Our tour scheduler is available to answer questions on Monday through Wednesday between 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. (September through May). Please contact her at (202) 842-6249 [email protected].

Also see our Frequently Asked Questions about School Tours.

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