Understanding Art

Art Quest Lesson Plans

Art Quests are activities that encourage students to investigate art concepts using preselected resources on the Internet. Select an activity from the menu to view the teaching strategies for that activity. Each Teacher Art Quest page contains:

Overview

Objectives

Suggested Follow-Up

A Student Art Quest button takes you directly to the corresponding student activity.

Aesthetics
Art Basics Scavenger Hunt
Basic Color Schemes
City Planner
Color Properties
Color Wheel
Cubism
Influences
The Art of Ancient Japan
Understanding Art Criticism

Aesthetics

Overview

In this Art Quest, students will gain a better understanding of aesthetics. They will learn how the subject, composition, and content of an artwork are related to aesthetics. In exploring aesthetics, students will be able to see artworks by visiting the following museum Web sites:

• Brauer Museum of Art
• Emerson Gallery
• The Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum
• The Art Institute of Chicago
• Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
• National Gallery of Art
• Carnegie Museum of Art

Objectives

After completing this Art Quest, students should be able to:

• Define the term aesthetics.
• Explain how subject, composition, and content relate to works of art.
• Classify paintings according to an aesthetic view.

Suggested Follow-Up

After students have completed the Test Yourself section, conduct a class discussion where students can share their answers.

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Art Basics Scavenger Hunt

Overview

This Art Quest helps students understand the foundations of art. Specifically, they will explore various elements of art (shape, form, and space) and principles of art (balance and proportion). Each of the sites students visit in this activity will provide information about the elements and principles of art. At each site, students can find the answer to a corresponding question.

Objectives

After completing this Art Quest, students should be able to:

• Define the terms shape, form, space, balance, and proportion.
• Identify three types of balance.
• Describe linear perspective.

Suggested Follow-Up

After this Art Quest, have students work with partners to identify various elements and principles of art in works around the classroom.

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Basic Color Schemes

Overview

In this Art Quest, students will gain a better understanding of color schemes. Specifically, they will be able to explore monochromatic, analogous, and complementary color schemes. They will be able to see examples of this topic by visiting the following museum Web sites:

• The Corcoran Gallery of Art
• Carnegie Museum of Art
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Guggenheim Museum
• National Gallery of Art
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Objectives

After completing this Art Quest, students should be able to:

• Define the term color scheme.
• Differentiate between monochromatic color schemes, analogous color schemes, and complementary color schemes.
• Identify color schemes in paintings.

Suggested Follow-Up

Once students have completed this Art Quest, divide the class into five groups. Assign each group one of the paintings listed in the Test Yourself section. Have each group discuss the color scheme in their assigned painting. After the groups have determined the color schemes for their painting, gather as a class to discuss group answers.

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City Planner

Overview

This Art Quest allows students to take an in-depth look at an art career in city planning. Specifically, they will explore the job responsibilities of city planners and the goals of city planners. Each of the sites students visit in this activity will provide information about city planning. At each site, students can find the answers to a series of questions.

Objectives

After completing this Art Quest, students should be able to:

• Understand the job responsibilities of a city planner.
• Identify the qualifications necessary to become a city planner.
• Determine their own interest in becoming a city planner.

Suggested Follow-Up

Once this Art Quest is complete, have students work in small groups to determine what a city planner might do to improve an area in your community. After everyone has finished, have a representative from each group share their ideas with the class.

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Color Properties

Overview

In this Art Quest, students will learn more about three color properties: hue, value, and intensity. At the end of this Art Quest, students can test their knowledge of intensity. This activity is great for helping students review color properties.

Objectives

After completing this Art Quest, students should be able to:

• Define the terms hue, value, and intensity.
• Identify hue, value, and intensity in various artworks.

Suggested Follow-Up

After completing this activity, have students work in pairs to collect and identify hue, value, and intensity in art magazines.

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The Color Wheel

Overview

In this Art Quest, students will gain a better understanding of the color wheel. In addition, they will explore prisms, hues, and values. This activity is perfect for students who finished a project early. At the end of this Art Quest, students will take a brief self-check quiz and visit the following museum Web sites:

• High Museum of Art
• Guggenheim Museum

Objectives

After completing this Art Quest, students should be able to:

• Define the following terms: color wheel, prism, hue, and value.
• Differentiate between tint and shade.
• Identify the hues in a work of art.

Suggested Follow-Up

After this activity is complete, allow students to experiment with value by creating the tints and shades of a color using paint.

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Cubism

Overview

In this Art Quest, students will gain a better understanding of Cubism. To do so, they will focus on the works of two well-known Cubist artists: Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. They will be able to see examples of Cubist works by visiting the following museum Web sites:

• The Art Institute of Chicago
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art
• The Museum of Modern Art
• Museum Victoria
• Michael C. Carlos Museum
• Guggenheim Museum
• National Gallery of Art

Objectives

After completing this Art Quest, students should be able to:

• Describe the characteristics of Cubism.
• Explain the differences between early Cubist works and later Cubist works.
• Identify the influences of Cubism.

Suggested Follow-Up

Have students who completed Activity 1 create a brief lesson for the class describing how science influenced the art style and/or movement they selected. Have students who completed Activity 2 write a brief summary of their collage, explaining how their work resembles Cubism.

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Influences

Overview

In this Art Quest, students will learn about the influences of famous artists. Specifically, they will examine the influences of Elizabeth Murray, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Diego Rivera, Mary Cassatt, and Romare Bearden. While exploring the influences of these famous artists, students will be able to visit the following museum Web sites:

• The Newark Museum
• High Museum of Art
• The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
• The State Hermitage Museum
• The Getty Museum
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art
• Philadelphia Museum of Art
• Albright-Knox Art Gallery

Objectives

After completing this Art Quest, students should be able to:

• Discuss the influences of Elizabeth Murray, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Diego Rivera, Mary Cassatt, and Romare Bearden.
• Identify the influences of Murray, Renoir, Rivera, Cassatt, and Bearden in their artwork.

Suggested Follow-Up

Have students work together in small groups to discuss influences on their artwork.

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The Art of Ancient Japan

Overview

In this Art Quest, students will take an in-depth look at the art of ancient Japan. In doing so, students will see various examples of Japanese art by visiting the following museum Web sites:

• Los Angeles County Museum of Art
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• The Cleveland Museum of Art
• National Museum of Japanese History
• Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art
• Tokyo National Museum

This activity is perfect for students who want to do an enrichment project or who need extra credit. If you are using this activity during class time, it will generally take two periods to complete.

Objectives

After completing this Art Quest, students should be able to:

• Identify the changes in Japanese art throughout various time periods.
• Explain how pottery was used throughout the various time periods in Japan.
• Describe the role of religion in Japanese art.

Suggested Follow-Up

For students who do a presentation on the ancient religions of Japan and for those who write a paper on one of the time periods, work with your school’s librarian or media resource center to help students with their research.

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Understanding Art Criticism

Overview

In this Art Quest, students will be able to review art criticism. Specifically, they will look at the steps of art criticism and have the opportunity to practice each step. In doing so, they will visit the following museum Web sites:

• The Museum of Modern Art
• Guggenheim Museum

Objectives

After completing this Art Quest, students should be able to:

• Define the term art criticism.
• Identify and explain the four steps to art criticism.

Suggested Follow-Up

After completing this Art Quest, present students with a piece of artwork. Have students use this work to conduct their own art criticism.

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