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19.3: Inscribing Our Environment - Classroom Activity

  • Page ID
    248590
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    Introduction

    Today's discussion is centered around reflecting on our experiences noticing and responding to art in public as well as private spaces and sharing specific examples that are prominent for each of us.

    Reflection

    On the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies website, it lists “Ten Great Reasons to Support Public Art.”

    poster by the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies

    Which two of those ten reasons are most compelling to you?

    Based on your various experiences up to this point in your life, how would you characterize your interactions with art in public spaces (outdoors or somewhere anyone can access with no ticket of admission or payment required) compared to in private spaces (like a museum or other cultural institution)?

    Discussion

    Have a conversation with classmates (in groups to be assigned by the instructor) sharing some of the thoughts or feelings you remember having while looking at art in museum spaces (if you have been inside them) and how you have felt when seeing artwork in outdoor, public spaces.

    • When you think about public artwork, is there a particular artwork (sculpture, mural, etc.) that comes to mind? Whether it’s one you see on your daily commute or whether it’s one you’ve only seen reproductions of, do your best to sketch it out based on your memory images of it (all levels of artistic ability are valued—just do your best!)
    • Then, when you complete your sketch, share and describe to your classmates the artwork that came to mind for you along with the memorable features of it that you attempted to capture in your drawing.
    • After you complete the drawing and that initial conversation with your group members, then you may share a photograph of the actual public artwork if you can find one.
    • Once everyone in the group has had a turn describing the visual aspects of the artwork they selected and sketched, continue by discussing whether there are particular emotions or thoughts that seeing the public artwork tends to elicit from you.

    completely silver public art sculpture looking like a construction worker climbing out of a manhole

    "Public Art - Sculpture of Worker in Manhole - Omsk - Russia"
    by Adam Jones, Ph.D. - Global Photo Archive is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

    2016 by the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies
    This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
    Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International License


    This page titled 19.3: Inscribing Our Environment - Classroom Activity is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Erica McCormack and Jack Lindsay.