A Webquest for High School Students
What does discrimination mean to you? When has someone judged you based on your age, clothes, skin color, speech? Have you ever been excluded from something for any of these reasons? Where are you not allowed to go?
While you would most likely never see a no trespassing sign on the front door of an art museum, historically there has been a tendency to exclude the work of certian artists from museums.
In this webquest, you will examine the type of art traditionally found in museums and contemporary artwork that critiques the lack of multiculturalism in museums. You will then curate your own gallery exhibition informed by these issues.
Congratulations! Your group has been chosen from among a long list of art experts to curate an art exhibition at the prestigious Gallery of Great Art. This is quite an honor and because this will be such an important show, the sponsors funding it have requested that several issues be taken into consideration when choosing work for the exhibition. Each memeber of your group will be responsible for vocalizing a particular point of view and initiating group discussion. The issues are:
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Content (What is the subject matter of the work? Who/What/When/Where is being represented? What does it mean?)
- Aesthetic Value (Is the work reaslistic? Is realism important? Is the work pretty? Do you have an emotional response to the work? What is it?)
- Historical value (Do you think the work is expensive? Why or why not? Does it represent an important art period or movement?)
- Multiculturalism (Who is being represented in the work? What do you think is the artist's cultural background? What is the cultural significance of the work?)
Keep these in mind and keep our sponsors happy!
PART ONE
Finished? Before moving on make sure that you have filled out your guide sheet and turn it in to the teacher. Go to Part Two...