Gordon artists in national venue

These five Gordon artists have work in a gallery show that opened Monday in Washington, DC. 

 

The show, at the US Department of Education, features work from eleven US art museums who partner with local schools to develop curriculum. The RISD Museum chose the Gordon students' work to represent their work with schools.

 

The work grew out of a curriculum developed by Gordon's sixth grade team in partnership with the RISD Museum in 2016, an interdisciplinary unit that connects students' study of poetry in humanities with their study of painting in art class.

 

On their visit to the RISD Museum, each student sketches a different object from the collection. Back in class, students compose poems inspired by their chosen works of art. Once their poems are polished, students reimagine the imagery they used to depict the pieces from the museum in order to create original paintings of their own. 

 

The lesson also drew in a Gordon parent who works as a docent at the museum, as well as a parent who is a visual artist and plans to do a similar lesson in a class he teaches at RISD.

 

Work from another sixth grade project that combines visual art and writing is now on display in the Commons. Students practiced photojournalism as they read the novel Shooting Kabul, and each created photos and essays on the ways that they stand up and stand out at Gordon. The lesson was kicked off by an energizing visit from photojournalist (and Gordon parent) Mary Beth Meehan.