World Museum Tour

Today we have a different set up for you: one activity for the teens, and another for our younger audience. We'll start with the teens, so if you're in the younger group category, scroll on down to the section in green.

Project Discipline: Critical Thinking, Discussion, Essay Writing
Age: Teens
Activity provided by: Mara C. Bacsujlaky, Assistant Professor, 4-H and Youth Development at UAF

​The Museum of Modern Art in New York City is one of the world’s best-known museums for modern and contemporary art.   MoMA (as it’s more commonly called by New Yorkers, artists and art lovers) has permanent collections as well as galleries where invited artists exhibit their work, or hang a show developed especially for MoMA.

One such gallery is called ​Beyond the Uniform by the Puerto Rican artist Chemi Rosado-Seijo. Have you ever wondered about the guards that work in museums – what they think about while they are working,  or how they view the art that they are responsible for keeping safe?  

Rosado-Seijo asked MoMA guards to show him their favorite piece of art, and to tell him why.  He created 20 audio recordings with transcripts. It’s interesting to hear how the guards view the pieces, and the insights they provide about the artwork, themselves and others.  Even more than the pieces, their observations are thought-provoking. ​

Your job:  Listen to the audio(s) below, then choose one and share your thoughts about the painting and audio in a journal response.  We have several questions you may choose to use as prompts for your writing.  Share some of your thoughts with us!  

Audio 822

• What other shells do people – your friends, family members, people in general – have or wear? 
• What are some of the ways to “crack” these open and to really see who is underneath the shell? 
• How do Reid’s comments connect to his life experiences as an African-American man, especially one who wears a uniform?
• Why might he relate to the position that the African-American policeman occupies when wearing an outfit that some might consider a symbol of authority, or even oppression?
• Are there other uniforms that have more positive connotations, regardless of who wears them?​​

Audio 825

• Do you think that empathy  between artist and viewer is important? 
• What sort of places  - mountains, ocean, a particular town - do you have ties to?  What kind of images  remind you of these places?
• Is it  important that a picture (painting, drawing or photograph) invokes emotions (positive or negative) in its viewers? Why or why not?
• ​This piece has universal appeal, appreciated and loved by people from all over the world and from many difference cultures.  What characteristics of this painting do you think contribute to its ability to transcend cultural and social differences?

Project Discipline: Critical Thinking, Art
Age: Any
Supplies: art supplies of your choice

The Museum of Modern Art in New York City is one of the world’s best-known museums for modern and contemporary art. ​ A painting housed there, that you may have seen before is shown below (photo taken from MoMA site). 

Vincent van Gogh. The Starry Night. Saint Rémy, June 1889

Listen to the 1 minute audio below as you look at the painting.  Then head outside and create a piece of art, using your own sky as inspiration. We can't wait to see your artwork.  Choose any medium to enjoy - it could be a pencil sketch, a watercolor, a pastel...use what you have and what you like!

AUDIO

Feel free to share your responses on the Alaska 4-H facebook page!