World History and Culture Page
The Kennedy Center ARTSEDGE:
1. Lesson: A Lens into the Past
Students will gain a deeper understanding of the early 20th century American immigrant experience through photography and create their own photo collection for students of the future.
Grade: K-4
Arts Subject: Visual Arts, Media Arts
2. Lesson: A Listening Doll
Create a listening doll in the tradition of the Native American storyteller dolls.
Grade: K-4
Arts Subject: Visual Arts, Theater
3. Lesson: Chinese Calligraphy
Students will experience the art and culture of Chinese calligraphy and Chinese ink painting through watercolor painting and Chinese instrumental music.
Grade: K-4
Arts Subject: Visual Arts
4. Lesson: America, A Home for Every Culture
Students will discuss and explore the cultures that have contributed to making the United States the unique and diverse country it is today.
Grade: K-4
Arts Subject: Music, Visual Arts
5. Lesson: A Way With Words or Say What?
Many words and phrases that we use every day were coined by Shakespeare. He is credited with inventing over 2,000 words and expressive phrases.
Grade: 5-8
Arts Subject: Theater, Visual Arts
Other Subject: Language Arts
6. Lesson: Capturing History
Through teacher-guided discussions and hands-on activities, students will understand the political and economic reasons for the African-American migration to Northern cities between the World Wars.
Grade: 5-8
Arts Subject: Media Arts, Visual Arts
7. Lesson: Castles & Cornerstones
This lesson will explore the historic importance and function of castles in King Arthur's time and introduce students to a general history of castles and architectural terms.
Grade: 5-8
Arts Subject: Visual Arts
Other Subject: Math
8. Lesson: Decades Mural Project
Students will learn how to use primary sources, and work in groups to create murals about the events and trends of a decade of the twentieth century.
Grade: 5-8
Arts Subject: Visual Arts, Media Arts
Other Subject: Language Arts
9. Lesson: Deep Roots of Ancient Greece
This lesson examines specific areas of ancient Greek influence on Western thought and culture.
Grade: 9-12
Arts Subject: Visual Arts, Literary Arts
10. Lesson: Explorers’ Experience
Students will learn about world explorers by researching facts and information relating to the routes traveled. They will discuss what motivates people to want to discover and explore new places.
Grade: 5-8
Arts Subject: Visual Arts
Other Subject: Geography, Language Arts
11. Lesson: Exploring Pottery Techniques
This lesson introduces students to the age-old techniques used in constructing and decorating a burnished coil pot.
Grade: 9-12
Arts Subject: Visual Arts
Other Subject: Geography, Science
12. Lesson: Five Artists of the Mexican Revolution
Much of Mexican art at the beginning of the 20th century was influenced by or created in response to historical events.
Grade: 9-12
Arts Subject: Visual Arts
Other Subject: World Languages, History
13. Lesson: From Greece to Main Street
Students will learn defining elements of classical Greek architecture by comparing the Lincoln Memorial with the Parthenon in Athens, Greece.
Grade: 5-8
Arts Subject: Visual Arts
Other Subject: History, English
14. Lesson: Greek Mythology: Cultures and Art
Gain insight into Greek culture and make aesthetic, perceptual, creative, and intellectual connections to contemporary culture by creating and painting mythological characters.
Grade: 5-8
Arts Subject: Visual Arts
15. Lesson: Harriet Tubman: An Informative and Impressionistic Look
Students take a hands-on approach to examining the life of Harriet Tubman through a comparison of informative resources and impressionistic art.
Grade: K-4
Arts Subject: Visual Arts
Other Subject: Geography, Language Arts
16. Lesson: Navajo Weaving
Through guided reading of Ten Little Rabbits and hands-on activities students will explore aspects of Native American cultures and Navajo weavings.
Grade: K-4
Arts Subject: Dance, Visual Arts
Other Subject: Language Arts
17. Lesson: Masks and Aesop's Fables
This multi-media visual and language arts lesson offers intellectual, creative, and interpretive opportunities through use of books, music and the internet.
Grade: K-4
Arts Subject: Theater, Visual Arts
Other Subject: English
18. Lesson: Oh, Say Can You See…
Students will learn about the history behind the writing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”Grade: K-4 Arts Subject: Music, Visual Arts, Theater
Other Subject: Language Arts
19. Lesson: The Great Migration
In this lesson, students will learn about the migration of African Americans to Harlem.
Grade: K-4
Arts Subject: Visual Arts
Other Subject: Language Arts
20. Lesson: Tolerance: Comparing Cultural Holidays
Compare the artistic and cultural traditions of the U.S. celebration of Halloween and Mexico's Day of the Dead.
Grade: K-4
Arts Subject: Visual Arts
Other Subject: Language Arts, World Languages
21. Lesson: Understanding Tenement Life
Through online stories and photographs, students will explore what daily life was like for the millions of poor Irish, German, Jewish, and Italian immigrants.
Grade: K-4
Arts Subject: Visual Arts
Other Subject: Language Arts
22. Lesson: Political Cartoons as Part of the Election Process
Students will organize the information they researched on the U.S. presidential election process and constitutional rights. Grade: 5-8 Arts Subject: Visual Arts Other Subject: Social Studies, History
23. Lesson: Puppets on the Move: China and the Silk Road
Through map-making, research, and class discussions, students will gain an understanding of the dynamics of trade in China along the Silk Road. Grade: 5-8 Arts Subject: Theater, Visual Arts Other Subject: Language Arts, Social Studies
24. Lesson: Lewis And Clark Prized Possessions
In this lesson, students explore Native American crafts and design and create their own wampum belts.
Grade: 5-8
Arts Subject: Visual Arts
Other Subject: Math, Social Studies
25. Lesson: Lift Every Voice and Sing
Explore and analyze Lift Every Voice and Sing, a poem by James Weldon Johnson.
Grade: 5-8
Arts Subject: Visual Arts, Music
Other Subject: History, Language Arts
26. Lesson: Medieval and Renaissance Art: Botanical Symbolism
For the medieval and the renaissance artists, flowers were part of a rich visual symbolism.Grade: 5-8 Arts Subject: Visual Arts Other Subject: Language Arts, Science, Social Studies
Museum of Modern Art:
1. Rise of the Modern City
From the guide Modern Art and Ideas 2: 1893–1913
The late nineteenth century saw the rise of the modern city shaped by industry, innovations in transportation, and shifting politics. During this period and throughout the early twentieth century, the urban experience became an important artistic subject.
History/Language Arts: 1.Research Derain’s London paintings and London maps, discuss what impression he was trying to make. 2. Research history of Dresden during the time Kirchner painted Street, Dresden. Write a letter describing your experience in the city based on painting and research. 3. Students research changes in Paris between 1850 and 1870, discuss impact on daily life.
Artist: Andre Derain, Ernst Ledwig Kirchner, Jacques-Henri Lartique
The late nineteenth century saw the rise of the modern city shaped by industry, innovations in transportation, and shifting politics. During this period and throughout the early twentieth century, the urban experience became an important artistic subject.
History/Language Arts: 1.Research Derain’s London paintings and London maps, discuss what impression he was trying to make. 2. Research history of Dresden during the time Kirchner painted Street, Dresden. Write a letter describing your experience in the city based on painting and research. 3. Students research changes in Paris between 1850 and 1870, discuss impact on daily life.
Artist: Andre Derain, Ernst Ledwig Kirchner, Jacques-Henri Lartique
Grade: high
Theme: Social
Theme: Social
2. Identity
From the guide Modern Art and Ideas 6: Art Between the Wars
During the interwar period, the idea of identity, both individual and social, came under scrutiny for intellectual and political reasons. In this lesson, students will discuss what identity means to them and will consider how their own identities are affected by the social and political realities of their time.
Activities: Research a portrait, create a portrait of a family member or friend
History: Using web sources, students will research subject of Lange’s Migrant Mother (Florence Owens Thompson), and describe how analysis of image compares to their findings about Thompson. Language Arts: Students choose on of featured portraits, writes a 1-page biography of the sitter based on observation/discussion History Using web sources, students will research subject of Lange’s Migrant Mother (Florence Owens Thompson), and describe how analysis of image compares to their findings about Thompson.
Artists: Otto Dix, Pablo Picasso, Dorothea Lange, Alberto Giacometti
Grade: middle/high
Medium: drawing, collage, painting, sculpture, photography
Theme: identity
During the interwar years there was an increase in the number of people who migrated and emigrated. This lesson considers how artists reflected upon these physical movements in their artworks and examines the roles of narrative in artworks dealing with this theme.
Activities: story-telling through images/words based on The Migration Series
History, Language Arts: 1. Have students write 1-page essay on a selected panel from The Migration Series, summarizing it and connecting it to the larger story. 2.Students will research Harlem Renaissance
Artists: Gustav Klutsis, Max Beckmann, Jacob Lawrence
Grade: middle/high
Medium: drawing, collage
Theme: migration/transportation/narrative
From the guide Modern Art and Ideas 7: 1950–1969
The years from the 1950s to the 1970s were turbulent times. Many artists at this time represented political events in their work. This lesson looks at the work of three artists whose work represents ideas and specific events important to the political and social atmosphere of this time.
Activity: Make a political commentary. Students select photograph from the newspaper that has to do with a social injustice to create their own political commentary.
History, Language Arts: 1. Injustice today/ Warhol called the Birmingham Race Riots episode a "blot on the American conscience." Students will write an essay about an instance of prejudice or injustice they have encountered or observed. 2. Civil Rights. Students research one or more of several figures, laws, or events during civil rights era.
Artists: Jasper Johns, Charles Moore, Andy Warhol
Grade: middle/high
Medium: collage
Theme: Social
Artists: Jasper Johns, Charles Moore, Andy Warhol
Grade: middle/high
Medium: collage
Theme: Social
From the guide Modern Art and Ideas 9: 1961–2004
According to historians and geographers, every human culture uses maps. The maps in this lesson range in style and address a variety of issues, including national identity and international relationships, patterns of migration, and the potential of artistic materials.
Activities: Ask students to make maps of their days using pencil. 2. Have students create maps based on where their Facebook friends live. Discuss as a group.
History/Social Studies: Have students identify and research flags on Boetti’s map, divide class into groups, have them focus on different areas of the map and how countries interact today.
Artists: Mona Hatoum, Alighiero Boetti, Jasper Johns
Grade: middle/high
Medium: drawing
Theme: social, maps, drawing
History/Social Studies: Have students identify and research flags on Boetti’s map, divide class into groups, have them focus on different areas of the map and how countries interact today.
Artists: Mona Hatoum, Alighiero Boetti, Jasper Johns
Grade: middle/high
Medium: drawing
Theme: social, maps, drawing
6. Vertical Thinking
From the guide Rise of the Modern City: Tall Buildings in MoMA's collection
Cities were growing quickly at the turn of the twentieth century, and as a result architects began to design buildings with a vertical orientation. In 1853, Elisha Graves Otis introduced the world’s first safety elevator, which changed the shape of the modern world.
Activities: 1. Students will look at sculptural ornamentation added to Chrysler Building. Print out copies of the building and have students design a new skin and ornamentation for the building using collage. 2. Students will use toothpicks, string, and gumdrops in a structural-engineering experience.
History: Have students research the Eiffel Tower, Chrysler Building and compare with significant structures, such as by the Egyptians as well as to more recent buildings.
Artist: H. Blancard
Grade: middle/high
Medium: collage, sculpture
Theme: architecture, photography
The 1960s saw struggles against established power structures and institutions. Many public spaces, including streets and university campuses, became active sites of political expression, and artists began to look at such spaces as ideal sites of artistic intervention.
Activities: 1. Discuss Marclay’s Graffiti Composition. Divide students into groups to develop artistic intervention on paper that can be photocopied and posted throughout the school. Students should consider if they want their work to pose direct questions or be more abstract. After one week, discuss reaction. 2. Digging deeper.
History
: Have students write a short story about the people who lived in the house Matta-Clark “unbuilt.”
Language Arts
: Have students research events of May 1968 in Paris, and the use of graffiti and posters, particularly “Atelier Populaire.” Could also look into student protests in US in 60’s/70’s.
Artists: Daniel Buren, Gordon Matta-Clark
Grade: middle/high
Medium: photography
Grade: middle/high
Medium: photography
8. Globalization and the Standardization of Identity
From the guide Modern Art and Ideas 9: 1961–2004
Over the last several decades people from disparate parts of the world have become more and more connected, through fast communication and global travel. We share and exchange ideas, desires, customs, and habits, sometimes blending or adapting traditional or local customs to suit contemporary life, at other times abandoning local ways of life altogether and adopting an international style of living. The artists in this lesson address the changing identities of cities and populations.
Activities: Students will take photographs that highlight the contrast between old and new buildings near their homes. Consider juxtaposing the two images. Have them research them and find similarities, differences, which do they prefer?
Social Studies and Language Arts: Students can conduct research project focusing on information revolution of the 90’s, how did the craze for global interconnectivity begin? First memory of computer, computer search? Interview others.
Artists: Andraes Gursky, Sze Tsung Leong
Grade: middle/high
Medium: photography
Theme: social, architecture, technology
9. Constructing Things
From the guide Modern Art and Ideas 4: 1914–1928
The years 1917 to 1922 brought both civil turmoil and possibility to Russia. Artists believed that their modernist, iconoclastic approach to art would help to create a new language for the free, Communist state. Students will be introduced to “Constructivism.”
From the guide Modern Art and Ideas 4: 1914–1928
The years 1917 to 1922 brought both civil turmoil and possibility to Russia. Artists believed that their modernist, iconoclastic approach to art would help to create a new language for the free, Communist state. Students will be introduced to “Constructivism.”
Activity: 1. Constructivist Laboratory- Divide students into groups, assigning each with different material (newspaper, magazine, cardboard, wire, etc) and have each group try to create a form that stands on its own or can be suspended from the ceiling. 2. Revolutionary Russia – Have students create timeline of the Russion Revolution of 1917 using some of the propagandistic techniques used by Constructivist like photomontage, collage, and trademark colors.
History/Social Studies: Have students research the work of accomplished modern Russian artists, who played a major role during that period.
Artists: Aleksandr Rodchenko, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Vladimir Tatlin
Grade: middle/high
Medium: mixed media
Theme: sculpture, constructivism
Artists: Aleksandr Rodchenko, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Vladimir Tatlin
Grade: middle/high
Medium: mixed media
Theme: sculpture, constructivism
10. Ideal Objects
From the guide Modern Art and Ideas 4: 1914–1928
From the guide Modern Art and Ideas 4: 1914–1928
Artists Gustav Klucis and Gerrit Rietveld were interested in applying modernist ideas and principles to everyday design. Students will make connections between two design objects intended for different purposes and the ways artists can affect social/political behavior through design.
Activities: 1. Students will create propaganda campaign for school for general publicity, or school cleanliness, or participation in extracurricular activities using text and artistic techniques like collage and photomontage. 2. Students will design a prototype for a piece of furniture intended for 5-7 year-olds. Elements of design must come from basic shapes. Students will begin with sketch of design.
Language Arts: Sketches will be accompanied by a paragraph explaining function of the design. History Students will research Stalin’s Five Year Plan and the use of propaganda today. Information available on Red Studio website.
Artists: Gerrit Rietveld, Gustav Klutsis
Grade: middle/high
Medium: mixed media, collage
Theme: sculpture, design, social
Artists: Gerrit Rietveld, Gustav Klutsis
Grade: middle/high
Medium: mixed media, collage
Theme: sculpture, design, social
This lesson examines the varied meanings of identity through discussion and a careful examination of a work by the British artist Grayson Perry. Students will learn how irony and satire function in a work of art and how maps can be used to chart not only geography but also psychological, emotional, and intellectual states.
Activities: 1. Students will create maps of their own identities, which encompass aspects of their outer, physical worlds and their inner worlds. Before starting, they make a lists of words they want to include; ambitions, fears, character traits, geographic interests, etc. 2. Layers of identity- students write down personal descriptions. Shuffle everyone’s together and students try to match descriptions with the person.
History/Social Studies: have students research maps of England from 16th/17th centuries and compare to Perry’s Map of an Englishman and to contemporary maps.
Artist: Grayson Perry
Grade: middle/high
Medium: drawing
Theme: satire, identity
Artist: Grayson Perry
Grade: middle/high
Medium: drawing
Theme: satire, identity
12. Exploring the Design Process: The Work of Charles and Ray Eames
From the guide Made for Living: Objects of Design in MoMA's Collection
Charles Eames, trained as an architect, and Ray Kaiser, trained as a painter, met in 1940 at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, in Bloomfield, Michigan. They married, and over the course of their life together, these creative visionaries designed furniture, films, exhibitions, toys, graphics, and interiors. In addition to their design work, they served as ambassadors and consultants to businesses and governments (nationally and internationally) about the role and impact of design in modern life. This lesson explores the Eameses' design philosophy as it was applied to three types of objects.
From the guide Made for Living: Objects of Design in MoMA's Collection
Charles Eames, trained as an architect, and Ray Kaiser, trained as a painter, met in 1940 at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, in Bloomfield, Michigan. They married, and over the course of their life together, these creative visionaries designed furniture, films, exhibitions, toys, graphics, and interiors. In addition to their design work, they served as ambassadors and consultants to businesses and governments (nationally and internationally) about the role and impact of design in modern life. This lesson explores the Eameses' design philosophy as it was applied to three types of objects.
Activities: 1. Students will create sketches of different forms they find interesting. They will pick one to render in 3-D using clay or other modeling material. Have them consider their final products in terms of the forms being functional objects, what materials would be best suited, etc. 2. Eameses’ House of Cards- Students will create images for a house of cards game
History/Social Studies: Students will research Eameses’ trip to India, which led to founding of National Institute of Design, which is still operating. Have students conduct similar research for USA, and suggest ways that USA could boost consumer production.
Artists: Charles and Ray Eames
Grade: middle/high
Medium: mixed media, clay, drawing
Theme: design, social
Artists: Charles and Ray Eames
Grade: middle/high
Medium: mixed media, clay, drawing
Theme: design, social
From the guide Latin American and Caribbean Modern and Contemporary Art This lesson explores representation of people and environment in Rivera’s Agrarian Leader Zapata, 1931. Students will look at visual cues to interpret the painting.
Activity/cross curriculum (history): Students will have a conversation about the different ways that political and public figures are depicted by bringing in and investigating multiple images of current politicians and famous individuals.
Artist: Diego Rivera
Grade: middle/high
Theme: social, political
Artist: Diego Rivera
Grade: middle/high
Theme: social, political
14. Antonio Berni
From the guide Latin American and Caribbean Modern and Contemporary Art
From the guide Latin American and Caribbean Modern and Contemporary Art
This lesson focuses on Berni’s representation of people in his work New Chicago Athletic Club, 1937. In the early 1930s, the Argentine artist Antonio Berni banded together with other young artists to start the Nuevo realismo, or “New Realism,” movement, dedicated to highlighting the social injustice, class struggle, and political division that he experienced in his native Argentina. Activity/cross-curriculum (History, Language Arts): Students will use what they have learned to write a short story, imagining they are one of the people in the painting.
Artist: Antonio Berni
Grade: middle/high
Theme: social, political
National Gallery of Art:
1. NGAkids: Faces and Places
Artist: Antonio Berni
Grade: middle/high
Theme: social, political
1. NGAkids: Faces and Places
NGAkids: The Art Zone (requires shockwave player)
Faces & Places encourages students to create portraits and landscape paintings in the style of American naive artists. By combining visual elements borrowed from more than 100 works in the National Gallery's permanent collection, this two-part interactive activity offers an introduction to American folk art of the 18th and 19th centuries. Students can experiment with compositional arrangement, scale, and perspective, while creating animated portraits and lively landscapes. (Shockwave, 6 MB) Online Interactive Activity
Grade: elementary/middle
Theme: Faces and Places
Online: Interactive and Games
Exhibition Resources for Teachers and Students
Teacher and student resources related to the Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture around the Bay of Naples exhibition (October 19, 2008–March 22, 2009). Includes an introduction to the exhibition, printable Discovery Guides for students, a guide for Latin classes, and related resources. Discovery Guides help students locate key works and themes; one is designed for ages 7-14 and the other is designed for high school students.
Includes Introduction/Exhibition Discovery Guides/A Guide for Latin Classes/Selected Images/Related Resources
Grade: elementary/middle/high
Theme: World History and Culture- Pompeii and Roman
Other subjects: Language Arts
Printable Learning Resource (PDF)
Picturing France, 1830–1900 is a learning resource intended primarily for middle and upper grade levels. It takes a multifaceted look at art and culture, exploring most of the nineteenth century's major stylistic trends (from realism to post-impressionism) and artists (including Rousseau, Corot, Manet, Degas, Cassatt, Morisot, Monet, Renoir, Seurat, Gauguin, Cézanne, and Van Gogh).
Includes Introduction/Paris and the Painters of Modern Life/Encounters with Nature in the Forest of Fountainebleau/Life and Leisure in Auvergne and Franche-Comte/Painters and Tourists in Normandy/Seeking the “Primitive” in Brittany/Effects of the Sun in Provence/Glossary/ Notes/Bibliography/Images
Grade: middle/high
Medium: drawing
Theme: World Culture-France, Impressionism, Realism
Other subjects: Language Arts
Printable Learning Resource
A printable introduction to the artistic strategies of Dada. Dada, one of the significant movements of the historical avant-garde, was born in the heart of Europe in the midst of World War I. In the wake of that brutal conflict, Dadaists raucously challenged tradition, and art-making was changed forever.
Grade: middle/high
Theme: Dada, social-political
Printable Learning Resource (PDF):
Focuses on 20 examples of calligraphy, manuscript illumination, the decorative arts, and architecture to address four general areas: arts for the mosque, Islamic science and learning, arts for the court, and exchange between East and West. This program is also available as a printed booklet with 20 slides, 4 color study prints, and an image CD. It may be borrowed free-of-charge from NGA Loan Programs.
Activities include Math-shapes and patterns-geometric forms, Social Studies-Investigation, Language Arts-creative writing
Grade: middle/high
Medium: drawing
Theme: World History and Culture-Islamic culture
Other subjects: Math, Language Arts
Online Art Information
Exhibition feature. Includes information, streaming slideshows, videos, and virtual tour on Egyptian artifacts and their role in the afterlife. Activities includes: Family guide, Map of Ancient Egypt, Loan programs.
Includes Virtual Tour/Streaming Slideshows/Selected Objects/Streaming Video/Resources
Grade: any
Theme: World History and Culture-Ancient Egypt
Online: Interactive
Printable Children’s Guide (PDF)
A printable, children’s guide about courtly art of the ancient Maya.
Includes Images/Map/History of the Maya and their Gods/Archeological Finds/Activities
Grade: elementary/middle
Theme: World History and Culture- Ancient Maya
Printable Children’s Guide
A printable, kid-friendly introduction to the art of Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828) best known for his painting of George Washington.
Includes Short Activity: Matching presidential portraits to correct historical information
Grade: elementary/middle
Theme: American history
Artist: Gilbert Stuart
Printable Children’s Guide
A printable, kid-friendly look at the Memorial to the Massachusetts 54th Regiment (an African-American Civil War troop).
Includes 2 Activities: Exploring low relief with coin rubbings/ Writing a letter home based on Homer’s painting of Union soldiers
Grade: elementary/middle
Theme: American History, Social
NGAkids: Online Adventures with Art
An interactive, kid-friendly introduction to the art of George Catlin.
Includes information, images, and several activities based on Catlin’s work and Native American history
Grade: elementary
Activity: drawing, mixed media
Theme: American History - Native Americans
Artist: George Catlin
NGAkids: Online Adventures with Art
An interactive, kid-friendly introduction to David's The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuilerie.
Includes interactive exploration of history/symbolism in the painting and a portrait activity.
Grade: elementary
Theme: World History and Culture, Portraiture
Online: Interactive
Online Art Information
Exhibition feature (2009). The Royal Armory in Madrid, assembled at a time when the Spanish Crown was at the height of its international power, is the oldest and one of the finest and largest armories in the world. Armor drawn from the the Spanish Royal Armory is shown alongside portraits of rulers dressed in the same armor, painted by such masters as Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, and Diego Velázquez. Feature also includes an interactive diagram of armor and a detailed look at a magnificent tapestry from the royal collection.
Includes Royal Armor and Portraits/Armor Diagram/Fame Tapestry/Exhibition Information
Grade: middle/high
Theme: World History and Culture- Imperial Spain
Online Art Information
Exhibition feature (2008). Extraordinary artifacts uncovered in modern-day Afghanistan—once the heart of the Silk Road linking cultures from Asia to the Mediterranean—long thought stolen or destroyed during some 25 years of conflict until they were dramatically recovered from a vault under the Presidential Palace in 2004. Dating back 2,000 years and more, the works belong to the National Museum of Afghanistan, Kabul, whose motto is "A nation stays alive when its culture stays alive." Links with National Geographic and Google Earth for extended resources.
Includes Timeline of Treasure/Burial Sites/Video/ Information/History and Maps
See also: Children's Discovery Guide (for ages 8 to 12) to the exhibition Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul
Grade: elementary, middle, high
Theme: World Culture and History
Online: Interactive maps, timeline
Online Art Information:
Exhibition feature (2007). The story of photography’s phenomenal success in Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Austria during the time of tremendous social and political upheaval.
Includes Preview/Films/Concerts/Publications/Lectures and Symposium
Grade: middle/high
Theme: Photography, Social, Political
15. Dada
Online Art Information
Exhibition feature (2006). Explores the robust variety of Dada art that emerged between 1916 and 1924 in the movement's primary centers: Zurich, Berlin, Hannover, Cologne, New York, and Paris. Includes artist bios, sound poems, and zoom option for close study.
Includes Cities/Art/Biographies/Techniques/Slogans
Grade: middle/high
Theme: Dada, Social
Artist: Duchamp, Max Ernst
Online Art Information
Exhibition feature (2005). During the Renaissance, Orsanmichele functioned both as a church and a grain storage and market facility; the Florentine trade guilds chose it as the site for statues of their patron saints.
This feature explores three monumental Italian Renaissance sculptures from Orsanmichele
Grade: middle/high school
Theme: World Culture and History, Renaissance, Sculpture
Online Art Information
Exhibition feature from the Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya exhibition (2004). Includes images from the exhibition, text, audio clips, and interactive activities on Maya hieroglyphs and numbering.
Includes Life at the Maya Court/The Divine Court/Women at Court/Word and Image/Court at War/Palenque/Exhibition Information
Grade: middle/high
Theme: World History and Culture- Ancient Maya
Online Interactive Unit
In the United States, the nineteenth century was a time of tremendous growth and change. In this lesson, works of art are paired with written documents, including literary selections, a letter, and a speech. As budding historians, students can use these primary sources to reconstruct the influence of technology, geography, economics, and politics on daily life. This program is also available as a printed booklet with color reproductions. It may be borrowed free-of-charge from NGA Loan Programs.
Activities include: Interactive art inquiry, map skills, vocabulary, creating a timeline, a century of advances
Includes Student Activities/ Discussion/ Printable worksheets/ Related resources/ Glossary
Grades: 5–6 (can be adapted for other levels)
Theme: Art and History
19. Art & Ecology
Online Interactive Unit
Artists are often particularly keen observers and precise recorders of the physical conditions of the natural world. As a result, paintings can be good resources for learning about ecology. Teachers can use this lesson to examine with students the interrelationship of geography, natural resources, and climate and their effects on daily life. It also addresses the roles students can take in caring for the environment. This program is also available as a printed booklet with color reproductions. It may be borrowed free-of-charge from NGA Loan Programs.
Activities include: art inquiry, map skills, vocabulary, A Place I’d Like to Be, Climates Around the World.
Includes Overview/Art Discussion/Student Activities/Printable Worksheets/Related Resources/Glossary
Grade: middle/high
Activity: drawing, painting
Theme: Environment, Social
Other Subjects: Science
Online: Interactive
Online Interactive Unit
Mythology is a powerful vehicle for teaching students about symbols and the ways people have sought to explain their relationships to nature and to each other. Teachers can use this lesson to introduce or examine the role of myths in explaining human customs, mysteries about nature, or the reasons why things exist in the world.
Activities include: map skills, art inquiry, interactive matching symbols with mythological figures, myths from other cultures.
Includes Art Discussion/ Student Activities/ Printable Worksheets/ Related resources/ Glossary
Grades: 5–6 (can be adapted for other levels)
Theme: Mythology
Online: Interactive
Online Interactive Unit
Teachers can use this lesson to introduce or examine in depth the concept of heroism through discussions of heroic actions and character. Students will look at images of military, religious, political, and everyday heroes and heroines and discuss their lives and the effects of their deeds. This program is also available as a printed booklet with color reproductions. It may be borrowed free-of-charge from NGA Loan Programs.
Activities include: interactive art inquiry, map skills, online medal maker, developing a definition of Hero and Heroine, word meanings, journal entry of my favorite hero
Includes Art Discussions/ Student Activities/ Printable Worksheets/ Related Resources/ Glossary
Grades: 5–6 (can be adapted for other levels)
Theme: History and Art
Other subjects: Language Arts
Online: Interactive
Online Interactive Unit
The visual narratives and abstractions of this preeminent African-American artist explore the places where he lived and worked: the rural South, Pittsburgh, New York's Harlem, and the Caribbean island of Saint Martin. Bearden's central themes–religion, jazz and blues, history, literature, and the authenticities of black life endured throughout his remarkable career. This program is also available as a printed booklet with 20 slides, 6 color study prints, 5 overhead transparencies, and a music CD. It may be borrowed free-of-charge from NGA Loan Programs.
Activities include: Write a poem inspired by collage, Make a collage, Organize an exhibition, “What’s your cause?”, Study art like Bearden, Compare poetry and music, Match Bearden’s work with artistic models
Includes printable (PDF) version and teaching activities, including online interactive activities.
Grade: middle/high
Medium: collage
Artist: Romare Bearden
Other subjects: Language Arts, Music
Online: Interactive
Online Teaching Unit
Teaching program on Chinese artifacts from 6000 B.C. to 924 A.D. This program is also available as a printed booklet with 20 slides. It may be borrowed free-of-charge from NGA Loan Programs.
-Includes Teaching Activities (23)/ Chronology/ Glossary/ Audio Pronunciation Guide
Grade: any
Theme: World Culture -Chinese Archaeology
24. Art Nouveau
Online Teaching Unit
Teaching program on turn of the 20th-century art movement; decorative arts. Activities include several discussion prompts and images.
Includes History/ Sources and Inspiration/ Glossary/ Teaching Activities
Grade: any
Style: Art Nouveau
Printable Teaching Unit
Teaching program on the fine arts and cultural history of Japan from 1615 to 1868. This program is also available as a printed booklet with 20 slides. It may be borrowed free-of-charge from NGA Loan Programs.
Activities include: Art- Traditional robe designs, Math/art- Folding screens, Art/social studies- discovering professions in Edo society/period, Language Arts- exploring Japanese vocabulary, Language Arts- Japanese poetic form/haiku, Language Arts- exploring the meaning of souvenirs, Art- creating motifs/changing their format, Art/Drama- Creating “No” mask out of paper mache, Social Studies- comparing Edo culture to 18th century America and envisioning how historians will describe American style in 2150. Students will create magazine, commercial, web site, or music video presenting key characteristics of American style.
Includes Edo Style/Samurai/Work/Religion/Travel/ Entertainment/Glossary/ Chronology/Activities
Grade: any
Medium: drawing, mixed media, design, painting
Theme: World Culture-Japanese Culture
Other subjects: Math, Language Arts, Drama
Online Art Information
In-depth study of the Memorial to the Massachusetts 54th Regiment (an African-American Civil War troop).
Activities include: 2 lesson plans for grades 3-8 (Personal Memories, Public Memories), 3 lesson plans for 9-12 (An Inspirational Monument, Saint Gaudens, the Shaw Memorial, Art Historians, and the Critics, and A Primary Source Document Activity.)
Includes Introduction/Artist/History/Memorial/ Exhibition/Resources
Grade: elementary/middle/high
Medium: Drawing
Theme: Social/History
Other subjects: Language Arts
Online Art Information
The Gallery's collection of American art includes some 150 works by African-American artists. This online tour offers commentary on a selection of twenty-two paintings, works on paper, and sculpture ranging from a colonial portrait by Joshua Johnson of Baltimore to modern and contemporary pieces by Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, Alma Thomas, Sam Gilliam, Barkley Hendricks, Willie Cole, Kara Walker, and Lorna Simpson.
Includes Commentary on 22 paintings/Works on Paper/Sculpture ranging from colonial period to contemporary pieces
Grade: middle/high
Theme: African American Art
Online Art Information
In-depth study of Pablo Picasso painting The Tragedy and discussion of related conservation issues. Metamorphosis of a painting.
Grade: middle/high
Theme: Art History and Conservation
Artist: Picasso
Other Subjects: Science
Online Art Information
Feature on the Index of American Design, which catalogues examples of American crafts made before the 1890s. Includes historical information and object tours. The Index is a compilation of nearly 18,000 watercolor renderings that depict traditional American arts and crafts made before about 1890. The renderings were created under the auspices of the Index of American Design project, one of several Fine Arts Divisions in the Federal Art Project (FAP) of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which operated from 1935 to 1942. They provide an unparalleled record of the material culture of the United States and the effort to document a unique national style
Includes History/Tour the Index/Research
Grade: middle/high
Theme: American Design, American History and Culture
Printable Art Information (PDF)
Exhibition brochure of the American furniture, textiles, and decorative arts frm Winterthur’s collection.
Grade: middle/high
Theme: American History and Culture
Online Art Information
Exhibition brochure on Renaissance portraits of women; includes works by Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli. Prior to 15th century, artists were dedicated to painting religious content alone, but as the Renaissance came along, art’s subject matter suddenly expanded.
Includes introduction/Bridal Portrait/Profil Portraits/Fantasy Beauty/Three-Quarter-View Portraits/Double-Sided Portraits/Three-Quarter-Length Portraits/Image List
Grade: middle/high
Theme: Renaissance, Portraiture
Artist: Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli
Online Art Information
Exhibition brochure on 19th-century German paintings, including works by Caspar David Friedrich. Includes Image Index and Exhibition Information
Grade: middle/high
Theme: World Culture and History
Online Art Information
Exhibition brochure on photographer and gallery owner Alfred Stieglitz; includes discussion on Georgia O’Keeffe. Celebrated for his photographs, Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946) was one of the most influential figures in early twentieth-century art.
Includes Introduction/291 Gallery/Andesron Galleries and Intimate Galley/An American Place
Grade: middle/high
Theme: Modern Art
Artist: Alfred Stieglitz
34. Edgar Degas
Online Art Information
In-depth study of The Dance Lesson by French impressionist Edgar Degas.
Includes The Painting/The Dancing Life/The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer/A Dance Portfolio
Grade: middle/high
Theme: Impressionism
Artist: Edgar Degas
Other Subjects: Performing Arts/Dance
Online: Interactive
35. Edward Steichen
Online Art Information
In-depth study of early 20th-century photographs and paintings of American Edward Steichen
Includes extensive information about the artist, his paintings and photography.
Grade: middle/high
Theme: Photography
Artist: Edward Steichen
Other Subjects: Science
36. Fauves
Online Art Information
In-depth study of Fauvism, an early modernist art movement in France; includes Henri Matisse.
Includes The Wild Beasts/An Open Window/Influences/Fauve Gallery/From Fauve Forward
Grade: middle/high
Theme: Fauvism
Artist: Henri Matisse
Online Art Information
In-depth study of The Mountain Nymph, Sweet Liberty by 19th-century photographer Julia Margaret Cameron. Extensive details of photographic process used by the artist.
Includes Images/Cameron’s Techniques/Biography
Grade: middle/high
Theme: Photography
Artist: Julia Margaret Cameron
Other Subjects: Science
38. William Harnett
Online Art Information
In-depth study American trompe l’oeil artist William Harnett and The Old Violin. “A painting has been added to the Art Gallery, which has created a furor....”
“Visitors will need no guide post, they will find it by following the crowd.”
— Cincinnati newspapers, 1886
Includes The Old Violin/William Harnett, Trompe l’Oeil Master/Painting Money
Grade: middle/high
Theme: American Art/Culture
Artist: William Harnett
Online Art Information
Exhibition brochure on French impressionists and the study of nature in Argenteuil, a town on the banks of the Seine northwest of Paris; includes art by Claude Monet and Auguste Renoir.
Includes Introduction/Impressionism/Group Exhibitions/The Paris Suburbs/Impressions of Nature/Impressionist Techniques/Landscapes of Modernity/Leisure/Group Dynamics
Grade: middle/high
Theme: Impressionism
Artist: Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir
Online Art Information
Exhibition feature on architectural models made in Europe between 1600 and 1750. Emerging in both Rome and Paris shortly after 1600, the baroque in art and architecture soon spread throughout Europe, where it prevailed for one hundred and fifty years. During this period new social and political systems resulted in the concentration of power in the hands of individuals with absolute authority. Architecture affirmed this, from the palaces to churches and military installations.
Includes Introduction/The Baroque in Rome/Churches and Chapels/Civic Architecture/Commercial Architecture/Military Architecture/Private Residences/Royal Palaces
Grade: middle/high
Theme: Baroque, World History, Architecture
41. Jackson Pollock
Online Art Information
In-depth study of the American abstract-expressionist Jackson Pollock.
Includes Information about the artist and painting/In-depth look at his process
Grade: any
Theme: Abstract Expressionism
Artist: Jackson Pollock
Online Art Information
In-depth study of John Singleton Copley’s American painting Watson and the Shark, based on a true story of the rescue of a 14-year-old orphaned crew member who went on to become a prominent citizen/politician in London.
Grade: middle/high
Theme: American painters
Artist: John Singleton Copley
Online Art Information
The perspective of two collectors on their private collection of American impressionist paintings.
Includes Comments from the Collector/Illustrated Essays/ 8 Artist Biographies
Grade: middle/high
Theme: American Impressionism, Realism
44. Thomas Moran
Online Art Information
In-depth study of Thomas Moran’s 19th-century American landscape paintings. Long celebrated as the premier painter of Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, Moran produced a remarkably varied body of work during his 60-year career.
Grade: middle/high
Theme: American History, Environment
Artist: Thomas Moran
Other Subjects: Science
Online Virtual Tour
Virtual tour of an exhibition of Cambodian sculpture from the 6th- through 16th-centuries. Includes extensive information on culture, history, and art of this period.
Grade: middle/high
Theme: World History and Culture, Sculpture
Online: Interactive tour
