IS 116 and 117 Gallery Guide Project	Europe Semester, 2002 Westmont College (back to IS116 / 117 Syllabus)

The Big Picture

In groups of two, you will research a small number of works of art in a particular museum gallery, or a specific public site significant to the history of art. You will be responsible to act as guides to your peers, as they circulate through this museum, room or site.

This assignment gives you the chance to enliven the class with your own voices, and to try out your newly acquired knowledge and skills. There's nothing quite like teaching to help you take responsibility for your own learning! But we'll need to try not to be too obtrusive; many musea do not welcome large groups standing around one work while someone, not employed by that museum, lectures. You may want to visit your exhibit a day or two in advance, to give you time to observe, and to make sure you'll have no surprises on the day you present.

Tips for Gallery Guide Research

• use guidebooks to orient yourself to the museum and its collection.
• see if the museum has a useful website (see links below). A good place to begin a web search is the Virtual Library.
• focus on the assigned room, gallery or exhibit, which may allow you to emphasize the work of one artist.
• after you've identified your artist(s), look for their names in the index of art survey books (like Walford, Gombrich, Gardener, Stokstad…), or look up books devoted to that one artist.
• ask yourself questions:
  • when did this artist work?
  • who were his or her artistic peers?
  • why is this artist important?
  • did he or she belong to a movement?
  • what do people generally value in his or her work?
• use the scholarly apparatus of the books you consult. Some art books contain a listing of works by museum. Others will list an artist's works and their locations under the artist's name. Captions under pictures often give the location of a particular object. You may be able to identify most of the works you will encounter in your gallery before you even see them.
• here is a sample Gallery Guide, prepared by Art History Professor Lisa DeBoer, and posted here with her permission. You should not at all feel bound to her format. If you intend to provide a handout, plan to make copies over there.

Excecution

Think about how to help your peers learn what you've learned about these objects. Be creative! Help your peers engage the objects, look at them thoughtfully, place them in history, and enjoy them. Be prepared to help your peers:

• appreciate the formal and technical aspects of your works
• understand something of the artist/s who made them
• understand any relevant points of their original use or context
• see these works in the larger context of art and history

Strategies to help you make your points:

• compare your works to other works in the gallery
• focus on one or two works
• explain the subject
• describe any special techniques used

Evaluation

By August 10, your group will need to submit by e-mail a rough sketch of what you have learned about your gallery, of the points you think need to be covered, and of how you might go about helping your peers understand these pieces.

During your presentation, your instructors and your peers will evaluate your gallery-guide work. We will be using the following criteria.

Content

• did the guides help me see what was happening visually in these works?
• did the guides help me understand something of how these works relate to their makers?
• did the guides help me put the works in a historical and social context?
• did the guides help me see what is stylistically significant?

Manner

• were the guides polite and open to questions?
• did all of the guides interact with their peers?
• did the guides encourage their peers actively to engage the works?
• did the guides remember to speak softly, so as not to disturb other visitors to the gallery?
• did the guides allow others in the gallery to listen in? Have easy access to the pictues?

Gallery Assignments