Download Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA)
Chelsea Manzo
TEDU 591
Basic Information:
The VMFA is a wonderful place to have a field trip. The museum is open from 10- 5 (until 9 on
Thursdays and Fridays), 365 days a year. Admission is always free to the museum, however certain exhibits
do cost money ($12 for seniors, $15 for adults, $10 students 7 – 17 years of age, and free to children under
6). The museum is located at 200 N. Boulevard, Richmond, Virginia 23220. To schedule a field trip,
contact Kathy Parrish at (804) 340 1405, or email her at [email protected]. You can see what
activities they currently have for educators by visiting the website, vmfa.museum.
One of the best attributes of this museum is all of the collections and free exhibitions it includes.
For example, there are African, American, Ancient American, Ancient, American and European Design,
East Asian, European, South Asian, Early 20th century European, 21st Century, and Mid to Late 20th
Century collections that stay at the museum permanently.
Some of the free exhibitions include that of Early 20th Century European, Native American Art,
Studio School Exhibitions, Art Education Center Exhibitions, and Women Artist + Abstract Expressionism.
Since there are always exhibitions rotating in and out of the museum, it is important to stay up to
date. You never know when one might by coming that would apply to your students! You can sign up to
receive free updates emailed to you directly on the VMFA website.
Sample Activity 1:
Gordon Parks: Back to Fort Scott
Collection: African American Art, American Art, Mid to Late 20th-Century Art
Culture/Region: America
Subject Area: African American, History and Social Science, Visual Arts
Corresponding SOL: Reshaping the Nation and the Emergence of Modern America: 1877 to the Early
1900s
USII.4 The student will demonstrate knowledge of how life changed after the Civil War by
c) Describing racial segregation, the rise of “Jim Crow,” and other constraints faced by African Americans
and other groups in the post-Reconstruction South;
This exhibition shows the realities of life under segregation in America during the 1950s, as seen
through the lens of photographer Gordon Parks (1912–2006). As the first African American photographer
hired full time by Life magazine, Parks was frequently given assignments involving social issues affecting
black America. In 1950, one such project took him back to his hometown in Kansas for a photo essay he
titled: “Back to Fort Scott.”
Pre Activity:

Before showing this exhibit to students, I would have been teaching about segregation in class so
that my students are familiar with that term, as well as Jim Crow laws. I think it is important to set
the tone for how life was harsh and unfair back then. As a pre-activity, I would have my students
explore diaries or other appropriate primary source documents from that time period and write
reflections, or write their own. They could make theatre boxes in pairs that each have to do with a
Jim Crow law. This would also be a good time to talk about the difference in fact and opinion.
During Activities: (Comprehension)

Ask the students to interpret the photographs of Gordon Parks. Ask them to explain what is
happening, or what they think is going on in each of the photos. They can compare one
photograph to another. I would also ask students to think ahead, or behind the photos, as in: Why
do you think that person has that expression? What do you think happened? Or, have them make a
prediction about what happened after the photo was shot, and why they chose to extend the
photo that way. They can also write the main idea of the art/ photos of different areas as they walk
around the museum.
Post Activity:

Construct a timeline of the events in the exhibit or collection, using pictures and words. What did
you learn from history? If students looked at different exhibits all from different time periods, they
can connect their timelines together and share about their interpretations of what they learned.
If their timelines overlap, but are from different areas, they can recall about how events are
happening in different parts of the world, and how they are related. I would also have students
reflect on what they knew about segregation before the exhibit, and new things they learned from
looking at the picture clues. A class KWL chart could be useful in organizing our new information.
Sample Activity 2:
Ancient Egyptian Culture
Collection: Ancient Art, Art Deco & Art Nouveau, Egyptian Art
Culture/Region: Egypt, Rome
Subject Area: Visual Arts
Grade: 5th
SOL:
World History and Geography to 1500 A.D. (C.E.)
WHI.1 The student will improve skills in historical research and geographical analysis by
a) identifying, analyzing, and interpreting primary and secondary sources to make generalizations about
events and life in world history to 1500 A.D. (C.E.);
b) using maps, globes, artifacts, and pictures to analyze the physical and cultural landscapes of the world and
interpret the past to 1500 A.D. (C.E.);
c) identifying major geographic features important to the study of world history to 1500 A.D. (C.E.);
d) identifying and comparing political boundaries with the locations of civilizations, empires, and kingdoms
from 4000 B.C. (B.C.E.) to 1500 A.D. (C.E.);
e) analyzing trends in human migration and cultural interaction from prehistory to 1500 A.D. (C.E.);
f) analyzing the impact of economic forces, including taxation, government spending, trade, resources, and
monetary systems, on events to 1500 A.D. (C.E.).
Pre Activities:

Before doing this activity, I would introduce students to where Egypt in on a map. They could do a
inquiry- based project where they learn about one aspect of Egyptian life, and then present to
others in a jigsaw- presentation. I think that this would help to get everyone familiar with the
culture before going to the exhibit.
During Activities:

The VMFA has two really cool activities that you can do with Egyptian Culture. They have a
activity guide that sends students on a scavenger hunt to find all the natural resources that they can.
They also describe what a word looks like in hieroglyphics, and challenges the students to find it in
a papyrus exhibit. There are four basic words in the guide, with plenty of room for the student to
practice writing them. You can ask your students why they might have chosen that symbol to
represent that word, or how they could read what they’ve written just from hieroglyphics. How is
that the same, or different, from how we write today?
Post Activities:

After completing the activities in the guide, I would have students work in groups to devise a play
based on how the Egyptians lived, incorporating as many facts that they learned as they can. I think
that this activity is a good way to synthesize all the information together, and to apply it to show
their peers how life looked thousands of years ago. Students can learn what they might have missed
by watching others!
Reflection:
I had a really hard time narrowing down my activities for the students to do! There is so much to
do at the VMFA that you’ll probably want to spend the entire day there. There are free collections and
exhibits from almost every time period, so exploring content that you’ve learned about in class is so easy. I
really like how it’s not all artwork- there are photographs, statues, complete bedroom sets, examples of
uniforms, pots, pans, utensils, clothing… the list could go on! The diversity in what the museum can
represent is incredible. I also really like how the museum is laid out: it is very easy to find where you want
to go, and it is very well organized by culture or time period.
I was surprised by how many activities the museum had for small children. There were hands-on
workshops, videos, studios, and even framed paintings that very young children had made. I thought that
was very cool and inspiring to everybody. Even though the current exhibit, Jasper Johns and Edvard
Munch, may have been inappropriate for young children, I like how the museum still had activities that
correlated to the art of those men. Younger students can see how the art was styled without it being over
their head in its content and meaning. For example, there was a lot of open expression in the art, and one
of the activities had students pick yarn to drag over what looked like a big geo-board plane. The yarn was
colored based on an emotion. It was very cool to see all the colors that made up the geo-board!
If I ever get the chance to take a class to the VMFA, I would want them to look at the history and
culture we are studying about, but I also think that this field trip is an excellent place for exploration. I
want the students to find exhibits that jump out to them, and have an opportunity to research them further.
I want them to be able to see real things from a time period, and also see how the art influenced that time
period as well. What can you learn from the artwork and photographs that you can’t from the examples?
I would also want my students to see how art has changed. I think it is important for them to make
connections between history and the styles of art that were common at that time. I think it would be very
cool for students to return and create a piece of art, and give it a time period, and attach history to it, even
it was made up but had factual guidelines. There are limitless activities to do at and after visiting the VMFA:
why would you not go?!
Here are some photos of the activities referenced above:
Citation:
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts |Richmond, Virginia. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2016, from
https://vmfa.museum/