MoNA's Art Lesson Archives: A Treasure Trove of Lessons Featuring Underrepresented Northwest Artists
By Ellie Cross, Community Outreach Coordinator
Welcome to another edition of MoNA’s blog! Today we’re exploring MoNA’s Art Lesson Archives, a free digital resource featuring an expanding collection of comprehensive lesson plans inspired by Northwest artists. This resource has been in the making for almost two decades and is one of many legacies of our MoNA Link School Partnership Program. It boasts a unique collection of 85+ lessons that fulfill Washington State Arts Learning Standards and provide educators across the globe with everything they need to guide their students on a journey of discovering artists from the Northwest! It is also a wonderful resource for anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of Northwest artists.
Students on a MoNA Link Tour with Tour Leader, Howard Shapiro. Photo credit: Kim Simon
In light of the widespread substitute shortage, the archives are also a very timely tool that can support educators with the unique challenges they are facing today. As a local middle-school teacher recently brought to our attention, these easy-to-download lessons are an invaluable resource that can help educators working hard to fill in the gaps for their colleagues on short notice. This blog entry will provide some background on MoNA Link, the origin and evolution of the project, and leave you with valuable tips on how to navigate the lessons in the Art Lesson Archives (for educators as well as anyone wanting to learn more about artists from the Northwest)!
Our MoNA Link program provides comprehensive art education for students from Pre-K to High school, in school districts across the region. The program simultaneously offers a two-year professional development program for participating teachers. Since its inception in 2003, MoNA Link has served 8,953 students and provided training for 181 teachers throughout Skagit, Whatcom and Island Counties. Our MoNA Link Alumni have gone on to teach standard-aligned art lessons to every new class of students for the remainder of their careers in education. Along the way, they have developed scores of unique art lessons inspired by Northwest Artists.
Teachers experiment with glass art making techniques on a visit to Steve Klein’s studio during a MoNA Link professional development training. Photo credit: Kim Simon
Up until three years ago, these precious lessons were languishing in a drawer in MoNA’s art studio. Together with an incredible team of volunteers and interns, our MoNA staff worked to transform these lessons into the present format, which can be easily utilized by anyone with internet access. We first scanned each of the 100+ lessons and uploaded those files to our initial version of this project, the Art Lesson Database. Interns then retyped each lesson so that we could edit and improve them. As we read through the lessons, we asked ourselves a range of questions:
Does the lesson clearly connect to a Northwest artist and if not, can we link to an underrepresented artist?
Can we weave in themes that are relevant for a range of experiences?
How can we include scaffolding for different ages and abilities?
We added biographies of each artist and images of their work. We embedded opportunities for teachers to use Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS), which is a research-based teaching method that promotes aesthetic development including critical thinking and communication skills. Volunteer proofreaders donated their valuable time to provide essential feedback to further refine the archives. The result is the one and only MoNA’s Art Lesson Archives, with comprehensive lessons that highlight the work of artists ranging from Alaska, British Columbia, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon & Washington.
MoNA Link students engage in a guided art discussion using Visual Thinking Strategies. Photo credit: Kim Simon
Now that you have some context for what makes these lessons so special, let’s dive into the archives together!
Screenshot from MoNA’s Art Lesson Archives webpage, www.monamuseum.org/art-lesson-archives.
You can access the main page of the archives here, which is located on MoNA’s Website under the Education > Resources for Educators tab. The lessons are arranged by six media categories: Collage, Drawing, Mixed-Media, Painting, Printmaking, and Sculpture. Each of those pages featured a list of lessons organized alphabetically by title with an accompanying image showing an art sample from the project. Once you find a lesson you like, you can click on the orange button to download the plan as a PDF
Screenshot of the Collage Lessons webpage,
www.monamuseum.org/collage-lessons.
We want to leave you with a few curated lists and helpful tips for you to get the most out of this resource!
For anyone wanting to learn more about Northwest Artists: You can start your search on the Art Lessons by Artist page and pursue the artist's work and biography. People of all ages can learn from these lessons and creating an accompanying art project is a fun bonus!
For teachers filling in for colleagues on short notice, here are some quick “grab and go lessons” that use supplies any classroom has with minimal prep and no clean up required!
Drawing Comic Strips Inspired by Little Corvus: After looking at art by Little Corvus, students will make their own three-panel comic strip and create a complete short narrative within those panels.
My Thoughts: Self-Portraits Inspired by Shannon Kirby: Students will look at the sculpture Let Peace Begin With Me by Shannon Kirby and use it as an inspiration to draw their own self-portraits.
Owl Drawings Inspired by Roy Henry Vickers: Students will engage with the work of Roy Henry Vickers and draw inspiration from his painting, Snowy Owl.
For educators looking for art lessons that integrate into their curriculum, here are a few lessons with strong connections to science, math, and writing & literature.
Science:
Habitat Sculptures Inspired by Eddie Lee: Students will create a sculpture of a habitat based on I Wish I Had Seen the Falls by Carol Craig and the work of sculptor Eddie Lee. This lesson is connected to the Since Time Immemorial Curriculum.
Mixed-Media River Collages Inspired by Philip Govedare: Students will design a physical representation of a river after looking to Philip Govedare for inspiration.
Math:
Geometric String Art Inspired by Jo Baer: Inspired by Jo Baer's minimalist graph-paper drawings, Triangle, students will create a geometric art piece by sewing an acute or obtuse angle using thread on paper.
Circle Vocabulary Paintings Inspired by Pratima Misra: Using the art of Pratima Misra as inspiration, students will create a watercolor piece that explores the geometric properties of circles.
Writing & Literature:
Watercolors & Writing Inspired by Joan Govedare: Students will look at Joan Govedare's ceramic works to observe how an artist can tell a story and they will practice using value to create a painting.
Subtractive and Additive Character Sculpture Studies: Using inspiration from the ceramic works of Nicole Gugliotti, students will create sculptures based on a fictional character they have written or read about in the classroom.
No supplies? No problem!
You’ll notice that many of the lessons have an underlined link at the bottom of the description after the words “Art Box(es).” That indicates that MoNA can supply local educators with the art supplies needed for these lessons at no cost. These boxes are available for check out from our Art Box Lending Library.
Supplies included in the Printmaking Box, part of MoNA’s Art Supply Library.
Photo credit: Tim Mickleburgh
Want more?
If you want to see even more lessons or search in a more detailed manner, you can also visit our Lesson Plan Database in order to access all of MoNA’s 100+ lessons.
We know that each situation, student, or classroom is unique! If you have any questions, suggestions, or would like help adapting a lesson, please email education@museumofnwart.org.
Screenshot from the Art Lesson Database, which can be accessed by visiting MoNA’s Art Lesson Database site, www.monamuseum.org/art-lesson-database
Get involved:
This resource is always evolving and we welcome suggestions of how to improve and expand the archives. Please share your feedback using this google form or by emailing us at education@museumofnwart.org.
Visit our MoNA Link webpage to learn more about the program and consider enrolling in MoNA Link’s next cohort of teachers or sharing the opportunity with a local educator.
Join & Support! Your donations make free programs like MoNA Link, the Art Lesson Archives, and the Art Box Lending Library possible. You can also volunteer to support our Education Programming, as a proofreader for the Art Lesson Archives or a Tour Leader for school visits.