Rosemont Family Day at the Nasher 2016

We had so much fun at the second annual Rosemont Family Day!  The bus arrived at noon, full of happy and excited students and families.  Families were able to choose their own adventure: seeking sculptures on the scavenger hunt, playing with Giant Jenga and Magna-Tiles, meeting artist Kyle Hobratschk and learning about the printing process, and enjoying the art on their own and during the fun family tour.

Mrs. Cianculli helps some families get started

Scavenger Hunt

Giant Jenga and Magna-Tiles

Making Prints with Kyle Hobratschk 

Ms. Lawson helps out

Family Tour

Once families completed the Scavenger Hunt, they received a fun prize...

A BIG thanks to our devoted teachers Mrs. Lawson, Mrs. Cianciulli, and Mrs. Rodgers; our watchful chaperones, our hard-working students, and our supportive families.  This past year would not have been possible without everyone's commitment to this wonderful program.  We look forward to seeing you all next fall - in the meantime, have a fabulous summer!

Sincerely,
The Nasher Education Team

See You Saturday At The Nasher!

We can hardly wait to see you this Saturday, May 14 at the Rosemont Family Day at the Nasher Sculpture Center!  Enjoy fun activities from 12:00-2:00pm, including a scavenger hunt, a giant game of Jenga, family tours, and seeing artist Kyle Hobratschk in action! 

 Keep these things in mind as you prepare for your visit:

• Admission is FREE for Rosemont students and their families.
• Meet at the lower Rosemont parking lot to ride a bus to the Nasher no later than 11:30am.
• If you'd rather ride the DART train, get off at the Pearl or St. Paul station and walk two blocks north to the Nasher at 2001 Flora Street.
• Or take the D-Link bus for free!  Click here for schedules and information.
• Click here for driving directions if you plan to drive.
• View a map of nearby parking below.

See you soon!

Parking Map

The Figure Tour, Part Three

We walked down the steps leading to Nasher Hall for our final stop of The Figure tour. Midway down the steps is Accurate Figure by Tony Cragg.  The students started by using their index fingers to trace the outer edges of the sculpture in the air.

3rd grade

4th grade

While tracing the outline, some students noticed the profile, or side view, of a nose, mouth, and chin...can you see them below? (Profile was our final vocabulary word for this tour.)

2nd grade

Next, the students paired up and turned to face each other.  While one partner stood still, the other partner slowly (then quickly) shook his/her head from side to side.  Then they switched so that each student had an opportunity to observe his/her partner's face as it moved back and forth.

2nd grade

This activity helped the students see how this artist included the figure in his sculpture - by rotating the profile shapes of a nose, mouth, and chin, as though a person stood in one spot and turned in a circle - and then stretching it at an angle.  It's a little challenging to see and explain here - make sure you come by and take a look during the Rosemont Family Day on May 14!

We finished our tour with a group picture to commemorate another fantastic year of GROW.

2nd grade

3rd grade

4th grade

The Figure Tour, Part Two

For the second part of The Figure tour, we headed outside and walked all the way around Untitled by Joel Shapiro.  

Joel Shapiro, Untitled, 1996-99

2nd grade

Joel Shapiro has mentioned two things that inspire his work: trees and the figure.  The students discussed how this sculpture reminded them of one or the other, or both.  To help understand how the sculpture might relate to the figure, they used their best balancing skills as they tried to position their bodies like Untitled.

3rd grade

4th grade

Think about the vocabulary words for this tour.  Do you consider this sculpture to be more realistic or more abstract?  Why do you say so?

And don't forget to SAVE THE DATE for Rosemont Family Day at the Nasher Sculpture Center from 12:00-2:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 14.  We look forward to seeing you!

The Figure Tour, Part One

For our final tour of the 2015-16 school year, we focused on the figure.  All the works of art that we viewed include or refer to the human body, or figure, in some way.  

Visit 3 Vocabulary: 

figure / figura

bust / busto

portrait / retrato

realistic / realista

abstract / abstracto

profile / perfil

We began by comparing and contrasting sculptures by Willem de Kooning and Alberto Giacometti.  How many similarities and differences can you find?

Willem de Kooning, Clamdigger, 1972

Alberto Giacometti; Bust of Diego, 1954 (left), Diego in a Sweater, 1953 (middle), Diego in a Cloak, 1954 (right)

The students divided into pairs, and each person was given a challenge.  During the 2nd grade tour, each partner was assigned to Clamdigger by Willem de Kooning or Diego in a Sweater by Alberto Giacometti.  Students were asked to write down descriptive words about their specific sculpture.  Then, the pairs compared their lists and noted which words both partners had written down about their sculptures.  Finally, they decided together whether the artworks appeared to have more differences or more in common.

2nd grade

In the 3rd and 4th grade tours, one partner was challenged to write down similarities between the sculptures, while the other partner wrote down differences between the sculptures.  Then, students were given the task of convincing their partners that the sculptures were more similar or more different, based on the lists that they made.  This resulted in some lively and animated conversations.

3rd grade

4th grade

We introduced most of our vocabulary words while discussing these sculptures.  As mentioned earlier, the figure refers to the human form in a work of art.  While the Clamdigger shows the whole figure, Bust of Diego and Diego in a Cloak are referred to as busts because they only show the head and shoulders.  In addition, the three sculptures by Alberto Giacometti (Bust of Diego, Diego in a Sweater, and Diego in a Cloak) all represent a real person - the artist's brother Diego - so they are considered portraits.

We also discussed what it means for a work of art to look realistic or abstract.  Students felt the sculptures by Alberto Giacometti are more realistic, since the heads, bodies, and facial features are more defined (although the heads on Diego in a Sweater and Diego in a Cloak seem a little too small!).  Clamdigger was considered more abstract by the students because the facial features and body are roughly formed, have less detail, and look less like an actual person.

The following questions inspired some fun, thoughtful conversations:  

• Why would an artist choose to sculpt a person like this?
• If an artist were to make a sculpture of you, would you want it to look like Clamdigger or like Giacometti's sculptures of his brother Diego?  Why?

It might be fun to have this conversation at home with parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, or other friends and relatives!

Stay tuned for more blog posts about our tour.  And, SAVE THE DATE for Rosemont Family Day at the Nasher Sculpture Center from 12:00-2:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 14!  We look forward to seeing everyone and their families. 

Fog & Mirrors Tour, Part Three

We began our Fog & Mirrors tour by looking at sculptures from all sides.  To conclude our tour, we walked INTO two works of art for a completely immersive, whole-body experience.

Richard Serra, My Curves Are Not Mad, 1987

First, we walked through My Curves Are Not Mad by Richard Serra.  This work of art is made of two 44-feet long and 14-feet tall curved plates of metal placed just wide enough apart to accommodate a single person.  The 3rd and 4th graders walked through this work of art in past years of the GROW program, but this was the first experience for the 2nd graders.

4th grade

While inside, we paused and looked around us: down at the ground and up at the sky, to our left and right, and to the front and end of the line.

4th grade

3rd grade

3rd grade

During a typical visit, walking through My Curves Are Not Mad is the highlight for students.  However, our final artwork was arguably everyone's favorite part of the Fog & Mirrors tour.  The students were thrilled to walk into Ann Veronica Janssens's Blue, Red, and Yellow, a pavilion installed in the garden as part of her exhibition.

Ann Veronica Janssens, Blue, Red, and Yellow, 2001

As we discussed while viewing the Aquariums, scientific concepts are integral to Janssens's work.  Blue, Red, and Yellow heightens our awareness of color and light immediately after stepping inside - the pavilion is filled with artificial fog that changes colors based on nearby walls, which are (you guessed it!) blue, red, and yellow.  Fog was our final vocabluary word, and the students defined it as "a cloud touching the ground" and "water vapor."  The fog itself is so thick that you often cannot see beyond the reach of your arm.  The students tentatively yet excitedly stepped inside.

2nd grade

2nd grade

2nd grade

4th grade

4th grade

4th grade

Afterward, students wrote about their experience and sketched Blue, Red and Yellow in their journals.

3rd grade

3rd grade

4th grade

Students were asked to write down words that described their experience.  Responses varied between awesome, cool, strange, and scary (the most popular descriptions) to heavenly, epic, and "expectacular."  No matter what they wrote, the students definitely had a memorable experience!