Smithsonian American Art Museum Reaches Out to Educate about Sculpture
After more than six years of renovations to the Old Patent Office Building that houses both the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, both museums reopened July 1. But while the museums were closed, their missions continued. The American Art Museum education department seized a unique opportunity to expand its programs to non-traditional audiences, reaching schools and other groups around the country through videoconferencing.
Public sculpture is included in the videoconferencing program through an interactive lesson that helps teachers and students understand and appreciate how outdoor sculpture is produced. Each participant is given a role to play in their group—a benefactor, a sculptor, a civil servant, or a member of the public. Given a picture of the space they are to fill, participants create a sculpture all parties can agree on. After designing and creating a model of the sculpture, groups are shown by museum staff what sculptures are actually in those spaces.
The lesson has been well received and is also a practical way to bring the museum’s relationship with Save Outdoor Sculpture! to students and teachers. In learning about the creation of sculpture, students and teachers have gained a new appreciation for the artworks in their community.
Teacher Helen Brown, who took part in the program, commented, “The videoconference that (Lunder Education Chair) Susan Nichols did on public place sculptures was great. Some of my students had personal experiences with sculptures that she showed, so it created great interest in the project. It made a good contribution to the success of the project.” Brown’s students went on to design a sculpture that is now under construction in Fort Jackson, South Carolina.