Tips & Guidance: What is a Portrait?
Museum-Visit Activities: #1 |#2 | #3

There are 3 suggested activities to be done during the museum visit. Each should take about 30 minutes, depending on the size of the group and the discussion that develops. Timing of activities can be crucial if groups are rotated through several galleries. Group leaders must carefully assess discussion and when to move to the next station. If you have a large group that is broken into smaller ones, the groups can rotate through the galleries (American, Ancient Art, European Art, Pre- Columbian, Colonial) that you have identified to use.

Activity #1
This is activity is designed to get the viewers engaged in a non-threatening manner. To begin, the group may want to look around the gallery and look at examples and non-examples of portraits. Teacher/guides will assist students as they decide as a group which portrait they will use for discussion. The final task will be to write a definition of the word portrait.

Activity #2
This is activity is designed to get the viewers first to identify what it is that they are seeing and then to begin to see the decisions that an artist must make when creating a piece of artwork. Basic vocabulary about art is covered.

After selecting the portrait students work by themselves. Remind them that when they have 20 decisions that the artist made they should raise their hand. If it seems early and you still have time to discuss, ask that person to do 5 more. Then ask students to share the decisions that the artist made.

Hint: The first part of the exercise should help them begin to see some of the decisions the artist made. If this takes less time allowed, ask them to write questions that they have about the piece of artwork.
(10,20,30 questions)

Activity #3
In this third exercise students will select a piece of artwork and work by themselves. After about 10 minutes check to be sure that they are working on the writing part of this activity. Sometimes people get stuck in doing a detailed drawing of the portrait. The thumbnail is quick and easy. Students may have to redraw the format (shape of the box) so that it more accurately fits the format of the portrait.

Share the written part of this exercise as a group.

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