Educational Programs at the Weisman Art Museum
Julie VW
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Communications for the Professional AA 620
October 8, 2002
Scientists tell us that our brains work constantly to make new connections. Any new information will be discarded as meaningless babble, unless the human brain can find an existing memory or relevant experience in our neural networks to connect with the material.
Art, without a neural connection, will not be useful or important. But if the art can be attached to a familiar experience or subject, it will become relevant and understandable. The Weisman Art Museum encourages "brain connections" to artwork through a multi-disciplinary based education program. Science, music, literature, dance, and film combine to make Weisman an exciting space where diverse audiences can explore the arts, investigate culture, and challenge existing ideas. Weisman refers to their educational programing as "Portable Art." Artwork never leaves the museum, but staff hope and experiences or knowledge gained at the museum will stay with patrons wherever they go. The museum encourages guests to find applications and connections to other subjects, issues, experiences (and neural networks!)
Founded in 1934 with a major donation from Fredrick R. Weisman, the museum houses over 17,000 pieces of artwork on the University of Minnesota campus.. The Weisman Art Museum aims to serve the university community and general public through lectures, tours, film presentations, and other events.
Three lecture style programs, Angels on Art, Art Sandwiched in, and The Compleat (sic) Scholar, combine Weisman's resources with expertise from the university.
Angels on Art, a series featuring University of Minnesota faculty, examines culture and the art through the lense of other disciplines. Past events from the Angels on Art program include a panel discussion with philosopher Marcia Eaton, a presentation on the cultural significance of Nigerian beadwork, and a lecture by MacArthur fellow Patricia Hampl entitled "A Writer Tries to Draw."
Art Sandwiched In, a lunchtime program for university staff and students, provides short non credit classes on a variety of topics. The lecture and slide courses generally met for 20 minutes once a week during the lunch hour. Past classes discussed art appreciation, art history, and special exhibits at the museum. Recent courses explored Native American Art and African American Quilts.
The Compleat Scholar Program offers non credit courses to the general public. University faculty, museum staff and other experts teach the classes through a partnership with the Weisman Museum and the Universities Continuing Education and Extension Program. Course topics include architecture, special museum exhibitions and issues in the arts.
Tours play an important role in any museum education program, allowing guests to discover and learn from experts. Weisman offers three themed tours, provided by museum volunteers, which encourage visitors to interact with and discuss the art work. The standard tour, An Introduction to the Weisman Art Museum, provides a overview of the building as well as the 20th century American Art Collection. The What do Buildings Say and How do They Say It? tour focuses on the architecture of the Weisman Museum and other Twin Cities buildings. Finally, the 20th Century American Art tour explores the work of recent American artists including Georgia O'Keefe, Marsden Hartley, James Rosenquist and others. Teachers or schools with specific curricular goals can request a customized tour to correlate with their needs.
Finally, seminars, films, and other creative presentations round out the official list of educational programs with Grad Bag, More Films About Buildings and Spaces, and Taking Chances" Creativity at the University.
Grad Bag allows the general public to encounter the work of university graduate students. Scholars present seminar-style programs representing a variety of subjects, including theater history, American studies and art history. Topics of past seminars include the senior citizens theater movement, the murals of Roy Lichtenstein and James Resenquist, and government plans to build a monument on a nuclear waste dump.
More Films About Building Places explores architecture through film. The museum encourages audience discussions with film makers and other specialists after each screening. Previous movies include Claiming Open Spaces by Austin Allen, William Whyte's The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, and Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision by Freida Lee Mock.
The Taking Chances: Creativity at the University program celebrates the work and imagination of university faculty. Directed by Frank Gehry, the series invites faculty to share "knowledge about creative endeavors across disciplines," including those outside the liberal arts. Dance performances by choreographers and students, physics lectures, and a dramatic reading of poetry by Langston Hughes with musical accompaniment represent recent events presented through the Taking Chances program.
Although not officially considered an educational program, the Weisman Art Museum's website contributes to the educational mission of the museum. One section, Building Surprises, allows students to learn about the Weisman building. Presented in a kid-friendly format, the site poses interactive questions, pictures, historical information and random trivia.
A link entitled Arts Net Minnesota page features 50 photographs of artwork from The Weisman Art Museum, The Walker Art Center, The Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the Minnesota Museum of Art. Students and teachers can access a virtual tour of the online gallery and share their own ideas in an online forum. Detailed background information and questions accompany each photograph which is grouped in one of five thematic units to promote student understanding.
The Weisman's portable art programs attempt to reach a diverse audience and provide experience with art that will stay with patrons forever. The connections made both inside the human brain and to other discipline help everyone to make sense of the world.
Back to Arts Admin. Page
Reference
Wolfe, P., & Brandt, R. (1998). What do we know from brain research? [Electronic version]. Educational Leadership, 56. Retrieved September 27, 2002, from http://www.ascd.org/author/el/98/nov/wolfe.html
