Welcome to Indiana University Art Museum Pictures America, a web module for fifth-graders funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The sixteen examples of artwork illustrated here represent the museum’s extensive American painting and works on paper collections and serve to complement the images and themes of the NEH’s website Picturing America.
Reflecting the museum education department’s philosophy of building visitors’ knowledge through inquiry-based explorations of the artwork, this web module was designed to be image-driven. For example, as the cursor moves over the image of the artwork, bullets of information pop up at appropriate places. Questions are provided in a right-hand-side menu to encourage and challenge further visual exploration and analyses. A Teachers’ Resource section with essays, questions for the classroom, and curriculum materials for each image is also provided.
The IU Art Museum has created a gallery tour program for fifth grade students called “American History through Art.” To arrange tours of the museum’s American collection, please contact Patsy Rahn, the museum’s tour coordinator, at prahn@indiana.edu. Click here for more information on the museum’s education programs.
Please note: For a variety of reasons, some of the examples shown here may not be on view at the time of your tour. Other artworks will be selected to take the appropriate place on the tour.
