The lessons below for grades 312 are designed to help teachers prompt classroom discussion and learning centered on contemporary art at the Getty Center. Challenge your students to discover how "traditional" works of art in the Getty Museum's collection have inspired and informed contemporary artists.
A Bug's Journey Grades/Level: Upper Elementary (3–5) Subjects: Visual Arts, English—Language Arts, Science Lesson Overview: Students will explore contemporary artist John Baldessari's mixed-media work of art inspired by a 16th-century drawing of a beetle. After writing a story about a bug's journey, each student will create a mixed-media representation of a bug that is inspired by the contemporary artist's work.
Chairs, Rooms, and Time Travel Grades/Level: Upper Elementary (3–5), Middle School (6–8) Subjects: Visual Arts, English—Language Arts Lesson Overview: Students work individually and in groups to compare and contrast two chairs that were made in different time periods. They will then create a collage depicting an historic scene inspired by artist Nicole Cohen's video installation that incorporates historic and modern imagery.
Moving Pictures, Moving Stories Grades/Level: High School (9–12) Subjects: Visual Arts Lesson Overview: Students will examine a contemporary video installation and a 17th-century Flemish painting and consider how artists use a specific medium to communicate ideas. They will then create a storyboard plan for their own video.
Sculptural Space/s Grades/Level: High School (9–12) Subjects: Visual Arts Lesson Overview: Students discuss the unique considerations that artists creating site-specific outdoor sculpture have to take into account when planning their work. They then choose sites and create models for their own site-specific works. Finally, they create proposals to present to potential patronssuch as school administrators or grant committees.