Students will have a first hand look at a college setting and begin to think about various aspects of college life.

Transcription

1 Kristina Simanis-Laimins Museum Project: The School of Chicago Background: Raphael s The School of Athens is a fantasy portrayal of a group of famous scholars, some who may have known each other and some who certainly would not have met, since they lived in different times and places. Goal: Inspired by Raphael s The School of Athens, students will form an opinion about who they might like to meet in a college setting. State Goal 27: Understand the role of the arts in civilizations, past and present. Related learning components: Students will become familiar with an iconic piece of art. Students will have a first hand look at a college setting and begin to think about various aspects of college life. Students will apply previous knowledge about photography and composition. Students will refine their Photoshop skills. Materials: Computer set up to Internet, projector and screen. Digital cameras, Photoshop, color printer and paper. Anticipatory set: Students will name as many people who go by one name as possible. While they might begin with Beyonce and Sting, the list should soon extend to Jesus, Mary, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Einstein, and others. Greek and Roman gods might come up, too. Picasso- his full name is Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso Dali- Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech What makes a person so special they can go by only one name? This discussion would take at least one day. Students can be asked to bring in photos on day 2 of famous people who might not be commonly recognized.

2 Activity Days 1 & 2: Review discussion from anticipatory set. Students share photos they have brought in. Present The School of Athens by Raphael Links to be used to decode the painting: Play the video clip. Show the Figures and Center Figures 14, /common_player.html Click on figures to point out when these people lived and what their contribution was. An interesting in depth article about Pythagoras (optional). General but involved translation of piece (optional).

3 Explain that the painting was created in 1509, during the time of the High Renaissance. Why was this subject painted at this time? (Renaissance saw the rebirth of Greek &Roman ideals.) Mention that most of these people never met in real life- many lived during different times and in different places. Point out some people that lived at different times. Point out perspective used- horizon line and vanishing point. Discuss architecturalo elements such as arches and coffered ceilings- those were developed by the Romans after the time period depicted here. Architectural elements are historically inaccurate. Ask students how a sense of grandeur is developed. Discuss vanishing point, high ceilings, marble statues of Minerva and Apollo, etc. State that the original name of this fresco is actually Causarum Cognitio (Knowledge of Causes) but it s called The School of Athens, which came from a 17th century guidebook. Ask students why they think the name The School of Athens stuck? (This could be given as a homework assignment. ) Day 3: Review discussion from day two. Discuss schools and school environments. What common features do most schools have? Library, auditorium You will be attending college. What do you think the environment will be like? Does the school you are going to have a great hall like this- or another place for people to get together? Have you been to a college campus? What do you expect to see when you go? Day 4: Field trip The planned field trip is designed to take place when the weather is nice, preferably spring or fall. Students will travel to DePaul s Lincoln Park Campus and see many buildings from the outside but visit common areas of buildings such as the library and museum. If we could make an arrangement to see a classroom in action, we would do so. This component would be added on as time and arrangements allow. The field trip will last for 4-5 hours including transportation. The bus would drop off and pick up students on Sheffield and Belden at the Student Center. Students not able to attend the field trip would be encouraged to visit it on their own or to go to their nearest college campus- to take the photos. The worksheet would need to be modified for anyone who cannot visit the Lincoln Park Campus. On the field trip, students first become familiar with the various buildings on campus. While becoming familiar with the college environment- students will be asked to fill out a worksheet.

4 The worksheet will ask them to envision themselves in the college environment. It also asks them to imagine people they would want to meet in a variety of disciplines. After completing the worksheet, students wil meet up in the Quad for a snack break. They can purchase snacks at the SAC building, or bring their own snack along. The snack break in the Quad would be followed by a discussion of the photography component. Students will use the remaining time to work in pairs to take photos of places that people meet to share ideas. These places can be inside or outside. The environment of the photo needs to be grand - so they should keep in mind perspective and the horizon line. Students will regroup at end of trip in front of the Student Center. Activity 1: See attached worksheet worth 30 points. Two points for each response. Activity 2: 20 point activity taking photos Work in pairs to find some places on DePaul s Lincoln Park Campus that remind you in some way of Raphael s The School of Athens. Take a series of photos of these places. You are encouraged to take as many photos in as many locations as time allows. You must have photos of at least four different locations. Five points for each location photographed. Remember, Raphael s environment was pure fantasy, a place where great minds meeteven if the people depicted never met in real life. Think about using what you know about perspective to make the scene look grand. Your pictures can include people or not include people in them. When taking the photos remember you will be using Photoshop to add at least five figures into the composition. Have fun!

5 Name Period 1. Find the front entrance to the Student Center. Describe the atmosphere here. 2. Walk in and around the building. List five different activities you see students engaged in. 3. If you were a student at DePaul, what kinds of things would you do at the Student Center? 4. Go to the Ray Meyer Fitness Center a half a block south of Belden on Sheffield. Why do you think students take time during their day to work-out? 5. Name an athlete from any time and place you might want to run into at the Ray Meyer Fitness Center. What questions might you ask them? 6. Walk west on Belden and locate the William G. McGowan Biological and Environmental Sciences Center. What kinds of research do you think are being done here? 7. Name a scientist from any time and any place who you might want to meet at the Sciences Center. What questions might you ask them?

6 8. Using the map outside the Sciences Center, make your way to the John T. Richardson Library. How is this library similar to the library at your school? How is it different? 9. If you attended this school, what kinds of classes do you envision yourself studying for at the library? 10. Who from your chosen field of study could you imagine meeting at the library? What questions would you ask them? 11. Find the Art Museum and look around. Imagine, then describe the kind of art exhibit would you most like to see at this museum. 12. How would the exhibit you described help students learn or see things in a different way? 13. Name an artist you would you like to meet at the museum. What questions would you ask them? 14. Find the school building where you would take classes in your field of study. What is the name of the building? What classes can you imagine taking there? 15. Could you imagine attending school here? Why or why not? Please explain.

7 Post trip lesson: Day 5: Discuss worksheet responses and experience at the school. How was the trip to a college campus what you expected, how did it differ from your expectations? Day 6: Have students work in groups to generate a list of disciplines one can major in at college. Students then list people they are familiar with who work or have worked in these fields. Students share out lists. Post lists in the classroom. Day 7: Share the work of artist Lluis Barba. He creates art based on iconic pieces of artadding modern figures to them using Photoshop. His work is displayed internationally. Day 8 & 9: Students download their photos and select photo to use. Set parameters for file size. 10 x 7.5 at 180 DPI is good. See the attached helpful links for Photoshop. Days 10 & 11: Instruct students on how to search images on in Internet, how to resize the image if needed, how to copy and paste images, how to add layers, how to move layers, how to use the eraser tool, how to use the magic wand, how and why to hide layers. Tip- creating a colorful layer of a contrasting color and dragging it below the image you are working with can help you see areas more clearly. You can then hide the layer to see what the image will look like below. Days 12-19: Students will import photos of (at least) 5 people they would like to meet when they go to college. They should include at least one person who is important in their field of study. They will need to write a paragraph for each image explaining who their selected figures are and why they would like to meet them. They will also pose a question to this person. These people do not all need to be alive today. Just as in The School of Athens- the people would not need to know one another or live during the same time or in the same place.

8 Day 20: Demonstrate flattening the image. Print out photos and paragraphs explaining the images used. Display art in the classroom as students finish their projects. *** An extension to the required activities would include students looking up the original art that Lluis Barba uses for his inspiration. Students investigate the original art and compare it to the artist s rendition of the piece. Helpful links for Photoshop The following links have been provided to help you and students navigate through Photoshop. Warning! Most schools do not allow access to these U-tube videos, so you may need to study these at home, but do the presentations yourself. Maybe you can sing or speak with an accent, as they do in the tutorials. The first two links are good general links, but also remember to use the HELP option on your Photoshop program. For this lesson I selected mostly Photoshop CS3 tutorials. Basic tools of Photoshop Basics of using layers Tutorial-really really basic information walking through the tools. A bit long and dull, but it covers tools and explanations of how to use them. Tutorial- importing photos and resizing. They still use old fashioned methods of erasing, but it is good for general information and it has some pretty good music. Tutorial- changing image size Tutorial- video for layers Tutorial- merging photos using magic eraser Tutorial- flattening your layers video Tutorial- saving your image

9 Evaluation: The project would be worth 100 points 50 points for the quality of the photograph itself 50 points for the paragraphs explaining the people The School of Chicago Photo collage Rubric for Period Originality of thought Composition of elements Craftsmanship Attention to detail Completion Total: /50 Comments: Paragraphs would be graded separately with 5 points each for explanation of figures, 5 for the question they would ask the people they would like to meet.10 points for each of 5 responses = 50.

10 SAMPLE PHOTOGRAPH by Kristina SimanisLaimins

11 SAMPLE PARAGRAPHS My School of Athens From left to right: The people I would most like to meet at college would include Madonna. This Madonna is the 80 s Madonna from the film Desperately Seeking Susan. Here she is not the sinewy workoutaholic, but the emancipated woman. I would like to meet her and ask her if there was anything she would do over from her youth if given a chance. The next is Harald zur Hausen. He is the only Nobel prize winner I have ever had dinner with. He is a scientist who works in the field of virology. My husband is also a virologist. The lecture I heard him read was about how many animal based viral diseases there are today. He spoke about the difference in virus related cancers in cultures where people eat little red meat and those who eat a lot. Since he lives in Germany, I would like to ask him if he sticks to fish and pork or if he enjoys a steak now and again. At dinner- we all ate fish. The personality in the middle is Angela Davis. She was a professor of mine where I got my undergrad degree in California. She taught a course called photo and social consciousness. While taking her course we celebrated the 20 year anniversary of her being on the FBI s Most Wanted List. She seemed to have the opinion that social consciousness could only apply to disenfranchised groups such as homosexuals and the poor. I would like to ask her whether social consciousness could apply to ANY social group and why she feels that way. I am sure I would get a colorful answer. The next personality is Einstein. While he is a physicist and my husband also has a degree in physics, I would most like to ask Einstein about hair styling products. What is the best weather to predict a good hair day and a bad hair day? If he were alive today, would he have sold out to the cosmetics or the pharmaceutical industries? The last person on the right is my undergrad professor Marvin Lipofsky. There is a similarity between his and Einstein s hair. He was the chairman of the glass department. I remember that I really enjoyed his classes. He was always honest. Some students hated this about Marvin, because he wouldn t just say nice things about your work if it was sloppy or poorly conceived. He helped me get a glass related scholarship and an internship abroad. I would like to ask him if he thinks a life spent as a teacher was the right choice for me. Of course, I know the answer. But it wouldn t hurt to ask.