Chauncey Elementary 5th Graders Experience Art in a New Way: Partnership between Athens City Schools and the Kennedy Museum of Art

Contact: Sally Delgado, Kennedy Museum of Art, (740) 593-0953

ATHENS, Ohio (May 8, 2000) -- Chauncey Elementary 5th graders will complete a pilot year program with the Kennedy Museum of Art this May. A reception for the exhibit "Woven Vessels," featuring selections of the students' artwork, will be held from 6-8 p.m. on May 25, with the exhibition remaining on display through December. The reception will be free and open to the public.

Last fall, a partnership was formed between the Athens City School District and the Kennedy Museum to develop a model for curriculum-based programming at the museum. The program focuses on the 5th grade social studies curriculum and the museum's Edwin L. and Ruth E. Kennedy Southwest Native American Collection. The pilot program features an Education Gallery displaying portions of the Kennedy collection, as well as pieces from the education collection and hands-on objects. David Stobbart, art teacher at Chauncey Elementary School, said that the program provides a wonderful learning experience for everyone involved. "It will be something our students will remember all their lives and will give them more insight into the diverse people that contribute to our evolving culture," he said.

The model integrates social studies, art and language/reading with resources offered through the museum. With each visit, students are taught to view art through a different point of view.

"The program focuses on activities that allow the students to explore the same museum objects from different perspectives: as an archaeologist, an artist, a historian, an anthropologist, and as a sociologist," said Sally Delgado, curator for education at the museum.

Teachers, museum interns, museum staff and docents are involved in educating the 5th graders to develop critical and creative thinking skills through direct contact with museum objects. Delgado, Stobbart and fifth grade teacher, Charlotte Newman, will create a written model to be distributed to Athens City Schools next fall.

Shannon Geraghty, museum intern, said that it is an opportunity for students to get a hands-on education about the culture they are studying that goes beyond their textbooks. "It is the real life experiences that the students will carry with them," she said.

The initial phase of the partnership is funded in part by the Martha Jennings Foundation.

The Kennedy Museum of Art is located in Lin Hall at The Ridges, Ohio University. The Education Gallery is open to the public. Regular gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; noon to 8 p.m. Thursday; and 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Museum guides are available Saturdays at 1:30 p.m. to provide information about the museum and current exhibitions.

Admission and parking are free to the public.