LACMA
(Inglewood, CA . . .). . . Recently, 25 eager Beulah Payne Elementary students spent the afternoon at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) where they received an interactive learning experience about the basics of Visual Arts. The course includes drawing in LACMA’s permanent collection gallery as a way to learn about composition, color, technique and personal expression. Instruction is aligned with state content standards for history, social science, language arts, and the new core curriculum. Students practiced the elements [line, color, form and shape] by analyzing and sketching Spanish surrealist Joan Miró’s playful abstract painting, Animated Forms, as a way to raise students’ powers of perception and stimulate interest in the visual arts and our vast multicultural heritage.
The class was the first in an eight-week, college-level art course that introduced Payne students to LACMA’s treasures while encouraging them to create original artwork in a university lecturer setting.
During the first hour of the visit, students were guided through many diverse galleries featuring various paintings and sculptures. The second hour was focused in a hands-on art room, where the class was challenged to use construction paper and oil pastels in creating abstract art of their own. In subsequent weeks, they will also experiment with other genres and media.
Upon completion of the program, each student will receive a complementary LACMA membership that is good until age 18, allowing them to visit the museum with one adult at any time. This is the second year that Payne is participating in the program, which is fully funded by the museum.
“We are grateful for this exciting collaboration,” said Payne principal Karen Horowitz. One student put it when we were already on the bus back to school, “It went too fast, I can’t wait until next time.”
For more information on the Beulah Payne Elementary LACMA learning experience, contact 310.680.5410.
