MSA Nocciano Institute - Summer 2007

Art Making and Critical Response: Arts-Based Inquiry for K-12 Teachers

Credits: 3 Graduate credits or Non-credit option available

Open to all K-12 art teachers and colleagues in other levels and fields.

Instructor: Prof. Kathy Miraglia

Course description for brochure:

In this course, teacher participants will engage in the process of making art and critical responses to their own artwork, works that are student generated, and works of art by established Italian artists. This course will provide strategies and methods for critical response to artwork through written reflection, discussions, and critiques toward the objective of improving classroom practices and student learning through the arts.

During two weeks in Nocciano, Italy participants will use watercolor to create works inspired by the landscape and environs of Nocciano.  They will engage in examination of their own work and works created by high school and undergraduate students who are also attending the Nocciano Institute for Arts and Culture. Visual source materials will be selected from reproductions of the Italian Macchiaioli painters, the Nocciano Castle Gallery collection of artists of the Abruzzo, and field trips to Rome, the Sistine Chapel, Sulmona, and Pescara. Participants will develop lessons for art students based on State and National Standards with a focus on art as inquiry, interpreting works of art, promoting critical thinking habits, and implementing essential questioning techniques in classroom practice.

(A more extensive description and syllabus to follow)