Junior Docent School Program - Milwaukee Art Museum

Tour: Study and Sketching of Artwork
Background
This tour allows students to further explore and study the personally selected artwork
from tour two. The students will each study the work of art and the artist, create a
reproduction of the work of art, develop an aesthetic response to the work of art, and
present their work to parents, relatives, and peers in conjunction with the oral
presentation during the graduation visit. The Study and Sketching tour is one and
one-half hours in length.
Objectives
The objective of this tour is to help each student further study their selected work of art.
While at the museum, each student should:
Complete (as thoroughly as possible) the Study and Sketching Guide
Create a preliminary sketch of the work of art
This tour will assist each student in preparation to:
Write a report about the work of art, the artist, and possible connections with
major historical events
Complete a reproduction of the work of art (please note, the size of the artwork
should be student manageable to carry throughout the gallery spaces)
Create an aesthetic response to the work of art in another format (i.e.: poem,
song, dance, etc.)
In helping students select their work of art, please note:
Works selected should come from the permanent collection
Avoid works of art going out on loan
Avoid works on paper (prints, drawings, photographs)
Restrict selection of The Infinity Room and from The Rooms of Wonder
It is recommended selected art works be limited to one student a piece
Suggested Pre-visit Activities to share with your school contact:
Review how to „read‟ a text label and text panel with the students
Practice completing the Artwork Study and Sketching Guide
Review where information can be found in the galleries
1. Obtain general information about the artwork
2. Obtain artist information from text labels and text panels
3. Use the elements of art to describe the artwork
4. Determine what you like, don‟t like about the piece, and what it means to you
Discuss how students can approach sketching the work of art
Review the need for supervision by the teachers and chaperones
Inform the docents that the Artwork Study and Sketching Guide will be checked for
accuracy when collected and initialed by the docent for their tour group.
NOTE: The Artwork Study and Sketching Guide will be collected by the docent
liaison at the end of the tour. If needed, the form is copied
and returned to the school for distribution to each student.
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JDSP – Docent Packet