Day 1- CSEE National Gallery

During the creative Arts as a Tool for Character Development conference Nikita and I learned a lot about how to encourage positive character development through close observations of the visual arts. We toured highlights of the collection at the National Gallery of Art which include what see above and many other pieces. Some of the questions we asked ourselves included:

What do I see?

What's your truth?

What is the story?

Where can we find Metaphor?

Character?

Change?

Self?

What can this painting teach me?

It is important for students to create an internal dialog while also being able to have meaningful civil discourse. Teaching students to answer these questions and analyze their own questions will lead to the discovery of their own personal beliefs and truths.

We were given a whole packet of great resources too which included: Making a "Memory Book", Basic Rules for Civil Discussion, Universal Human Themes in Western Philosophy, Aristotle's Virtues and Golden Mean, Questions for Helping Find Ourselves in Works of Art, Elements and Principles Hand Outs, Steps of Art Criticism, A Compare and Contrast Hand Out, and Handy On-Line Museum Resources.

I will try and make a digital copy of them for anyone that would like them.