Sheldon Museum of Art
4th Grade Tour
START
Click on a picture to learn more.
Museums
Preserving
Collecting
1
Visiting
Collecting
Interpreting
What is a museum?
Which of the following is a museum?
If you answered, “All of
them!” you are correct. A
museum is defined as
collecting, preserving,
and interpreting the
things of the world.
1
Morrill Hall
The Sheldon is a museum that has
been collecting artwork since 1963.
Sheldon
Have you been to any other types of
museum?
Lincoln
Zoo
The museum is built of precious materials like
,
, and
. Can you locate these
three things in this photograph?
These valuable materials have a history of being used in
art. Because of this, the museum itself is like a work of
art! So don’t forget to look at the building like you would
a painting or sculpture.
How does the museum compare to your home?
Does the museum remind you of any other type of
building?
Collecting
1
peopleWhat
collect
things,
Do you collects?
Look at Many
the images.
type
of artnot
do just
youmuseums.
think the museum
have a collection?
The Sheldon Museum of Art collects American art.
When you visit the museum you will see paintings,
photographs, prints, and sculptures.
This sculpture by Isamu Noguchi is one of the first
pieces of art that a visitor to the Sheldon sees.
It’s called Song of the Bird . . . is it a realistic or
abstract object?
How else would you describe the sculpture?
Think about color, texture, lines . . .
Which do you think is the bird and which is the
song? Why do you think that?
Isamu Noguchi
Song of the Bird
Marble and Granite
1958
Preserving
Why do you think the woman in the picture is
wearing gloves?
The museum needs to preserve and protect
the art in its care for everyone. Our hands
contain many oils that are harmful to artworks.
Only museum staff can touch works of art, and
they must be very careful and wear gloves!
1
Where’s all the art we don’t see?
The Sheldon has over 12,000 works of art with less
than 2% being shown in the galleries at a time.
The storage facilities help keep the work safe when it is not on
view. The art is kept at a constant temperature between 68 and
72 degrees Farenheit. Special crates are used to transport the
artworks safely.
What is a Docent?
A docent is a person who is your
tour guide to help you see and
learn about great art and
explore the building.
Some questions they’ll ask you are:
•What’s going on in this painting?
•What do you see that tells you that?
Feel free to ask them questions too!
•Sit on the floor
•Listen
•Study
•Look
•Enjoy
•Relax
•Learn
Interpreting
What do you think it means to interpret a work
of art?
Answer the following true/false questions
about interpretation.
1
On your visit you will have a docent—a
person who is your tour guide—to help
you see and learn about art and explore
the building.
Wall labels appear next to works of art and can
tell you who the artist is, the date the work of art
was made, and its media.
TRUE
A good way to think about a work of
art is to ask questions about it!
What do you see in this painting?
TRUE
TRUE
Visiting
Sheldon
We can’t wait to see you!
younot
will
When you come to Sheldon do
Push
other
students
Lookoratshove
different
paintings,
photographs, and prints!
Run
Talk about
what you see!
Touch
the artwork
1
Remember, one way to preserve art is to not touch it. Our
Thinknoabout
artworks!
hands,
matter how
much we may wash, have oils that
can damage artwork overtime.
Is there anything at your home that you’ve been told not to
touch? Have you ever noticed that if you touch a window
with your hand, you leave a handprint? Now imagine if
every visitor to the Sheldon touched one painting…that’s a
lot of handprints!