Thirst!
Water Show Activity Sheet
High School (Grades 9 – 12) and College Level Beginning Course
Reminders to Teachers and Chaperones:
 While visiting the gallery please monitor and keep your group together
 Remind students of gallery etiquette:
Please do not touch or handle works of art
Food and drink of any kind are not allowed in the gallery
No bulky items (backpacks, umbrellas etc.)
 Remind students to be considerate of other museum visitors
 Discussions are encouraged but please, no shouting.
Suggestions for Gallery Visit Activities
Objectives:
1. Recognize the difference between representational and abstract art
2. Observe that art can express feelings and ideas
3. Define the Elements of Art (color, shape, line texture, space, form, value) and the Principles of Design
(balance, contrast, emphasis, movement/rhythm, unity, variety)
4. Recognize different media and styles of art.
Vocabulary
 Representational: As opposed to abstract, the portrayal of an object in recognizable form.
 Abstract: Artworks that stress the importance of elements and principles of art and design, rather than
subject matter. Abstract artists select and then exaggerate or simplify the forms suggested by the world
around them.
 Medium: The material or technique used by an artist to produce a work of art, media = plural
Instructions for your Gallery Visit
1. Tour the Linekona Gallery, stopping to look at each artist’s work. Note how the artists have responded to
the moon theme.
Prompt: Cite the use of the elements of art and principles of design.
2.
Define the meaning of abstract and cite some examples.
Prompt: Who can tell me which works are abstract? Which are not? Can you name some of the abstract
images the artists use?
3.
Define the meaning of representational and cite some examples.
Prompt: Who can tell me which works of art are representational? Which are not?
Can you name some of the representational images the different artists use?
4. Compare and discuss the different ways an artist can make us feel. Explain how artists do this through the
use of the elements of art and principles of design.
Prompt: What kind of shapes do you see? What shapes are repeated in the artwork? What colors do you
see? Which colors are repeated the most? How does this piece make you feel?
5.
Compare and discuss the different types of media that artists use.
Prompt: If you wanted to make a sculpture what medium would you choose? If you wanted to make a
painting or wall hanging what medium would you use? Do you think some media are more difficult touse
than others? Would you choose more than one?
6.
Discuss how different pieces express or evoke different feelings.
Prompt: How does this piece make you feel? Do you think that certain shapes or textures make you feel or
think different things?
7.
8.
Discuss how different pieces express different ideas.
Prompt: Where do you think the artist got the idea for this piece? Do you think it was from personal
memory, a science class, a story or poem.....?
Tour the Linekona Gallery, stopping to look at each artist’s work. Note how the artists have responded to
the moon theme and consider the different styles that influence the image making process.
Prompt: What artistic influences do you think the artist draws upon.
Suggestions for Post -Visit Activities
1. Have students make their own “water” art.
Prompt: Will you make a two-dimensional or three-dimensional artwork? What media will you choose?
What elements of art and principles of design. are incorporated in the piece? Will the piece be abstract or
representational? Is it narrative; based on a personal experience or memory? What style of art does it most
heavily draw upon; expressionist, photo-realist, minimalist....etc.? What literary, cultural, or scientific
references do you include in your work and why. What influences your choices?
Inter-disciplinary Studies:
1.
Link to Science studies by encouraging investigation of themes in Water, Deep Sea Exploration,
Oceanography, Psychology, Biology, and physiology
Sample Science Vocabulary list:
Hydrologic cycle, bio-assessment, alluvial fan, tidal, reproductive cycle, gestation, tidal calendar,
equator, submarine, weather
2.
Link to English, Religion, and Social Sciences encouraging investigation of themes in water folklore from
different cultures, water related writings; poetry, novels, novellas, water related festivals and cultural
events, Hydrology, water symbols and iconography.
Sample Poems:
Water, is taught by thirst; Emily Dickenson
The meeting of the waters; Thomas Moore
Crossing the Water; Sylvia Plath
The Water-Fall ; Henry Vaughn
Sample Books:
Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource , Marq De Villiers
20,0000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne
Sample publications:
"Water" issue of Parabola magazine, volume 34, number 2, summer 2009
“Water, Our Thirsty World” National Geographic magazine April 2010
3.
Link to Music, Dance, Film, or Drama by reading books, watching movies, plays, or dances which use
water themes. Explore film with water themed films; surf films.
Sample Music:
Handel: Water Music Suite No. 3 in G-Major
Dave Matthews Band: Don’t Drink the Water
Scottish folk song: The Water is Wide
James Carr: Pouring Water on a Downing Man
Lemon Jelly: Nice weather for Ducks
Sample Water Themed Dance:
Synchronized Swimming: Bejing Olympics
Cirque Du Soleil: “O”
4.
Suggested links:
Water Science for Schools, U.S. Geological Survey : http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/
Fun! Water Facts of Life - "75% of the human brain is water and 75% of a living tree is water."
(http://water.epa.gov/learn/kids/drinkingwater/waterfactsoflife.cfm)
National Geographic Magazine April 2010, “Water, Our Thirsty World”
(http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/04/water-slaves/rosenberg-text.html)
Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource, Marq De Villiers, 2001
Examines the political and ecological consequences of the uses and misuses of water
(http://www.amazon.com/Water-Fate-Most-Precious-Resource/dp/0618127445)
Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution and Profit, Vandana Shiva, 2002
Examines the effect that historical erosion of common water rights has had on the poor ...
Water for People, Water for Life: The United Nations World Water Development Report, 2003
(http://www.amazon.com/Water-Wars-Privatization-PollutionProfit/dp/089608650X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308865585&sr=1-1)].
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (www.greatgarbagepatch.org)
The Colorado River (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River)
Thirst!
Water Show Activity Sheet
High School (Grades 9 – 12) and College Level Beginning Course
Please answer the following questions to best of your ability
Q. What do you notice about the artist's choice of materials?
Q. What grabs your attention in the work?
Q. At what do you think this artist worked particularly hard at while he/she did this work?
Q. Do you see any relationship between the things you listed during the description stage?
Q. What mood or feeling do you get when you look at this work of art?
Q. What "qualities" do you see in this work?
Interpretation
Try to figure out what the artwork is about. Your own perspectives, associations and
experiences meet with "the evidence" found in the work of art. All artworks are about
something. Some works are about color, their subject matter, and social or cultural issues. Some
art works are very accessible - that is easy for the viewer to understand what the artist was doing.
Other works are highly intellectual, and might not be as easy for us to readily know what the
artist was thinking about.
Q. What is the theme or subject of the work?
Q. What is the work about; what do you think it means?
Q. Why do you think the artist created this work?
Q. What do you think the artist's view of the world is?
Informed Judgment
This is a culminating and reflecting activity. You need to come to some conclusions about the
artwork based on all the information you have gathered and on your interpretations.
Q. Have your thoughts or feelings about the artwork changed since your first impression; if so,
how? What made you change your mind?
Q. If not, can you now explain your first reaction to the work?
Q. What have you seen or learned from this work that you might apply to your own art or your
own thinking?