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 Art Institute of Chicago

On Thursday, April 17, the TR Art Department took 53 students with the help of 6 chaperones to the Art Institute of Chicago to see the exhibits “Edward Hopper” and “Winslow Homer: The Color of Light.”  The students met in Mrs. Fort’s art room, before heading into the city, and ate doughnuts and made sack lunches consisting of a sandwich (peanut butter and jelly, or a variety of lunchmeats and cheeses), a bag of chips, a pouch of fruit snacks, a cookie, and a bottle of water.  The exhibit was incredible and the kids were mesmerized at the chance to see the artwork they had been studying so diligently for the past two months in person.  Each student was guided through the exhibit with the assistance of their peers, a chaperone, and a five page (front and back) packet Mrs. Fort put together with detailed analytical questions specific to various pieces of artwork in the exhibit.

The students could not stop talking about the exhibit and their favorite paintings as we crossed Monroe Street to head over to Millennium Park for a picnic.  We ate lunch as a group sitting at picnic tables and on steps surrounding Anish Kapoor’s Chicago sculpture, Cloud Gate, commonly called “The Bean.”  We ate and enjoyed the 70 degree weather and clear skies, took group photos in front of “The Bean,” and then made our way back to the school bus. 

The next day in Mrs. Fort’s combined Visual Design I & II class, we discussed the field trip and each student was given between 4 and 7 photos from the field trip of themselves in front of the paintings they selected for their projects, group photos at the museum and Millennium Park, and pictures of them eating lunch and exploring the park.  The sketchbook assignment for the day was for each person to “scrapbook” their field trip creating collages using the photos, their ticket stub, postcards of the paintings (purchased at the AIC shop), and the programs from the exhibit, construction paper and sheet protectors.  Everyone made at least 2 pages, some as many as 5.  The whole time they reminisced and talked about their great experience and the memories they had made.  

Prior to this exhibit, Mrs. Fort’s Visual Design I and II classes completed units on both artists, which included two outings to the library to complete webquests on each artist, extensive class discussions about the lives, works and techniques of both artists, and various projects.  Each student chose a different Winslow Homer watercolor to reproduce as accurately as possible, and also created a personal parody of Edward Hopper’s cultural icon Nighthawks in colored pencil.  As a class, the students are currently creating a spoof mural of Nighthawks which incorporates 6 different civil rights leaders, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks, Abraham Lincoln, Caesar Chavez, and Malcolm X.  The painting was gridded into rectangles and each student was assigned a specific rectangle to paint on an 11”x14” canvas and contribute to a large scale piece of artwork to be hung in the halls of Thornridge. 

Studying these two American artists, Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper, has been an enjoyable and fascinating experience, and the field trip to see these two exclusive exhibits at the Art Institute of Chicago was a once in a lifetime honor.
 

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Thornton Township High Schools District 205
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