We had a great trip to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC on Friday, March 16, 2012. Students in 5th – 7th grade split up into 3 groups for this trip, each group with a different docent (tour guide) who explained the significance of each work of art and art movement. We decided to focus on French Art from Baroque to Neo-impressionism because students could very easily relate to those pieces and enjoyed the varied styles of French art from PA’s first field trip to the National Gallery of Art in December 2009.
Our docent, Nancy, was an excellent guide and really engaged the students in the artwork. She gave ample time for students to sketch and study the pieces… (in front of “Soap Bubbles” by JEAN SIMÉON CHARDIN, 1733/1734, click and scroll down to watch the video about the painting)
Students also wrote an acrostic poem in front of Georges Seurat’s “The Lighthouse at Honfleur” (1886) which was one of the more inspiring pieces.
And enjoyed comparing and contrasting two paintings (placed side by side) of the Rouen Cathedral, created at different times of day, by the Impressionist painted Claude Monet.
Doesn’t this painting make you want to plan a vacation to the French countryside this summer? I sure think so!
Here is a snapshot of one of the other groups, in front of Mary Cassatt’s version of “The Boating Party”.
After our tour of the galleries, we had lunch (either pre-packed or purchased) at the NGA Cascade Cafeteria and also enjoyed gelato for dessert. Our favorite flavors were raspberry. mango and chocolate chip (stracciatella).
And, we decided to do an infamous *jump* in front of the cascading waterfalls in the walkway between the West and East Buildings.
“Now THIS is what I call art!” – Esref P. (pictured here, in response to his experience riding the moving walkway tunnel of light, which is always a nice photo-op and appropriate transition between the West (old) and East (new) buildings.
Sadly, our time at the museum was far too short and after lunch/free time and the gift shop, we had to head back to the bus. Before leaving, we stopped to take pictures in front of I.M. Pei’s “Glass Pyramids” en route to the front of the museum.
Goodbye, Washington DC! See you again soon…
Back in Northern VA, we are all smiles…
Thanks to Ms. Cohen, Ms. Baker and the other parent chaperons who made this trip a huge success!
We hope everyone enjoyed themselves and will continue to visit art museums in the future! My favorite overheard quote of the field trip:
“Whoa, everything is gia-normous in DC!”
ART is {FREE}DOM 