VISUAL ARTS
Make and connect through art.
Amplify’s visual arts programs provide opportunities for students to engage with the arts and their histories, local artists, and hands-on creative activities.
Programs We Offer | Visual Arts
ART AND PEACE PROGRAM
This elementary school residency program brings art into the classroom as a way of developing young minds and fostering new perspectives. Designed to provide hands-on material exploration otherwise unavailable at the partner schools, the Art + Peace Program uses art as an avenue to explore peace, mindfulness, meditation, and conflict resolution.
Program highlights:
- Visits to the Smart Museum of Art
- Eight school-based classroom sessions with a teaching artist and Smart Museum educator
- Celebratory exhibition of student artwork at the Smart Museum
Partnership program • Elementary schools • Smart Museum of Art & Rotary International
For more information, please contact
Jason Pallas
Manager of Community Engagement and Arts Learning
Smart Museum of Art
jpallas@uchicago.edu
773.702.0180
DESIGN APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM I & II (DAP)
This design-based mentorship and skills-building initiative encourages teens and young adults to engage in improving the physical and social conditions of their communities. By developing skills in carpentry, landscaping, and design, DAP leaders will aid in the positive transformation of Washington Park and the Garfield Boulevard corridor.
For more information, please contact
Miguel Limon
Education Manager
Arts + Public Life
mlimon@uchicago.edu
773.834.3714
Mentorship for teens • Arts + Public Life
ARTIFACT ANALYSIS
This program engages students’ deductive reasoning skills in a one-hour workshop, examining artifacts to reflect on the people who created and used them, while gaining insight into the science and philosophy behind archaeology. This program also includes a tour of the OI Museum.
One-hour activity • K–12 • The OI
Learn more about Artifact Analysis and the OI Museum’s educational programs.
ANCIENT INNOVATORS
In this object-based program, students explore the concept of innovation through replicas of ancient artifacts. Students work in teams to investigate how Mesopotamians and Egyptians solved problems in everyday life.
Two-hour activity • Grades 5–12 • The OI
Learn more about Ancient Innovators and the OI Museum’s educational programs.
THINK IT! MAKE IT! SCREEN IT! (TIMISI)
TIMISI is a free program designed for youth ages 12–17 to gain experience working collaboratively to script, film, and edit their own original short films in collaboration with Catherine Sullivan, artist and associate professor in Visual Arts at the University of Chicago, and local not-for-profit Faithful Few.
No prior experience with filmmaking is required, but some interest in storytelling, poetry, spoken word, or songwriting is recommended. Aimed at increasing digital media literacy, the course strengthens students’ knowledge of the basics in videography, lighting, sound recording, and editing, with a focus on more advanced techniques to develop their own personal filmmaking style. The course hopes to engage students in both the enjoyment of the creative process and the work involved in giving form to ideas, feelings, and observations about the world in which they live.
For more information, please contact
Dominique Boyd
Assistant Director of Education and Family Programs
Logan Center for the Arts
dominiquelboyd@uchicago.edu
773.702.5146
Summer program • Ages 12–17 • Logan Center for the Arts
PROGRAM LAB
The Smart Museum of Art’s Program Lab provides opportunities for experimental activities to address critical issues within school communities. The Smart’s public practice team works closely with a small group of school partners over a sustained period of time to pursue new museum practices for community engagement. Practices that the Smart has developed with Program Lab in the past include a social justice and slam poetry club, deep collaborative experiences for merging school communities, and an artist-led project exploring abstraction, color, and personal trauma. These practices vary widely as they are developed in collaboration with Smart Museum staff, school administration and teaching faculty, teaching artists, parents, and students.
For more information, please contact
Jason Pallas
Manager of Community Engagement and Arts Learning
Smart Museum of Art
jpallas@uchicago.edu
773.702.0180
School partnership • K–12 • Smart Museum of Art
Field Trips & Visits | Visual Arts
THE SMART MUSEUM OF ART FIELD TRIPS
Tours at the Smart Museum kickstart a journey into the world of ideas. Students explore exhibitions to collectively ask big questions and collaboratively find meaning in artworks. Tours are designed to allow students to shine by drawing upon their interests and insights.
Tours can accommodate a limited number of guided K–12 and self-guided group visits.
To learn more, check availability, and schedule a self-guided group visit, please call 773.702.0200 or email us at smart-museum@uchicago.edu.
THE OI FIELD TRIPS
The OI Museum has galleries devoted to the cultures of ancient Egypt, Nubia, Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Anatolia, and the Levant. Come visit us to explore the ancient past.
Field Trip Options
Guided tour
A one-hour tour led by a docent focuses on the history, art, and archaeology of the ancient Middle East and North Africa.
Self-guided tour
The OI has an app to help you customize your visit.
Film and tour option
OI Museum docents lead groups on a one-hour tour focused on the history, art, and archaeology of the ancient Middle East and North Africa. This is followed by a film of your choice on ancient Egypt, ancient Mesopotamia, or the OI’s founding.
Virtual options
Can’t visit the OI in person?
Explore the collection online and via the OI Google Arts and Culture site
Experience the 2021 OI Museum exhibition Antoin Sevruguin: Past and Present online
Questions? Email oi-volunteers@uchicago.edu