You must select 3 non western artwork from the Smithsonian American Art Museum located at F St NW &, 8th St NW, Washington, DC 20004. There website contains a list of all the artwork they have so you just have to select one and verify that it is still there and not moved to another location temporarily and just list on the work cited page where the artwork is located. For example, 2nd floor west wing.
1. Choose three (3) art works that appeal to you. Take notes* on your works at the museum, thinking about the artists use of color, form, composition, space, line, materials, size, scale, texture, etc. What ideas are expressed? How do form and content work together? What was/is the work’s function? Be sure to write down all the works’ information provided on the wall label (artist, title, date, etc.). Take a photo of your works if allowed.* You should plan to spend at least 15-20 minutes observing your chosen art works.
*NOTE: Please be aware of proper museum etiquette. Never touch or stand too close to an art work. Some museums will not allow flash photography or photography of any kind, or the use of pens/pencils. Find out what your museum’s policies are when you enter.
2. When you get home from the museum, you will do some research on the works you chose at the museum. See if you can find out more about the works using scholarly resources, including background, when and where the works were created, why they were created, and by or for whom. Other important aspects of the works content and context are: What is its importance and meaning? How does it reflect the ideas of the period or culture that produced it? You can formulate a theory about the work, offer an interpretation of it, or compare and contrast it to a work from our textbook. If you cannot find reliable, scholarly information on the specific works you found at the museum, see if you can find general information on the type of work you found – i.e. Mende masks, Chinese Song period scroll paintings, Indian Rajput miniature paintings, etc. Try to find at least one source per artwork (minimum of 3 sources).
3. You will then write a minimum 3-page paper on the THREE artworks from the museum you visited.
Your paper must include proper identification of each of the three artworks (artist if known, title if applicable, date if known, medium, culture or country of origin).
Your paper must include a discussion of:
the culture/style/movement each work fits into
the medium (materials) of the work
purpose or function of the work (how it was used by the culture that produced it)
a discussion of 2-3 formal elements related to each work you discuss
Your paper must also include an introduction and a conclusion, a heading, and proper grammar/spelling/sentence structure. Any sources used in your research must be properly cited. Please use the Art Museum Project Grading Criteria as a checklist as you write your paper to ensure that ALL required information is included in each section of your paper.
Include photo or proof of museum visit (Visual Record).
Include photos or images of your artworks, if possible.
