You can keep it simple and use our textbooks for your selected artworks. 35,000 B.C.E. to 500 C.E. Paleolithic art through the Early Medieval period will be covered in the course materials, and therefore, your selected art works should be within this time frame. Please do not pick a Renaissance art work or anything contemporary. If you have questions, you can look at all chapters in our syllabus, and select works from those chapters. That is a good, guaranteed approach to finding acceptable images.
You may also mix it up and use some internet researched art images (artists must be fairly well-known so that you can research them more easily). Each week, in our discussions, we will be completing skills that can be applied to your Final Projects. For example, your first impressions and theme, research, and describing art (Elements of Art and Principles of Design).
In order to successfully complete the virtual art exhibit, you should create something (a video in your preferred format, Prezi or GoogleSlides, a virtual guided tour in ArtSteps, a Voicethread collection of images and text, a PDF, etc.) that contains two (2) art works AND a 1 page Exhibit Statement.
Step 1: Write an Exhibition Statement first.
Exhibit Statements discuss the inspiration for the exhibition. Discuss topics that give the viewer information about why you chose these works of art, and why you think they “belong” together. What is your inspiration for this exhibition?
An Exhibition Statement also introduces the works of art to the audience before they enter the exhibition. The Exhibition Statement is a great place to write about your first impressions and the theme or themes that connect to your 2 works of art.
Formatting requirements for your Exhibition Statement:
The Exhibition Statement needs to be one page in length, double-spaced. And it needs to be in 11 or 12 point font. Use paragraphs, please.
Must include any sources used to write paragraphs’ information — add in-text citations. Research them if you haven’t used them before.
A Bibliography should be added also. It is on its own slide, page, or section after the essay or exhibition itself.
The Bibliography should include a total of 3-4 academic resources.
Step 2: Create your presentation and write some awesome descriptions.
Start that slide show or ArtSteps guided tour, for example. Don’t forget to use MLA StyleLinks to an external site. format for your citations and sources listed at the end of presentation.
Please address these basic properties when you write about in paragraphs that you write. Use all terminology that is used below in the list. I am using bullet points in order to clearly format the instructions but this bullet list would not be appropriate for a professional Arts article or essay, for example.
The title of the work of art in MLA Style format. Links to an external site.
The date or general time period (for example, during prehistoric times, there are general time periods, such as Neolithic and Paleolithic
Medium (the materials that are used in order to create the artwork)
Dimensions (size) — is it small-scale? Or is this a large-scale work and about the size of a human being? Is it monumental, which means that it is many times the size of a human being?
What is the subject matter presented in the work of art?
Once you properly introduce a work of art, discuss the work of art in terms of one Element of Art and one Principle of Design.
Step 3: Complete the first impressions and connect them to a theme.
Pick a theme and do research based on this topic. Tell us what you have learned in your exhibition statement that you started earlier.
Examples of Research:
Articles – online magazines, newspapers, art magazines (Juxtapoz)
Podcasts – there’s lots of art podcasts
Our textbook – stick to the chapters that we cover in the syllabus
Online museum events (Asian Art Museum, for example)
YouTube (a lot of museums, universities, and artists have their own channels)
Online search in our library database
Don’t be afraid to Ask a Librarian – they can find sources for you while you work on other stuff!
Step 4: Design an Element of Art and a Principle of Design.
Finally, it’s very important to demonstrate that you understand how to identify at least one Element of Art in the work of art. Describe it in your own words, and then do the same for at least one Principle of Design.
