Norton Simon Museum from Home | Impressions: Fostering Experiences with Art for Students

Sit down and enjoy some art-related activities courtesy of the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena

This week, Head of Education Michelle Brenner writes about the Museum’s free school tour program for grades 5 through 12, and how it has provided students with experiences that promote careful observation and critical thinking. While Michelle and her team have adjusted how they support students (see below), they continue to develop resources that help them feel connected and inspired. As one teacher recounts, “I am struck by how many of [my students] are using art to help them process this strange time. We are all facing challenges, but art provides a light at the end of the tunnel for many.” | READ

New! Spotlight on Art: Videos for Schools

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Our Education Department has created a series of short videos for teachers and students to incorporate into their distance learning this year. Examining two to three artworks from the Norton Simon collections, each video explores themes, eras or geographical regions, posing open-ended questions that help students make meaningful connections across the featured objects. | WATCH

Meditative Moments: Fall Meditation

Autumn represents a time of letting go, a time when trees lose their leaves in order to flourish in the spring. Take a moment to look at Georges Lacombe’s monumental Autumn: The Chestnut Gatherers from 1894, created as part of an unfinished series of paintings depicting the four seasons. Then follow our meditation exercise on letting go of your worries or stress to make space for new beginnings. | MEDITATE
Art Making Activity: My Space
Édouard Vuillard was known for his intimate paintings of interiors. In Pitch Pine Room, we see two figures sitting at a table in a cozy pine-paneled room of a French country house. Take a moment to absorb all of the different patterns, colors and textures in the painting, and then imagine what it would feel like to be in the room. Then, close your eyes and think about your ideal interior—what colors, patterns and furniture do you see? Using cardboard, construction paper and fabric or collage scraps, create a miniature room designed by and for you. | MAKE
What We’re Watching: The Huntington’s “Inspired by Octavia E. Butler”
Senior Manager of External Affairs Christine Goo writes, “The Huntington’s President’s Series recently featured a conversation with author Lynell George on her forthcoming book, A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E. Butler. Pasadena-native Butler was the first science fiction writer to receive a prestigious MacArthur “genius” award and the first African American woman to win widespread recognition writing in that genre. I was late in discovering her, learning of her only after visiting the Huntington’s exhibition, Octavia E. Butler: Telling My Stories, in 2017. Since then, I am always excited to see, read and learn more about Butler, her work and her archives, and I look forward to reading George’s upcoming book.” | WATCH