A sample of virtual museums.When the World Wide Web burst on the scene in the early 1990s, Nicolas Pioch quickly recognized its potential to transform the way art is experienced and distributed. Believing that "more artistic stuff was needed on the Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the ," Pioch launched the WebMuseum The WebMuseum, formerly known as the WebLouvre, was founded by Nicolas Pioch in France in 1994, while still a student. It is one of the earliest examples of a virtual museum. When the actual Louvre became aware of its existence, it was forced to change its name. (www.ibiblio.org/ win) in 1994--one of the first virtual museums on the Web dedicated to displaying historical works of art. Today, over a decade later, the WebMuseum is arguably ar·gu·a·ble adj. 1. Open to argument: an arguable question, still unresolved. 2. That can be argued plausibly; defensible in argument: three arguable points of law. still the most popular virtual art museum online, with some 200,000 visitors logging into the site every week. Sharing Valuable Images Virtual art museums tend to fall into two broad categories: those that are extensions of brick-and-mortar institutions, such as the Metropolitan Museum Web site (www.metmuseunl.org), and those that exist only online, such as the Virtual Diego Rivera Web Museum (www.diegorivera.com), Greenmuseum.org (www.greenmuseum.org), and the Virtual Museum of Japanese Arts Japanese art, works of art created in the islands that make up the nation of Japan. Early Works The earliest art of Japan, probably dating from the 3d and 2d millennia B.C. (web-japan.org/museum). Some virtual art museums like the State Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum (Russian: Государственный Эрмитаж, Gosudarstvennyj Èrmitaž (www. hermitagemuseum.org) function with corporate support, whereas others like the American Museum of Photography (www.photography-museum.com) are the work of individuals with a special interest or expertise in art. One goal that all virtual art museums have in common is collecting, preserving, and sharing objects of aesthetic, cultural, or historical value with a viewing public dispersed dis·perse v. dis·persed, dis·pers·ing, dis·pers·es v.tr. 1. a. To drive off or scatter in different directions: The police dispersed the crowd. b. around the world. Constructing Understanding Effective use of these digital resources to support student learning depends on a good research question or task that challenges students to apply what they find online in meaningful ways. Internet-based assignments should encourage students to explore, gather information, think critically, and construct their own understandings of the curriculum topic at hand. Students as Critics For example, the J. Paul Getty Jean Paul Getty (December 15, 1892 – June 6, 1976) was an American industrialist and founder of the Getty Oil Company. Biography Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, into a family already in the petroleum business, he was one of the first people in the world with a Museum Web site (www.getty. edu) offers a wealth of art images, thematic the·mat·ic adj. 1. Of, relating to, or being a theme: a scene of thematic importance. 2. exhibitions, video clips A short video presentation. , and accompanying text. Depending on your students' grade level, you might ask them to choose works of art from two different time periods that appear on the site to write a comparative analysis. Have students share their comparisons and collectively discuss the larger question of "How has art changed over time?" Another classroom activity involves students becoming "virtual art critics Noun 1. art critic - a critic of paintings critic - a person who is professionally engaged in the analysis and interpretation of works of art ." Students choose an exhibition currently showing on a virtual art museum site for critical review. The Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum is a museum in Washington, D.C. with an extensive collection of American art. Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum has a broad variety of American art that covers all regions and art movements found in the United States. (www.americanart.si.edu), for example, features over thirty virtual art exhibitions among the many resources available on their Web site. Introduce the role of the art critic, provide samples of critical reviews to read, and discuss what might be included in their written reviews. Student reviews can be turned into Web pages and posted on your department's Web site with links to the corresponding exhibitions for others to read online. Springboard to Art-Making A third virtual art museum activity is to have students use artworks This article is about the software drawing application. For art objects, see work of art. ArtWorks is an advanced vector drawing package for RISC OS created by Computer Concepts (now Xara) in 1991. It has been developed by MW Software since 1996. that they study online as springboards for their own artistic compositions. Ask students to select a work from an online exhibit that relates to your unit of instruction. Ask students to write a one-page paper about the work they've chosen, using questions that you provide to guide their analysis. Following the writing activity, have students create their own interpretations of a landscape based on an idea or theme that the artists they studied used in their work. Students as Curators For a more challenging activity, you might have your students become curators on their own virtual museum by researching and constructing a museum-style exhibition on a topic of study in the curriculum. For guidance in planning and implementing a virtual museum project with your students, see "Creating A Virtual Art Museum" on the Apple Learning Series Web site (ali.apple.com/als/ k6mult/projects/3045.html). A great place to find museum sites and special online collections is the Museum of Online Museums (www.coudal.com/moom.php), which is maintained by Coudal Partners and includes listings of links to hundreds of Web sites organized by topic. Craig Roland is a School Arts advisory board member and author of The Art Teacher's Guide to the Internet (Davis Publications, 2005). rolandc@ufl.edu |
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