Classroom use of the art print.

Classroom use of the art print. Agnes Tait (American; 1894-1981). Skating in Central Park, 1934.Oil on canvas; 33.875" x 48.125". Smithsonian American ArtMuseum 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. , Washington, D.C. THINGS TO KNOW * Agnes Tait was born in New York City New York City:see New York, city. New York CityCity (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. and raised in GreenwichVillage Greenwich Village(grĕn`ĭch), residential district of lower Manhattan, New York City, extending S from 14th St. to Houston St. and W from Washington Square to the Hudson River. . At age 14 she was accepted to the National Academy of Designand studied art there for eight years. To support herself, she worked asan artist, an artist's model and a dancer in a chorus line. Tenyears after leaving art school, her work was included in a galleryexhibit. One of her paintings, The Bride, was included in the FirstAnnual Exhibition of American Paintings and Sculpture at the ArtInstitute of Chicago Art Institute of Chicago,museum and art school, in Grant Park, facing Michigan Ave. It was incorporated in 1879; George Armour was the first president. Since 1893 the Institute has been housed in its present building, designed in the Italian Renaissance style by in 1928. * In 1934 Tait completed Skating in Central Park as a commissionedwork for the Public Works public workspl.n.Construction projects, such as highways or dams, financed by public funds and constructed by a government for the benefit or use of the general public.Noun 1. Art Project, a Depression-era federal programto employ out-of-work artists. (Detailed information on the PWAP PWAP Public Works of Art Project (federally funded art program from 1933-34)PWAP Playing with A Purpose can befound at the following Web site: www.museum.siu.edu/museum_classroom_grant/Museum_Explorers/virtual/public.htm). This oil painting depicts a winter scene of skaters and otherpeople enjoying a beautiful day in New York New York, state, United StatesNew York,Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of City's acclaimed park.The work was a professional and popular success and helped Tait securemore commissions with the PWAP, including lithography. The popularsuccess of the work led Hallmark, the greeting card company, toreproduce the image as a Christmas card. The painting is now part of theNational Museum of American Art's collection at the SmithsonianInstitution Smithsonian Institution,research and education center, at Washington, D.C.; founded 1846 under terms of the will of James Smithson of London, who in 1829 bequeathed his fortune to the United States to create an establishment for the "increase and diffusion of in Washington, D.C. * Tait's early style was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelitepainters, the 19th century "brotherhood" whose collective workharkens back to the Italian Renaissance, specifically to the paintingstyle of Raphael. By the time she executed Skating in Central Park, herstyle had begun to resemble that of American folk or primitive art.Scholars have also compared her style to Giotto and Pieter Bruegel theElder Pieter Bruegel the Elder or Brueghel (c. 1525 – September 9, 1569) was a Netherlandish Renaissance painter and printmaker known for his landscapes and peasant scenes (Genre Painting). . * In addition to her work as an easel painter, Tait worked as amural painter, printmaker (lithography) and book illustrator. She wasskilled in pastel, watercolor and mixed-media. Her subjects tendedtoward nature scenes, landscapes, still-life, allegory, architecturalstructures and animals, especially cats. * Agnes Tait moved to Santa Fe, N.M., in 1941. Although today sheis often grouped with other Santa Fe women artists, she never consideredherself to be a regionalist. * To see other work by Agnes Tait, visit a page devoted to her at:www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/tait_agnes.html. THINGS TO DO * Primary. Show students the art print Skating in Central Park, byAgnes Tait. Explain that this scene contains a great deal of action,even though the overall effect is one of pleasant calm. Introduce theterms: foreground, middle ground and background. Point out examples ofaction taking place in each of these sections of the composition. Givestudents time to study the poster and identify other interestingelements in these three sections of the work. Create a list of all thedetails that students find in the print. To extend this activity, give students an opportunity to create awinter scene that has elements placed in the fore-, middle-andbackground of the paper. To provide a literacy connection, help students create a group poemtitled "Skating in Central Park." To begin, explain that thepoem does not have to have rhyming verse, but should capture the spiritof winter as seen in Agnes Tait's painting. For example, a simplepoem inspired by the print might look something like this: A bright, winter day in Central Park With people as far as the eye can see. Families with children, Couples and friends Glide and coast Over crystal, frozen, blue water. Skating and twirling On a bright, winter day in Central Park. * Elementary. Agnes Tait's most well-known painting, Skatingin Central Park, was an immediate popular success. The Hallmark CardCompany knew a good thing when they saw it, and reproduced Skating inCentral Park as a Christmas card. For a fun holiday project, havestudents create their own winter or snow scene in the style of AgnesTait. Point out that there is a lot of visual information in thispicture without a great amount of detail. Students can glue their workonto card stock and present it to a friend or family member as a holidaycard, or students can send their cards to a local nursing home orhomeless shelter. * Middle School. Skating in Central Park has been compared with oneof Western art's most famous paintings: Return of the Hunters (alsoknown as Hunters in the Snow Hunters in the Snow is a classic short story by Tobias Wolff featured in In the Garden of the North American Martyrs. The story deals with three characters hunting together in the woods; Kenny, who is hard and brutally honest; Tub, who is fat and lags behind the rest of ) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder(1525/30-1569). Painted in 1565, Return of the Hunters depicts a smallgroup of men returning to their village after a day of hunting. LikeSkating in Central Park, it is a panoramic image that contains anabundance of visual information. Make photocopies of Skating and print copies of Hunters (ahigh-quality digital reproduction of it and information on Bruegel canbe found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Website:www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/brue/hd_brue.htm). Give students time tocomplete a side-by-side comparison of the two paintings, challengingthem to identify the similarities and differences. Ask students if theythink Tait was directly influenced by the Bruegel masterpiece and, ifso, challenge them to defend their opinion by pointing out the"visual evidence." * High School. Although Agnes Tait was primarily an easel painter,she also executed many murals throughout her career. While Skating inCentral Park is an oil painting on canvas, it would have made amarvelous subject for a mural and, indeed, in the panoramic style inwhich it was created, it is not hard to imagine a wider version of thisscene decorating the wall of a building. Work with a group of students to design, plan and execute a muralon a public wall of your school that depicts a winter scene. Havestudents use Skating in Central Park as an inspiration to create apanoramic composition that includes many different elements and groupsof people. If a wall in the school is unavailable, students can maketheir mural on a large expanse of butcher paper and hang it temporarilyin a public space, such as the main office or school library.