National Gallery of Art

Resources

The National Gallery of Art has an online free resource catalog that contains numerous resources for individuals and institutions to borrow. The catalog provides brief descriptions of the teaching packets, guides and DVDs available.

ONLINE RESOURCES

• Over 100 sessions and 15 interactive programs for students from Pre-K to grade 12 that focus on art-making and the intersection of art with math, science, language arts, and history. LINK
• The National Gallery of Arts Pinterest page contains themed, lessons, workshops, and project ideas.
• High-quality digital images are accessible to download through NGA Images. More than 51,000 open access files are yours to search, browse, share, and download. LINK

Visit HERE to create an account to borrow free teaching packets, guides, and DVDs not available online. They offer a wide selection of programs on well-known artists such as Edward Hopper, Pablo Picasso, and Alexander Calder. Each program highlights an aspect of art history which can be appreciated by a wide variety of audiences. 

If you have any questions contact Lily Abt, 202.842.6269 or email Lily atL-Abt@NGA.gov. 

Virtual Field Trips

Can’t get there from here

Some of you might be familiar with these but just in case you’re not… here is a list of opportunities for students of places that you can visit virtually:

• The Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago

The museum’s extensive online resources include superb lesson plans, related book titles, maps, and glossaries related to exhibitions and items in the permanent collection. Extensive resource sections, such as the museum’s “Cleopatra: A Multimedia Guide to Ancient Art,” are also accessible from this page and include fully bilingual English and Spanish text, video clips, time lines, and lesson plans for grades 4–12 in five subject areas.

• Denver Art Museum

Designed for students in grades 2–5, the Wacky Kids site focuses on world art and culture. It offers a range of hands-on craft projects based on items in the museum’s collection. The site also includes links to other museum artifacts and related book titles.

• J. Paul Getty Museum

The Los Angeles museum’s site includes extensive image banks and excellent, interdisciplinary lesson plans, including the fascinating resource section entitled “Art & Science: A Curriculum for K–12 Teachers.”

• Metropolitan Museum of Art

New York’s biggest treasure house provides online teacher resources that cover subjects such as ancient Egypt, Indian carpets, and Byzantine life and art, with ideas for art, math, science, language-arts, and social-studies curricular links. The site also includes an online archive with thousands of highlights from the collection.

• The Minneapolis Institute of Art and Walker Art Center

ArtsConnectEd, a joint project organized by Minneapolis’ two world-class art museums, offers a wealth of ideas on integrating art into the curriculum. There’s a searchable art gallery and a playground of activities just for kids. The “For Your Classroom” section contains the Teacher’s Guide to ArtsConnectEd, a useful document that maps out the site and explains how to fully take advantage of its offerings. At the bottom of each page of the guide are “Instant Inspirations,” one- or two-sentence ideas for activities, such as imagining what two works of art would say to each other at a party.

• National Gallery of Art

The museum’s online teacher resources include a wealth of art-focused lessons packed with interactive student activities, printable worksheets,  glossaries, biographies, and other related resources.