Single Session Programs

Maximum of 30 students per class; up to three classes per site, per day. $5 per student.

Learning to See

Pre-K through Second Grade 

Using examples from the Barnes Foundation's collection and short stories, students will learn vocabulary about color, line, light, space, form, and composition. Armed with these new tools, they will complete hands-on activities and have fun exploring works of art.

African Art

Third through Eighth Grade

Dr. Barnes, one of the first collectors to display African art as an equal to European art, believed that African sculpture in particular was "the purest expression of the three-dimensional form." Observing traditional masks from the Barnes collection, students will explore the influence of African art on western modern artists such as Picasso and Modigliani, before creating a mask of their own that incorporates both African and Western influences. 

Exploring Impressionism 

Third through Eighth Grade

This lesson will focus on the daring work of the impressionist painters in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries through slow-looking, discussion, and a hands-on activity. Students will learn about the themes, ideas, and unique methods of the impressionist painters, such as their use of brushstroke, light, shadow, and reflection in compositions. They will also compare examples of impressionist works from the Barnes Foundation and discuss how these artists used color, light, line, and space to challenge conventions.  

Portraits

Third through Eighth Grade

During this lesson, students will learn about portraits by comparing examples from the Barnes Foundation’s Collection. Using vocabulary about elements like color, light, line, and space, students will identify how artists convey the personality of the sitter in a portrait. For a final, hands-on activitiy, they will apply this new knowledge to the creation of a portrait of someone they know well.

Partner Programs for the School District of Philadelphia

Art Speaks!

Fourth Grade

A subsidized program for students in the School District of Philadelphia, Art Speaks! is centered around a visit to one of four art institutions: the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania, or the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. The program includes free busing and admission to the Barnes Foundation, as well as a binder with pre- and post-visit activities for your students. However, while the cost is free, registration is required. Read more about the program here.

The Art of Looking

Fifth and Sixth Grades

A subsidized, interdisciplinary program for students in the School District of Philadelphia, the Art of Looking has three parts. After two in-classroom lessons at your school, which are led by a Barnes educator and a teaching artist specializing in art, music, or dance, students will then visit the Barnes Foundation to employ what they have learned so far.* Thanks to generous funding from the Verizon Foundation, free busing and admission to the Barnes is included, along with complimentary teacher materials and a binder of pre- and post-visit activities for students. While the cost of the program is free, registration is required.

A digital version of the Art of Looking program is available here.

*When the Foundation is closed during the 2011 -- 2012 school year, students will receive three in-classrom lessons instead. 

Lectures

In this program, a Barnes educator provides a one-hour PowerPoint presentation on the history of the Foundation, highlights of the collection, and Dr. Barnes’s innovative “ensemble” arrangements of artworks. Participants engage in new ways of seeing and thinking, discuss the artworks, and exchange ideas. This presentation requires a computer and LCD projector.