[an error occurred while processing this directive] Revised 4/17/08

Lesson Plans

Lesson PlansInuit Cultural Tours:

Our permanent collection of Inuit Art features Inuit prints and sculptures that focus on Artic wildlife, the Inuit people, and contemporary issues. Inuit cultural tours include an interactive tour of the Inuit gallery, Inuit games, and a print-making or stencil project.


Current Exhibits:

CalculArt and CANVAS

January 20, 2008 - June 1, 2008

CANVAS (Collaborative Advanced Navigation Virtual Art Studio) is a 3-screened, back-projectioned portable virtual-reality open-lab used for research and teaching projects by faculty in the fine and applied arts at the University of Illinois. As a museum installation, CANVAS allows the visitor to call up 3D projected imagery from a computer and to also create their own imagery. A program called Calul*rt that celebrates the integration of mathematics and the arts will be featured.


Lightpaintings by Stephen Knapp

April 13, 2008 - August 31, 2008

The internationally renowned artist Stephen Knapp will present an exhibition of his spectacular light paintings. Knapp fills the walls with vibrant color using only mirrors, dichroic filters and focused light sources. The exhibition will feature a broad selection of his stunning creations in light. To learn more about Knapp's work go to www.lightpaintings.com.


Past Exhibits

Poetry of Landscape: The Seasons - Paintings by Russell Chatham

January 20, 2008 - March 30, 2008

Russell Chatham is a contemporary American landscape artist from Livingston, Montana that captures the landscape of the West in his paintings and prints. An accomplished fisherman and an essentially self-taught artist, Chatham is recognized today as one of the world's foremost lithographers.

 

Yousuf Karsh Photography

September 23, 2007 - January 6, 2008

This exhibition of fine photography on loan from the Detroit Institute of the Arts features works by Yousuf Karsh of Ottawa. Portraist include Ernest Hemingway, Andy Warhol, George Bernard Shaw, and more.


Art and the Automobile

September 23, 2007 - January 6, 2008

This exhibition explores the relationship between automobiles and fine art by presenting the work of modern and contemporary artists alongside concept cars from the Buick Gallery of the A. P. Sloan Museum. .

 

Spirits, Relics and Rituals: The John F. Korachis Collection of African Art

March 25 - September 2, 2007

The John F. Korachis collection of African art is composed mostly of objects from the second half of the 20th century. The works often reflect the interpretations of individual artists and hence may not always represent in detail the original works they are drawn from. In some cases, such recent works stand alone as objects, blending influences from multiple African cultures. Still, they offer insights into the dynamism of African cultures and the extraordinary craftsmanship and inventiveness of contemporary African artists working in the traditional style. Hence we can use this imagery to understand the lifestyles and beliefs of Africa’s diverse cultures.


A Terrible Beauty Part II: Compulsion and Repulsion

December 10 2006 to March 4, 2007

This installation by artist Jennifer Angus is composed of over 5,000 preserved insects pinned directly to the wall in patters that reference both textiles and wallpaper. This installation will remind your students of Victorian wallpaper and biology class alike! Go to www.jenniferangus.com for more information on the artist.

Community Curators

December 10 2006 to March 4, 2007

A diverse group of community members, from a teacher, to a radio host, to a local artist, curated this exhibit. These individuals picked a work from the Dennos Museum Center's permanent collection and wrote interpretive labels that expressed their reasons for doing so. This show would be an excellent tour for any class working on persuasive writing or art criticism.

Copley to Cassatt - American Paintings for the Detroit institute of the Arts

Fall 2004 to Summer 2005


The Age of Armor

April 10, 2005 to September 25, 2005

The Age of Armor draws on the rich collections of the Higgins Armory Museum. The exhibition provides an overview of the history of personal armor, extending as far back as the Trojan War, but focusing on plate armor’s classical age, from the late Middle Ages through the Renaissance. It then examines such topics as the shaping and decorating of armor, its diverse uses, and the various criteria that are used by connoisseurs to understand and assess these artifacts.

Overall, the exhibition includes some five-dozen pieces, ranging from a simple yet elegant infantryman’s breastplate to elaborately etched and gilded elements of horse armor from Southern Germany. The centerpieces of the exhibition are seven suits of armor, ranging from the early sixteenth century to the mid-seventeenth, including some of the most admired pieces from the museum’s current displays.

Educators Resources:
Northwestern Michigan College