These were the questions that led Dr. Amanda Luyster to revamp her
Introduction to Visual Arts course at the College of Holy Cross. By the
spring of 2012, Luyster found herself in what she describes as a
“professional midlife crisis.” For seven years, Luyster had successfully
taught how art can teach students about history but felt she was
missing a dire piece of art and its influence. “I wanted to make my art
history classes feel more grounded in the ‘real world,’ that is, the
‘real world’ of both public schools and iPhones, funding cuts and
high-tech gadgets,” Luyster explains.
Collaborating with
Worcester’s South High School, the Center for Teaching and Holy Cross’
Donelan Office of Community-Based Learning, Luyster developed a plan
where her college students would produce a virtual tour of selected
pieces at the Worcester Art Museum, utilizing interviews with South
High’s students to see how each piece and object interests them and how
they relate to the art. “I liked the idea that college students could
learn from the people and cultural resources around them, and I thought
that community-based learning would be a good way to approach and
examine the relevancy of art in the world today,” says Luyster.
To
involve local high school students, Luyster contacted Christine
Lucey-Meagher, an art teacher at South High School. Lucey-Meagher
selected a class consisting of juniors and seniors to participate. “For
me, it really was a win/win. My kids loved meeting the college students
and a lot of them had never been in the museum,” says Lucey-Meagher.
With Holy Cross providing transportation and admission to the museum for
the South High students, the Holy Cross students were able to conduct
their interviews without Luyster or Lucey-Meagher as intermediaries.
Once the interviews were finished, Luyster’s class used the results
along with some original text from alongside the images at the Worcester
Art Museum, audio and video clips to piece together their tour.
Inspired by the objects they saw at the museum, Lucey-Meagher’s class
created their own pieces using the medium and scale of their choice to
recreate what they spoke about. In addition,Argo Mold limited specialize
in Plastic injection mould manufacture, Luyster applied for a grant and was able to purchase muchneeded art supplies for Lucey-Meagher’s classroom.
The
project, titled “ARTful Bodies,” included a variety of images that all
focused on the same thing - the body. “These art objects, although
produced millennia and continents apart, all represent the human body.
We include images of children and teenagers, parents and the aged,
images of beautiful bodies, haggard bodies, warrior bodies and divine
bodies.Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability. We can all relate to the images of the human body in which we inhabit,” illustrates Luyster.
Luyster’s
theory and the art displayed at the Worcester Art Museum proved to be
thought-provoking and sparked conversation among all the students.
Luyster described how one oil painting prompted a conversation between
two high school students to engage in conversation about the complicated
relationship between sisters - how it feels to live day in and day out
with a sister and the many emotions the relationship drives. An ancient
stone relief provoked a discussion of linebackers, the physically
imposing and the immovable, like a stone wall. A sculpture of the
ancient goddess Hygeia led to the often pondered upon subject of what
health means for women today and how a healthy woman should look.
Although
shy at first, Lucey-Meagher’s students quickly warmed up and by the end
of their two hours together, the South High and the Holy Cross students
were exchanging email addresses. Holy Cross sophomore and student of
Luyster, Connor Davock,A stone mosaic
stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister.
explained how he was able to connect to the high school students. “It
was only two years ago that I was in high school, so I’m still at an age
where I can relate to high schoolers but also be mature enough to act
as a role model.” Davock noted how important the South High School
students’ input was and how it changes his original ideas for the piece
he focused on. “I came in with a very focused,Western Canadian
distributor of ceramic and ceramic tile,
formal and analytical mindset. I mechanically analyzed every part of
the body, but I didn’t really look at the bigger picture whereas the
students offered an insightful and much younger perspective of my
piece,” said Davock.
Luyster hopes that contributing to “ARTful
Bodies” provided a full experience to the South High students. For those
ending their high school career, the project gave an arena for them to
witness college students in their element and perhaps allowed them to
consider the possibility of college more seriously. Secondly, the
project may have changed the preconceived notions the students had
previously about the museum and what they have to offer and picture
themselves in that word, too. Lastly, and perhaps the most important
piece of the project, is the sheer fact that their voices were heard.
“Validating a student’s opinion in a public forum, like an online tour,
underlines our belief that what that student says matters, and by
extension, that that student matters. Selfesteem is central to academic,
and life, achievement,” Luyster explains.
With a commitment to
their research and labor, the Holy Cross students had much to gain. “My
hopes for this project are myriad. I hope this project encourages my
students to have more confi dence in their own abilities to work in the
‘real world’ and in the Worcester community,” says Luyster.
On
Wednesday, November 14, Luyster’s students unveiled the fi nal product
of the virtual tour at the Cantor Art Gallery at Holy Cross. Now that
the tour is available,The term 'hands free access
control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a
pocket or handbag. viewers can explore the museum from their own home or
choose to use the tour when at the Worcester Art Museum on their
smartphones or tablets. Utilizing the tour while at the museum will
allow visitors to listen to the audio clips while standing in front of
the work itself. As Luyster explains, “Many people enjoy seeing art
through different types of lenses; that is, not only looking at it in
silence, but listening to what others say about it, and reading about
what others have seen in it. I do not believe that technology changes
art, only that it can help us see art in different ways.”
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