Fourth Graders Thoughtfully Mail in SLAM Exhibit Feedback and Postcards 

This semester, MICDS fourth graders have been participating in some exciting, creative activities provided by the Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM). Through partnering with the museum, our students have interacted in group discussions, created videos, and worked diligently on artwork that will hopefully be displayed in the museum at a later date. All of their work has been centered around a new exhibit called «The Work Of Art: The Federal Art Project, 1935-1943.» Thomas Buffington, Lower School Librarian and SLAM Teacher Advisory Group Member, explains, «The museum created this exhibit from works by various artists during the Great Depression/New Deal era, including works from young artists like our students!»

Over the last several weeks, our fourth-grade classes learned the history behind the pieces in the exhibit, diving into the importance of the Federal Art Project. Did you know that the Federal Art Project opened art centers, including ‘The People’s Art Center‘ in St. Louis, providing the city with its first interracial community art center and equipping the museum with its first works by African American artists? According to the SLAM website, «The Work of Art asks: who was supported as an artist? For which audiences and what purposes was art made? And what does it look like to picture a nation through the eyes of artists working across its breadth?»

Our students analyzed the paintings within the exhibition and discussed them in small groups based on prompts provided by the museum. «After collecting their thoughts, students then posted feedback responses onto Seesaw, which we turned into a compilation video that we sent to the museum curators of the exhibition,» said Buffington. «Our students’ feedback was welcomed and well-received by museum curators, as they develop online educator resources to distribute to local classrooms.»

 

As an extension to this work, our fourth-grade Rams are now participating in the ‘Stamp It! project which aligns with the exhibition. Through this project, they created postcards that they designed to reflect our home St. Louis communities for eventual display in the museum. Students all over St. Louis are also taking part in this project. «How fun it is to connect our students with the greater arts community through opportunities with SLAM such as these,» said Buffington. «It’s been wonderful to pique students’ curiosity about what St. Louis means to them and about historical art movements!» We can’t wait to hopefully see our students’ postcards on display at the museum soon! Thank you for this eye-opening partnership, SLAM and Mr. Buffington!

The St. Louis Art Museum is looking for new Teacher Advisory Group members. Teachers are invited to learn more about this opportunity and apply here.