Looking at Art with Fresh Eyes April 19, 2006

Director of Education Susan Nichols discusses Dan Dailey’s Parkman Coupe with Holton students.

There’s nothing like looking at artworks with fresh eyes—or, at least, watching others look with fresh eyes. Last Wednesday, the AP Art History class from The Holton-Arms School and Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland, visited SAAM’s Renwick Gallery. After touring the Grant Wood exhibition and the Renwick’s craft galleries, each student “adopted” a work of art.  The fruits of their experiences will be short podcasts, a selection of which will be posted on our site. (We’ll let you know when they are up.)

What struck me was the awe with which the students looked around them.  Clearly, the best museums inspire that reaction—an amazement at  the beauty of both the space and the artworks. But speaking as a museum staff member, in our rush and bustle through galleries, we often lose that sense of wonder.

• Podcast, Renwick, Craft, American Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum