Arts 101

For a number of years, museums have used their resources to teach critical thinking, problem solving, visual literacy, and other skills that are now considered crucial for the 21st century. The Corcoran Gallery of Art and College of Art + Design is equipped to support and integrate the development of 21st-century skills in the DCPS and DCPCS school systems, with particular attention paid to exploring the role of creativity.

To further this initiative, the Corcoran is creating new resources for D.C. educators!  Informed by research completed by the D.C. Commission on Arts and Humanities, and with regular input from our teacher advisory committee, we are developing a program that targets middle school students who are underserved in terms of fine art enrichment programs. The new resources include teaching posters focusing on American art in the Corcoran's collection; lesson plans that present interdisciplinary opportunities for learning and teaching—and that adhere to the D.C. standards of learning; a free tour of the Corcoran followed by a hands-on, studio activity (with bus transportation reimbursement included); and ongoing professional development for teachers.

For more information on how you can get involved with Arts 101, please contact jkho@corcoran.org. 

Arts 101 Unit and Lesson Plans for Download

Unit Plan for Unit 1: Appropriation, Abstraction, and Identity Formation
Unit Plan for Unit 2: Identity in Portraiture

Lesson Plan for Albert Bierstadt, Mount Corcoran, 1877—Sixth Grade
Lesson Plan for Aaron Douglas, Into Bondage, 1936—Sixth Grade
Lesson Plan for Marsden Hartley, Berlin Abstraction, 1914–15—Sixth and Seventh Grades
Lesson Plan for Joshua Johnson, Grace Allison McCurdy and her Daughters, Mary Jane and Letitia Grace, c. 1804—Sixth Grade
Lesson Plan for Joshua Johnson, Grace Allison McCurdy and her Daughters, Mary Jane and Letitia Grace, c. 1804—Eighth Grade (Cinematic Stories)
Lesson Plan for Joshua Johnson, Grace Allison McCurdy and her Daughters, Mary Jane and Letitia Grace, c. 1804—Eighth Grade (End of Unit Alter Ego Altered Book Journal)
Lesson Plan for Jessica Stockholder—Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Grades