The Kreeger Museum, in partnership with The Catholic University of America, has received a grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to develop a model program for students with learning disabilities in grades 5-8 for small and mid-size art museums, developing cognitive skills through art and music. The proposed program will span a 3-year period, October 1, 2006 - September 30, 2009. The first year of the project will be devoted to development of the model and training of docents and teachers, the second, to implementation, and the third, to evaluation and dissemination. This project is envisioned as a state-of-the-art interactive program to promote learning and access to the visual arts among children with learning disabilities within an inclusive and universal context. The partnership will extend to community-based schools - public, charter, and private schools with populations of children whp can benefit from this work, and with hte capacity to extend and reinforce learning in the school setting. The program will focus on multiple art media in conjunction with the multiple sensory systems that may be available for learning. This program may also have the capacity to enhance cross-modal sensory learning (i.e., visual/auditory/kinesthetic).
The HASM model will give students a unique and individualized experience through a specially designed tour and workshops. Students will be introduced to art by analyzing specific paintings and sculpture, and will be guided to notice how visual artists express ideas and emotions in ways that are similar to musical composition. They will explore concepts shared by art and music, such as symmetry versus asymmetry, density versus openness, darkness versus brightness, continuity (sustained sound or line) versus discontinuity (staccato). The tour experience will be followed with a workshop taught by a professional artist whereby students listen to contemporary and classical music, dissect the sounds, and interpret them in drawing exercises and compositional development. Within 2 weeks, another workshop will be offered at the participating school, led by the school's art teacher. Children will produce paintings, adding another layer of complexity to the work done in the museum workshop.
In order to accomplish this goal, The Kreeger and CUA will develop a training program that will prepare docents to individualize visual arts experiences. In addition, teachers in participating schools will receive professional development training to utilize arts integration experiences in classrooms with learning outcomes in mind, through an informational educators' packet and CD.
We expect to observe changes in the inquiry methods used by docents, teachers and teacher candidates. We will also have outcome data related to children's learning in literacy areas. We will disseminate a CD-ROM that presents the model and the methods that we use in the Hear Art, See Music workshop and tour, along with an informational pamphlet, and a DVD documentary.
We hope that, through the model we create and disseminate to other small art museums, museum educators will begin to design programs that use their own collections to further the learning of alll students, especially those with special needs. Because the model is not based on particular types of art, and it will be affordable to implement, we foresee the potential for successful, widespread adaptation.
We are very excited about implementing a truly interdisciplinary project at CUA, using resources from the Special Education and Fine Arts Departments as well as the School of Music. Faculty in Special Education and Music Education are lead personnel, and graduate sutdents from all three departments will assist with the project. There will also be opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to become formally and informally involved in research and field experiences through the project.
Background
Hear Art, See Music finds its basis in Painting Sound, a successful program previously developed by The Kreeger, which demonstrates the cross-media art process. It also builds on previous work and relationships fostered during a grant from the national office of VSArts (May 2003-August 2004). CUA and The Kreeger Museum began their collaboration in the spring of 2004, when an innovative pilot project led by CUA faculty, sculptor Mary Frank and Dr. Carole Brown offered Kreeger Museum staff the unique opportunity to observe and contribute to CUA's special education program. CUA students were paired with students from The Ivymount School in Rockville, MD, a school for children with moderate to severe cognitive disabilities. Guided by CUA faculty, the students visited The Kreeger Museum, looked at the collection of painting and sculpture, and then focused on one work, Jean Debuffet's masterful L'eau dans le gax, in order to develop the artist's ideas into a mixed-media installation. The painting, completed in 1961, is very childlike in its depiction of Paris street life in its everyday, sometimes chaotic, reality and served as the beginning of discussion for student interpretation. Eight teacher candidates participated in the preparatory training; 5 continued to participate in the installation with the 5 students a The Kreeger Museum and Ivymount on 3 days. The work done by the students was installed at the Salve Regina Fine Arts Building at CUA between May 23 and July 2, 2004. An opening was held on June 4; the students from Ivymount attended, along with their parents and 60 classmates, and were able to experience the special privileges accorded to exhibiting artists.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation's 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. Its mission is to grow and sustain a "Nation of Learners" because life-long learning is essential to a democratic society and individual success. Through its grant making, convenings, research and publications, the Institute empowers museums and libraries nationwide to provide leadership and services to enhance learning in families and communities, sustain cultural heritage, build twenty-first-century skills, and increase civic participation. To learn more about the Institute, please visit: http://www.imls.gov.
