6th grade girls

"so if you were create a soundtrack to this painting, what music would you use?"

student 1: "the song from titanic, that jack dies to."

student 2: "bad romance by lady gaga."









Rooms by the Sea - Edward Hopper

3rd graders

"so the character you see on the far right is horatio, hamlet's best friend. he's also looking at the king because he is watching his reaction, in case he needs to help hamlet."

[at the end of the session]

"so what was your favorite piece?"

student:
"i liked hamlet because it teaches you to stick by your friends."




The Play Scene in "Hamlet" (Act III, Scene 2) - Edwin Austin Abbey

3rd graders

"what do you see?"

student:
"i see the letters SOS."

"and you all know SOS means help. if the artist was saying help, what could this mean about the painting?"

student: "that he needs help running away from the dragon!"


Number 13A: Arabesque - Jackson Pollock

3rd graders

"so this piece is also on a piece of silk. do you all know what silk is?"

student: "yes, actually there are two types of silk."

"really? okay, which one of the types do you think this is painted on?"

student: "well. the first type is spider silk. when spiders want to catch their food, they spin a web made of spider silk. then insects get stuck in the web. then the spider wraps up the insect in more spider silk before he eats it. spiders are arachnids, you know?"

"that's an awesome fact, but actually, this isn't spider silk."










Daoist Immortal - Ning Zhai

6th graders

"so what's going on in this painting?"

student: "well, i went through a roman art phase. and i know this painting is about making an offering to the gods. everyone is praying."










Agrippina Landing at Brundisium with the Ashes of Germanicus - Benjamin West

k-12 teachers

"so what do we think about the red nostrils?"

k-12 teacher: "i know what it is. it's the cocaine."















Chorus Captain - Walt Kuhn