Learning Opportunities

The Knoxville Museum of Art is a place of energy and excitement that provides an ideal environment for your students to connect to the culture of the region, and throughout time. Over a century of art in our collection and exciting special exhibits throughout the year will inspire creativity in your students and encourage understanding in a variety of disciplines. Listed are a range of programs and services available to teachers for enhancing the classroom curriculm in both art and non-art subjects. Contact us to plan a gallery tour or to take advantage of the many other services available. We look forward to your visit!

2012 Summer Art Academy Brochure                  2012 Summer Art Academy Sign Up Form

Meet the Masters

Meet the Masters, a complimentary outreach program created by the Knoxville Museum of Art, brings active artists/educators and museum resources into your classroom. Area elementary and middle school students have the opportunity to personally work with a professional artist through this unique service. Each in-class session lasts 90 minutes and combines art history with hands-on activities. The program focuses on current and upcoming Meet the Mas ter s Out reach exhibitions at the museum and serves as a great opportunity to heighten students’ appreciation and insight into art. This program may stand alone, or be tied to a field study experience with the related exhibition. The Meet the Masters program is free of charge.

Art2Go Travel Cases

Use KMA’s ART2GO Travel Cases to take your class on a trip across America or around the globe free of any costs or fees! Each case is packed and ready to enliven your students’ imaginations. The ART2GO Travel Cases are prepared with authentic art objects, extensive teacher learning guides, visual aides, books, suggested lesson plans, and art activities that pertain to both visual arts and non-art curricula.

The Art2Go Travel Case Themes include:

The Hecho a Mano – Mexican Folk Art

Authentic woven, painted, and sculpted objects from various time periods and regions give students the opportunity to interact with Mexico’s folk art. This travel case allows for the integration of History, Geography, and Social Studies.

Art Journey Through America Part One

Geography of Rural and Urban Landscapes

This case takes your class across America. Guiding your trip are modern landscape masters such as Albert Bierstadt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Grant Wood, Thomas Hart-Benton, and others. While students gain an understanding of America’s landscape through art, they also learn about parallel socio-political events around significant dates in Art History.

Art Journey Through America Part Two: Images of History

The second portion of this unit delves further into Art History’s connections to other disciplines such as American History, Geography, Language Arts, Politics, and contemporary events. Photographs, prints and paintings allow students to generate a visual association with events in American History.

Across the Empire – Ancient and Traditional Chinese Art

Explore Chinese culture and beliefs through authentic objects and artifacts from China. Models of the Terracotta Warriors, colorful weavings, and delicate ink prints give students direct interaction with the history of Chinese art.

Through the Artists’ Eyes

With this case, students visually inspect the work of artists from prehistory through contemporary times to comprehend how observation provides the foundation for art. Through their studies students will begin to differentiate between realism and abstraction, and understand how imagination combined with observation can sometimes result in an unconventional representation of the everyday.

Celebrating the Art of African Americans

Videos, illustrated books, student newspapers and related lesson plans highlight jazz, poetry, quilting, painting, and photography. With the included learning materials students gain an understanding of African-American history while producing projects that connect to art history, literature, music, and more.

Elements and Principles of Art

This case helps develop the skills necessary to understand and critically evaluate visual language skills found in art, media communication, and design. Classroom-based activities deconstruct our visual surroundings allowing students to investigate and understand the foundations of the visual world that surrounds us.

Commemorating Rituals: The Traditional Arts of Africa

Travel to Sub-Saharan Africa with your class and discover the Traditional Arts of Africa through museum replicas and gallery quality materials. Students will encounter the various peoples and cultures that span Africa.