Art Standard 3: Content

Students will consider, select, and apply a range of subject matter, symbols and ideas.

K-12 Performance Standards
Educational experiences in Grades K-4 will ensure that students:
  • discuss a variety of source for art content; and
  • select and use subject matter, symbols and ideas to communicate meaning.

 

Educational experiences in Grades 5-8 will ensure that students:
  • consider, select from and apply a variety of sources for art content in order to communicate intended meaning; and
  • consider and compare the sources for subject matter, symbols and ideas in their own and others’ work.

 

Educational experiences in Grades 9-12 will ensure that students:
  • use, record and develop ideas for content over time; and
  • use subject matter, symbols, ideas and themes that demonstrate knowledge of contexts, and cultural and aesthetic values to communicate intended meaning.

 

Using the On-Line Learning Sites to Teach About Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas

The Museum’s on-line learning sites can be used to expose your students to the types of choices regarding the subject matter, symbols, and ideas that faced the artists who came to Old Lyme, Connecticut, during the summers to paint.

The Lyme Art Colony was established in Old Lyme partially because of the abundance of suitable subject matter for the painters.  The old-fashion qualities of the New England village surrounded by rustic farms and natural beauty was perfectly matched with the interest of the artists and subsequently their patrons.  Despite their differing artistic styles, both the Tonalists and American Impressionists, were attracted to the subjects available in and around Old Lyme. As the birthplace of “America,” iconic images of New England (Colonial houses surrounded by white picket fences, the meetinghouse , rustic farms, country bridges, etc.) were soothing, and offered as sense of nostalgia for a simpler time during a period of rapid modernization and change.  Following Philadelphia’s Centennial Exposition in 1876, the nation was captivated by all things colonial, and the Colonial Revival movement impacted architecture as well as the fine and decorative arts. An examination of the subjects painted by the Lyme Art Colony will enable students to categorize and decode  the symbolic meaning of certain New England images and discuss the ideas and messages suggested by these icons.

 

Using the On-Line Learning Sites to Learn About Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas

There are several sections of The Fox Chase site where students can specifically investigate Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas:

  • Go to The Cow for information regarding the artists’ interest in painting images of small farms and livestock.

  • Go to The Lyme Landscape for information regarding the artists’ interest in painting the natural scenery in and around Lyme and Old Lyme.

  • Go to The Village of Old Lyme for information regarding the artists’ interest in painting the buildings and landmarks in and around the village.

 

There are several sections of the In Situ: The Painted Panel site where students can specifically investigate Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas:

  • Go to White Cottage in Autumn  by Woodhull Adams for a great example of a panel painted that features a Colonial home as subject matter.

  • Go to Chinese Twilight by Thomas Watson Ball for a great example of a panel painted that features an exotic location as subject matter.

 

There are several selections from the menu of Scholar Essays that specifically address Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas:

  • Go to New England Identity for information regarding the development of the Colonial Revival movement and the marketing of New England images.

  • Go to CT Impressionism for specific information regarding the development of this style of painting and the appropriate subject matter in America and specifically in Connecticut.

 

Activities Relating to Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas:

  • Go to Name That Style for a lesson plan that involves the issues of subject matter, symbols, and ideas.

  • Go to Wiggles & Giggles for a lesson plan about the historic wiggle game that features information relating to subject matter, symbols, and ideas.