Hooking Students In

Roy Lichtenstein, Look Mickey (1961), National Gallery of Art

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, one of our new programs this year is a special one. For the next few months, the National Gallery of Art is exhibiting a retrospective of the world-renowned pop artist Roy Lichtenstein. In addition to the exhibition, the Gallery also commissioned a play titled "Framed!" based on Lichtenstein's works. (You can learn more about the exhibit and play here.) Of course, when the Gallery reached out to Live It Learn It about bringing in some of our DCPS students, we popped at the chance! (Get it?)

Students share what they learned about Lichtenstein in the classroom

There was one practical dilemma to consider: How in the world were we going to plan an academically rich and engaging trip knowing there would be nearly 500 other students also there each day to see the play and exhibit? Sure, we were worried, but we were also confident that our approach to experiential learning and museum engagement would not only get our students hooked, but keep them there. 

I think we were right.

We conducted the first of our Pop Art trips on Wednesday. After our students viewed "Framed," which was a big hit, we waited patiently as the self-guided groups rushed out of the auditorium. By the time we made it upstairs to begin, a few of them had already walked through half of the huge exhibit! 

Hoards of students filed by us as we found a seat in front of the Lichtenstein painting at the entrance to the exhibit and reviewed everything we'd learned about the artist in the classroom. Once in the galleries, the students were excited to see--up close and personal--the paintings they'd just seen in the play and back in the classroom. They discussed popular culture and turned Lichtenstein's early Pop art works into advertisements. They practiced cropping, a technique Lichtenstein often employed, as they sketched their own versions of his black and white paintings. Downstairs, students viewed works by other Pop artists like Andy Warhol, and tried their hand at curating their own exhibit focused on Pop art. 

One caption created by a student read:
"One spray takes away gray!"

Amazingly, one problem we did not run into (but had anticipated) was fighting through the crowds. Live It Learn It had planned focused, engaging, and academic activities for each of our stops in the exhibit space. And thankfully, since the other crowds blew by, we had most of the exhibit space to ourselves and were able to have real conversations about the art.  In fact, students were so engaged that they didn't want to leave! They continued to discuss Pop art and Lichtenstein over lunch provided by National Gallery, and eagerly shared their reflections on the play.

All in all, I think we were able to hook every single student. And every teacher knows that is no small feat!


*Live It Learn It would also like to give a huge THANK YOU to the National Gallery of Art staff for rolling out the carpet for our students, and for all of their help planning this wonderful experience!*