Elementary students become art curators

During Multicultural Week at Wantage Elementary School, students became gallery curators for a day during their art class.

Students watched a video tour of a gallery in the Museum of Modern Art. Not all students have the opportunity to visit a large museum in other towns or cities, so classes made connections to artwork in the local community, such as the museum displays at Space Farms and the art displays at the New Jersey State Fair.

After discussing what a curator does, each table group was given a “mini gallery” to curate as a team. Each gallery consisted of two connected cardboard walls, eleven two-dimensional art works and statues from different countries around the world. As a team, the students worked together to decide what pieces made it into their galleries. Students enjoyed choosing their gallery pieces and found connections with some of the pieces of art based on their family heritage. The artwork chosen for the lesson consisted of art pieces from North America, Alaska, South America, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Asia, India, Europe and Africa.

When done, the students learned gallery etiquette and walked around each gallery as if they were in a real museum. At the end, students students took down their galleries and put them away in storage.

Other activities from Multicultural Week included: discovery of holidays around the world, a virtual tour of Ellis Island, Mix-it-Up during lunches, decorations made while exploring their own cultures, the week’s school lunch menu focused on food from around the world, and a diverse spirit week representing acceptance and celebration of our cultural differences.