How are the visual arts and language literacy related? Through close-looking at art, we build descri

How are the visual arts and language literacy related? Through close-looking at art, we build descriptive, deductive, and interpretive skills—the same skills we use to write compelling stories, generate persuasive essays, and understand literature. The visual arts go hand-in-hand with literacy no matter the age of the learner, so, this August, the Museum’s Adult Learning team partnered with the Adult Literacy Program at the New Lots branch of the Brooklyn Public Library on a pilot program with their adult literacy students.Over the course of two weeks, participants in the Adult Literacy Program worked with Brooklyn Museum Educators to explore the ways that African masks and masquerade garments transmit stories and convey identity. The first week focused on three objects from the Museum’s Touch Collection, which allowed students to examine the art through multiple senses and modes of learning—from sight and touch to writing and sketching. Students then visited the Museum in week two to visit the exhibition One: Egúngún with A.R.T. Guide Elena Levi. Together they explored the ways in which objects become layered with meanings and how Yorùbá communities share their histories, honor ancestors, and communicate identities. The session ended with a writing prompt that encouraged students to make connections between the exhibition’s themes and their own experiences: what objects in the students’ own lives or communities have undergone changes in meaning or reflect identities? Through descriptive language and story-telling, the students shared these connections and their writing with each other.We look forward to working with the New Lots Library again to build our relationship and to make further connections between visual and written literacies! Posted by Christina Marinelli -- source link

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