Art and "X"

Activity time: Varies based on class size

‍Created by: Cindy Atman

Art has been used as an effective way to teach about many topics.  Here is a specific example that uses art to teach about hard-to-teach topics such as “perspective”.  We call the activity Art and “X” because a teacher could use the structure to teach about topics such as perspective, resilience, leadership, critical thinking, conflict resolution, etc.

We have specifically used this activity to teach about both perspective and resilience.  The description here is for the topic of perspective.

In “Art and Perspective” students find and share art pieces that reflect the concept of “perspective”.

Perspective is an important part of design. Designers and engineers focus on multiple users and stakeholders’ perspectives, and take into account the context of the space they’re in. However, perspective may be difficult to describe, operationalize, and practice. What does “perspective” or “point of view” mean to you and your students?

The purpose of this activity is to help students practice thinking about perspective through art.  

This activity can help students: 

• Think artistically—visually, spatially, musically, etc. 
• See the importance of perspective in design 
• Understand empathy through perspective
• Practice communicating complex ideas to their peers

• A copy of our shared Google Slide deck: Art and Perspective Template
• Student personal devices

1. This activity is done as a homework assignment
2. Students are asked to find three pieces of art that convey the concept of "perspective" to them
3. The three pieces of art must be from at least two different categories of art (e.g.,  visual art, music, dance, poetry, prose, graphics, craft, videos, movies, photography, etc.)
4. Students then choose one piece to present to the class in a 30 second "elevator pitch"
5. Google Slide deck with assignment template: Art and Perspective Template. 
6. This slide deck has an example and a two-slide template. Each student makes a copy of the two template slides, and fills them out with their three art pieces: the one to be presented on the first slide, and the other two on the second slide.

1. The art pieces form the basis of a class discussion. Students give a 30 second "elevator pitch" description of how their chosen piece of art conveys the topic of perspective to them, and the rest of the students, as an audience, are in groups of 3 or 4.
2. If time allows, after every 10 or 12 presentations, have a pause for student groups to reflect on what they are hearing and make some notes or sketch a representation of their takeaways.
3. At the end of all the presentations, have groups discuss for 5 minutes on what they have learned, and then have each group report their takeaways to the class. You may lead this into a 5-10 minute class discussion. Some possible discussion prompts: 
   
   1. What do you see across the works of art chosen by your classmates? 
      
      1. Similarities? Differences?
      2. Patterns? 
   2. How does perspective appear in [a current class project / assignment]? 
   3. How does perspective appear in teamwork? In communication? In expectation management? As a part of empathy?