DESCRIPTION: By imagining themselves to be as small as mice and pretending to climb a sculpture, students experience lines in a sculpture.

OBJECTIVES: In addition to identifying different types of lines, this activity is also intended to help students focus on individual works of art and experience the museum.

PROCEDURE: Would anyone like to go for an exciting climb? A sculpture climb? We can't really climb on a sculpture because we've already learned that at a museum we shouldn't touch works of art. But we can imagine in our minds that we are climbing on the sculptures. Let's select a sculpture that we can pretend to climb on. I think we are too big for these sculptures. So we have to imagine that we are much, much smaller like a mouse or an ant. Close your eyes and imagine that you are getting smaller and smaller and smaller. Pretend that you are now as small as a mouse. Keep pretending, open your eyes. If you are small as a mouse, this sculpture must seem pretty big.

Where shall we start the climb? Can you find a line on the sculpture that we can follow for our highway? Let's see what we discover. Is this highway smooth or rough? Is it straight or curvy? Is the line that we are on thin so that we'll have to hang on tight or is it thick? Is it steep? Would it be hard to go up this line? How about down? As we climb on this line what other things do we see? Are there any shapes around us? What colors do we see on the sculpture? As we climb is it going to be easy to get to the top or are there going to be things in the way that make it difficult?

MINNESOTA GRADUATION STANDARDS:
(1) Read, View, Listen
(2) Write and Speak
(3) Literature and the Arts

Age level: Appropriate for the youngest ages (Pre K-2).
Artworks used: Almost any sculpture.
Props needed: No props needed. (Although a small scale doll or animal could be useful to inspire imagination.)
Related to Minneapolis Sculpture Garden: Yes


© 1998 WALKER ART CENTER