9th Graders Get Artsy

On January 20th, BSGE IB Art teacher Ms.Schwarz and the entire 9th grade went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the largest museum in the Western Hemisphere. According to Ms.Schwarz, this is her third year going to the museum with BSGE students.

Ms.Schwarz wanted to have this trip because she thought it would be a great learning experience for the students. Ms.Schwarz said, “I think it’s important for students to have the experience of looking at artworks up close and not just study them.” She also added, “It’s a very different experience studying from a computer screen or book than up close.”

Throughout the months prior, the freshmen had been learning about ancient Egyptians and how they created their tombs. The students had a project of creating unique designs using relief carvings to imitate the ancient Egyptians’ carvings. For those unfamiliar with relief carvings, this technique makes certain images three dimensional on a surface. 

The trip to the Met Museum gave freshman the chance to look at Illuminated Manuscripts and the Egyptian Tomb Reliefs, furthering their understanding of the unit material. The Met is known for their extensive and beautiful Ancient Egyptian Art section.

Ms.Schwarz thought this trip was a success because the students were enthusiastic from the beginning till the end. She knew the students would especially be ecstatic of the thought of being out of school, but also believes that they had a great learning experience.

She says, “In my experience, the students were enjoying themselves at the time.” Another student that agrees with Ms.Schwarz is Jessie Igua 18’ who comments, “It was interesting. There were lots of new experiences, and I got to know many new things I never knew about in ancient civilizations.”

The students had to take notes when viewing the galleries, which helped them analyze the artworks better. Even though it helped in analysis, it was not really enjoyed by the students since they had to constantly stop and take notes.

Overall the 9th graders trip to the Met was a success just like its previous years. Luckily for BSGE students in the 7th and 8th grade, they will get to experience this field trip too, for it is now an essential part of the 9th grade art curriculum at BSGE.