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when this page was posted. However the Web is very volatile, and TKI has
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An
introduction to Web galleries by Derek Wenmoth
Information and Communication Technology serves the visual art world well.
"Appreciative" aspects of the discipline are catered for in such things
as virtual gallery tours, artist's biographies and scholarly art history
works. The actual creation of art - the "expressive" aspects - are there
too, from the sophisticated graphics packages to the sites where original
work can be created, submitted and displayed.
Derek Wenmoth, GlobalNet project
director and Principal Lecturer at the Christchurch College of Education,
has written the following introduction to online art galleries.
Using the Web as a Visual Arts Resource
The Visual
Arts section of the New Zealand Curriculum Framework states:
"Students learn in, through, and about the various forms and processes
of the visual arts. Through practical work and a study of others' art,
they learn to make objects and images, to source and develop ideas,
and to communicate and interpret meaning. They come to understand visual
art works as social and historical texts as they investigate the contexts
in which the visual arts are made, used, and valued."
While practical experience with a variety of artistic media is very important,
so too is the experience of looking at and appreciating the artworks of
others. The World Wide Web provides an opportunity for teachers and students
alike to access pictures of artworks from around the world for use in
this very important aspect of the curriculum. Listed below are just a
few examples of the sites that anyone can access for this purpose.
Online Art Galleries
The idea of being able to browse through galleries of artworks online
is not always a first preference for fine art lovers, but increasingly,
these galleries are appearing on the Web to assist in making these works
known and to make them accessible to a wider audience. While nothing may
beat the sensory experience of visiting a gallery to view a work, online
galleries are certainly succeeding on these two fronts. Below are just
a few examples to illustrate the range of works available to view on the
Internet.
The Web Gallery of Art is a virtual
museum and searchable database of European painting and sculpture of the
Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods (1200-1700), currently containing
over 6,500 reproductions. Biographies, commentaries and guided tours are
available. A free postcard service is provided for the visitors.
The Gallery of Interactive
Geometry was created by the Geometry Centre of Minnesota University.
Dozens of galleries are available featuring innovative artworks that use
mathematical patterns as their base. Great opportunities for use in art
or maths classes!
Children's Art on the Web
Using the Web as a place to exhibit children's art work is becoming more
common. Increasingly, schools are including art works on their sites.
There is enormous scope for teachers to use these sites as places for
students to visit and carry out interpretational activities, or to use
as the basis of gaining inspiration. Here are just a couple that could
be used in this way.
GlobalNet Art
Zone contains galleries of art works created by children in several
different countries, all on the theme "What life will be like in 100 years".
It includes suggestions for teachers on how these galleries may be used
with groups of children for interpretive work.
International Art Galleries
Here are a couple of galleries to illustrate what is available.
Take time to visit the official site of the Louvre
gallery, France. The virtual tour requires the free Quicktime plug-in.
The Vietnam Art Gallery features
a large number of artworks by artists from Vietnam.
New Zealand Art Galleries
We are fortunate in New Zealand to have many very good art galleries,
featuring the works of New Zealand and international artists.
The site of the Auckland
Art Gallery contains mostly information about the gallery and upcoming
exhibits, but does contain a small gallery of current exhibits.
The Manawatu Art Gallery is a great
example of a regional art gallery on the web and contains a few examples
of works from current collection and references to their education service.
Key aspect of this site is the alphabetical listing of all art works in
this gallery's collection.
The Robert McDougall Art Gallery,
Christchurch site is an overview of the gallery and upcoming exhibits,
containing some interesting archives that include interviews with various
artists.
At Te Kete Ipurangi
Te Kete Ipurangi has indexed many websites relating to the visual arts.
One way of finding them is to enteri "visual arts" on the seach
page.
Also at the site are the new Unwrapping the Arts Curriculum support materials,
which include a visual arts section. A draft
version is available for teacher appraisal.
We welcome any feedback on how you are using the information in Hot
Topics, along with any suggestions for improvements. Please email your
comments, suggestions and questions to admin@tki.org.nz.
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