About
Group Visits & Tours
The Blanton is pleased to offer a limited number of in-person group visits at 10:30am and 11:30am, Wednesday-Friday. Guided gallery lessons are approximately 50 minutes, can accommodate a maximum of 60 students, and can be tailored to focus on a variety of curricular topics ranging from literacy to social justice. Learn more on our Group Visits & Tours page.
Digital Resources
Each lesson in the modules below activates works of art in the Blanton’s collection to explore a specific idea or topic. All lessons are designed for both asynchronous learning and classroom conversation; many lessons can be broken down into smaller units for greater flexibility.
If you’re a teacher, we’d like to keep in touch! Sign-up to receive educational resources and updates specific to the Blanton’s Schools Programs (PK-12).
SEL (Social-Emotional Learning) [Grades 4–7]
This module invites students to look closely at a work of art and make connections to lived experience. Each lesson includes:
- A five-minute video
- A downloadable PDF with reflection and journaling prompt
Teachers: Take a look at this guide to get an overview of the series, review SEL competencies, and find sample questions to prompt class discussion. The videos and journal pages may also be used by students independently. Lastly, your response to the accompanying survey will help us improve future additions to the series.
Trying Something New
Download the Trying Something New Journal Pages
Find out more…
-About representing textures in two-dimensions: View an online image search for “still life paintings.” Get a sense of how painters try to represent different textures such as the textures of glass, metal, fruit, flower, cloth, etc.
-About the world of The Truant: If you focus your search on “early American still life paintings,” you may find representations of objects that the Truant might have seen or used (or eaten!). Just for fun—search for “American winter landscape paintings,” to imagine the skating boy’s world.
-About carving marble: Watch Getty Museum: Carving Marble with Traditional Tools
Strength and Hope
Download the Strength & Hope Journal Pages
Find out more…
-Learn more about the artist: Mequitta Ahuja – Working with Traditional Images
-Take a look at an early sketch of Parade: This sketch, kindly provided by the artist, gives us a glimpse into one stage of Ahuja’s creative process.
Caring for Ourselves and Others
Download the Caring For Ourselves & Others Journal Pages
Find out more…
-Learn more about the artist: George Segal 2K
-Learn how to make a plaster mask: The Plaster Mask Tutorial
Action and Reflection
Download the Action & Reflection Journal Pages
Find out more…
Read the full story of David and Goliath in the Bible: First book of Samuel, Chapter 17 in the New International Version (NIV)
Finding Joy
Download the Finding Joy Journal Pages
Find out more…
Learn about what abstraction meant to Ellsworth Kelly and Shara Hughes:
-Watch Ellsworth Kelly Explains Abstraction by SFMOMA
-Watch Shara Hughes Gets Lost in Paint by ArtDrunk
-Take a look inside Ellsworth Kelly’s largest artwork ever, Austin: KellyAtTheBlanton.org
Friendship & Trust
Download the Friendship & Trust Journal Pages
Find out more…
Learn more about the artist by watching this 5-minute video:
-Watch A magical landscape by Smarthistory on YouTube at bit.ly/SELResource12
Learn about Ogunquit and the landscape of coastal Maine
-Watch Ogunquit, Maine Walkon YouTube. View at bit.ly/SELResource13
The Value of Listening
Download The Value of Listening Journal Pages
Find out more…
Learn more about the artist and his creative process:
-Read A Studio Visit with Claude van Lingenby Kevin Ivester at bit.ly/SELResource14
Explore ways to resolve conflicts with negotiation and compromise:
-Watch Conflict Resolution: How to Settle Your Differences Fairlyby BrainPOP on YouTube at bit.ly/SELResource15
Watch Writing on Ribs by Wendy Williams Watt: Sometimes art is more about an idea than a technique. Here is another example of “conceptual art” that uses words to make the world better.
-Watch on YouTube at bit.ly/SELResource16
Respect
Download the Respect Journal Pages
Find out more…
Learn more about the artist
-Watch Portrait of Charles White from The Art Institute of Chicago at bit.ly/SELResource22
Explore the significance of the title
-The drawing’s title is based on a song that Mahalia Jackson sang at the 1963 March on Washington for Civil Rights, right before Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech: bit.ly/SELResource23
Tips for asking the questions that invite a person to share their story
-Watch Interview Tips with Steve Inskeep, Host of NPR’s Morning Editionat bit.ly/SELResource24
Stories matter
The University of Texas at Austin collects oral histories.
-Learn about the Voces Oral History Projectat bit.ly/SELResource25
Belonging
Download the Belonging Journal Pages
Find out more…
The difference between “belonging” and “fitting in”:
-Watch Brene Brown on “True Belonging” from Contemplative Interbeing at
bit.ly/SELResource17
Learn how to draw a still life:
Watch on YouTube at bit.ly/SELResource18
Learn how to set the table:
Watch How To: Proper Everyday Table Setting on YouTube at bit.ly/SELResource19
Learn how to make a colorful dish:
Try making this rainbow spaghetti with instructions from BBC Good Food at bit.ly/SELResource20
Listen and learn more about the musicians:
Explore the music of Nimrod Ensemble Berlin who provided the soundtrack to our Belonging video at bit.ly/SELResource21
#ArtWhereYouAre Studio [all ages]
This series, inspired by works in the Blanton’s collection, introduces simple studio activities that invite diverse creative responses using common, inexpensive materials. Each lesson includes:
- A three- to five-minute video
- A downloadable PDF of making instructions and additional resources
Louise Nevelson: Found Object Sculpture
Download PDF of Louise Nevelson activity here.
Richard Long: Land Art Sculpture
Download PDF of Richard Long activity here.
Joan Mitchell: Melted Crayon Art
Download PDF of Joan Mitchell activity here.
Tania Bruguera: Tea Bag Print
Download PDF of Tania Bruguera activity here.
José Reyes Meza: Magazine Still Life Collage
Download PDF of José Reyes Meza activity here.
Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Net
Download PDF of Yayoi Kusama activity here.
Mary Lee Bendolph: Mini Quilt Collage
Download PDF of Mary Lee Bendolph activity here.
Alexander Calder: String Art
Download PDF of Alexander Calder activity here.
Tadasuke Kuwayama: Circular Painting
Download PDF of Tadasuke Kuwayama activity here.
Doing Social Justice [Grades 3–5, 6–8, 9–12]
These instructional guides are the result of an ongoing collaboration with educators from the Austin Independent School District and the Anti-Defamation League. Each guide features one work of art from the Blanton, discussion questions, and activities designed to engage young people with issues of community, identity, and voice. Each lesson includes:
Inspiration to Act: Building Community
Free to Be Me: Exploring Identity
Using Your Voice
Power and Movement
STEAM [Grades 3–5]
This module explores how both artmaking and art interpretation involve pursuing questions, solving problems, and other skills that intersect with science, technology, engineering, and math. Each lesson includes:
Lesson 1: Art & Nature with Peat Duggins
Download Art & Nature worksheet HERE.
Lesson 2: Observation in Art & Nature
Download Observation in Art & Nature worksheet HERE.
Credits
Generous support for School Programs at the Blanton is provided by The Brown Foundation, Inc. Education Endowment, with additional support provided by the Buena Vista Foundation, the Burdine Johnson Foundation Education Endowment, The Powell Foundation, the CFP Foundation, the Lowe Foundation, the Meinig Family Foundation, and the Susan Mayer Art Enrichment Endowment.