The Da Vinci Institute Curriculum Project for Public Art
The Da Vinci Institute is a network of Evansville, Indiana, community leaders that facilitates opportunities for creativity and collaboration for K-12 learners so that the disciplines of the arts and humanities are vital components of the educational experience and integral with the study of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). During the summer of 2013, the Institute hosted a round table discussion at the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana to explore ways to better understand and highlight the Roger Stoller sculpture, Vibrant River, recently installed on the Ford Center in downtown Evansville. A tangible outcome of this discussion is the development of a curriculum guide that will include relevant teaching and learning components, including background information about the Stoller work and other public art installations in Evansville, along with lesson plans created by our local teachers.
We need your help! Ten teachers, representing various schools and disciplines, will be selected to submit lesson plans for this new guide. We are looking for creative ideas that connect or infuse curricular areas of study. For example, engineers worked with Roge Stoller to ensure the scope, weight, and size of this work did not compromise the building structure: How is math important to art? How might you apply this concept to a project in your class? The target age group for the first phase of this project will be 4th grade students. The Da Vinci Institute is also collaborating with the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra on ways in which music and art intersect, with the understanding that many students may have an opportunity to view the Vibrant River sculpture when they attend the Young People’s Concerts at the Victory Theatre in the spring of 2014.
Please respond with the details in the pdf (link below) to Sharon Kazee at [email protected]. The deadline to express your interest is September 30, 2013. No lesson plans are due at this time. The Da Vinci Curriculum Committee will review the responses and contact those selected to participate by October 15, 2013. Those selected will be invited to an introductory session at the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana on October 22, 2013 at 7:00 PM, at which time the overall concepts and lesson‐writing process will be introduced.
To acknowledge the expertise and efforts of the lesson-‐writing team, selected contributors will be compensated with $100 for a completed plan, a $50 gift certificate for classroom supplies to implement the plan, and $50 to attend an introductory and culminating reception.
Please click below to view the full printable pdf version of the Vibrant River Lesson Plans document.