Curriculum and Lesson Plan Archive
Utah Museum of Fine Arts & Natural History Museum of Utah joint field trip experience!
See, feel, and appreciate the millennial customs and traditions of indigenous peoples! This 4-hour same-day experience includes both a guided tour and art-making at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, as well as an exploration of the Native Voices and First Peoples galleries at the Natural History Museum of Utah. Aligned with sixth-grade social studies standards, this field trip celebrates the cultural and linguistic diversity of indigenous and Latinx peoples, and explores themes of identity, history, and culture.
UMFA & NHMU Joint Field Trip includes:
- Pre-visit activities
- Reimbursement available for transportation
- Free admission to UMFA & NHMU for teachers, students and chaperones, with lunch space
- UMFA guided tour and a hands-on art-making workshop around the theme of identity
- NHMU self-guided tour of Native Voices and First Peoples exhibitions
Pre-Tour Lessons
The Race to Promontory:
Visit the UMFA for tours of Race to Promontory: The Transcontinental Railroad and the American West, a major visiting exhibition that celebrates the 150th anniversary of the “Meeting of the Rails” at Promontory Summit, Utah, on May 10, 1869 through photographs and stereographs. Students will learn more about this important period of Utah history and consider the art of photography, the stories photographers choose to tell, and what’s happening beyond a composition that we might not see.
*While these tours are geared toward 4th and 7th graders, they can be modified for any K-12 grade level.
pARTners Tours Curriculum and Lesson Plan Archive
How to Look at a Work of Art
Train your artistic eye and develop visual literacy as we practice looking closely at details to interpret works of art using visual evidence. Our world is full of images and it is important that we can read them, discover their meaning, and examine why artists make the choices they do. We will discover how to look at works of art through sketching, storytelling, and games, asking questions about what we see, and making looking at art fun! Each tour highlights traveling and temporary exhibitions and art workshops change each semester.
Pre-tour Lesson:
How to Look at a Work of Art
Winter 2023 | Storytelling
Come explore a world full of stories at UMFA! This semester SLCSD’s 4th grade students will experience different types of stories and storytelling methods to look at and discuss art. Stories from around the world and our new special exhibition, Many Wests: Artists Shape an American Idea, will be highlighted. Students will learn about visual narrative and uncover clues and details hidden in works of art that reveal secrets, mysteries, facts, and questions. Thanks to our friends at the UofU Book Arts Program, each participant will make a comic book and create their own incredible story!
Pre-tour Lesson:
Storytelling
Fall 2022 | How to Look at a Work of Art!
This fall, students and their teachers will train their artistic eye and develop visual literacy as we practice looking closely at details to interpret works of art using visual evidence. Our world is full of images and it is important that we can read them, discover their meaning, and examine why artists make the choices they do. We will explore how to look at a work of art through sketching, storytelling, and games, asking questions about what we see and making looking at art fun! After our tour, we will make art that we can carry inspired by the new exhibition, Air.
Pre-tour Lesson:
How to Look at a Work of Art!
Winter 2022 | Pattern!
UMFA is thrilled that pARTners tours will be back in the galleries beginning February 2022! This semester, 4th graders and their teachers in SLC School District will explore the Museum’s global collection through pattern. Patterns are everywhere! They can be simple or complicated, inspired by nature or math, and can even be symbolic of an idea or feeling – a secret idea hidden in a work of art! Explore amazing patterns from around the world as we dice into repetitions of colors, dots, lines, and spots!
Pre-tour lesson:
Pattern!
Fall 2021 | How to Look at a Work of Art
This fall, students and their teachers will train their artistic eye and develop visual literacy as we practice looking closely at details to interpret works of art using visual evidence. Our world is full of images and it is important that we can read them, discover their meaning, and examine why artists make the choices they do. We will discover how to look at a work of art through sketching, storytelling, and games, asking questions about what we see and making looking at art fun!
Pre-tour lesson:
How to Look at a Work of Art
Winter 2021 | Elements of Art
For their second pARTners digital field trip, 4th grade students and teachers in SLCSD will discover the elements of art: line, shape, color, texture, and space! This digital field trip will introduce the elements of art as building blocks for artistic expression and investigate different ways artists use these elements to communicate ideas and tell stories. Students will gain confidence in their ability to connect with and talk about works of art, as well as cultivate their own creativity as they use the elements for inspiration and relaxation.
Pre-tour Lesson:
Elements of Art
Post-tour Lesson:
Elements of Art
Fall 2020 | How to Look at a Work of Art
This fall, students and their teachers will train their artistic eye and develop visual literacy as we practice looking closely at details to interpret works of art using visual evidence. Our world is full of images and it is important that we can read them, discover their meaning, and examine why artists make the choices they do. We will discover how to look at a work of art through sketching, storytelling, and games, asking questions about what we see and making looking at art fun!
Pre-Lesson:
How to Look at a Work of Art
Winter 2020 | Storytelling
Come explore a world full of stories at UMFA! This semester, SLCSD’s 4th grade students and teachers will experience different types of stories and storytelling methods to look at and discuss art. Stories from around the world will be highlighted as students learn about visual narrative and uncover clues and details hidden in works of art that reveal secrets, mysteries, facts, and questions. Thanks to our friends at the UofU Book Arts Program, each participant will make a comic book and create their own incredible story!
Pre-tour Lesson:
Storytelling
Fall 2019 | Compare | Contrast
Inspired by UMFA’s dynamic exhibition Power Couples: The Pendant Format in Art pARTners fall curriculum sparks a fun, interactive exploration of artworks created as pairs. This curriculum that integrates Utah Core Standards provides opportunities for close looking, critical thinking, and a careful investigation of details that will get students thinking about what makes works of art similar and different. Students will develop their artistic eye and flex their creative brains as they discover the stories artworks tell and the connections they can make between individual pieces, each other, and the world around them. Join us for this hands-on learning experience around doubles & duos, opposites & lookalikes—and stay for an art-making workshop where students roll the dice to make their own pendant portraits!
Pre-Tour Lessons:
Compare | Contrast
Post-tour Art-Making Workshop:
Instructions
Roll a Portrait Game Card
Dice Template
pARTners winter 2019 | Elements of Art
For their second pARTners visit, 4th grade students and teachers in SLCSD will explore the galleries through the elements of art: line, shape, color, texture, and space. Tours will introduce the elements of art as building blocks for artistic expression and investigate different ways artists use these elements to communicate ideas and tell stories. All curriculum integrates Utah Core Standards and will focus on cultivating creativity and helping students gain confidence in their ability to connect to and talk about works art. Pre-tour lessons highlight the elements of art through a series of short “brain break” activities, and the program culminates in an art making workshop in UMFA’s classroom exploring line and color to create an agamograph.
Pre-Tour Lessons
Color
Line
Shape
Space
Texture
Museum Manners
Post-Tour Lessons
Agamograph art-making activity
Fall 2018 | How to Look at a Work of Art
The UMFA galleries are perfect for finding inspiration in art from around the world. This fall, 4th grade students and their teachers in Salt Lake City School District will discover different ways to look at and interact with works of art. From sketching to storytelling, from movement to games, we will each train our artistic eye and cultivate creativity. All curriculum integrates Utah Core Standards and will focus on literacy and communication skills, encourage friendship and understanding, and illustrate how looking at works of art can be fun!
Pre-Tour Lessons
Post-tour Lesson | Thaumatropes art-making workshops
Winter 2018 | Elements of Art!
For their second UMFA visit this year, 4th grade students and teachers in SLCSD will explore the galleries through the elements of art: line, shape, color, texture, and space. They will discover the elements of art as building blocks for artistic expression through games, art activities, and hands-experiences, and will explore how and why artists around the world make works of art. Throughout their tour, students and teachers will increase their comfort in talking about art, and ultimately see themselves as creative people! All curricula is integrated into Utah Core Standards and pre and post curricula highlights ways to incorporate the elements of art into other subjects through short bell-ringer activities and mindfulness workshops.
Fall 2017 | The Senses!
We are thrilled to welcome back 4th grade students and their teachers in Salt Lake City School District to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts after our 18-month renovation! This fall the pARTners program will explore our reimagined galleries using The 5 Senses to engage, connect, and critically reflect on the art and ideas between the Museum’s walls. We will explore artworks through exciting art making, discussions, and hands-on experiences with sound, smell, sight, taste, and touch and leave our own mark in UMFA’s new ACME Lab exhibition Las Hermanas Iglesias: HERE, HERE. All curricula is integrated into Utah Core Standards and pre and post curricula highlights ways to incorporate the 5 senses into other subjects through short bell-ringer activities and mindfulness workshops.
Winter 2017 | Careers in Art
This curriculum highlights careers in art through a Museum experience delivered to the classroom. Students will handle authentic art objects from the education collection, get a sneak peek into our Modern and Contemporary gallery reinstallation, and curate their own digital exhibition. Pre- and post-lessons will guide students in role play as professional artists, curators, and art critics
Fall 2016 | Land Art, Landscape and the Environment
During the hour-long presentation fourth-grade students will investigate the way artists use texture, color, repetition, space, and movement in landscapes; handle and examine authentic art objects from around the world; and engage collaboratively in a range of discussions to build connections. The presentation will culminate with a technology-based project, allowing each student to create their own photograph to be part of a whole-class artwork.