Super Parents and Art Exploration!

We have previously mentioned that our parents are SUPER parents, and without them, we wouldn't have our wonderful little community. Each parent brings something special to our group, and for this blog post, we are celebrating Phaedra Siebert, one of our parents who is an art historian.

Dan Graham, For Gordon Bunshaft, 2007

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Phaedra, our SUPER parent, has designed an Arts Exploration program for the spring that ties into City Kids' Geography/World Culture curriculum. For each unit of our Geography curriculum, Phaedra will plan and run an arts exploration field trip in the D.C. metro area. These trips will provide a unique opportunity for the kids to learn about art from all over the world, and they will provide a cohesive link to the work we are already doing in our other activities. Below are just two of the bonus field trips Phaedra planned for the fall.

On a trip to the The National Galery of Art, Phaedra taught the kids about perspective. She led the kids through the galleries, stopping to look at specific paintings that illustrated the concept. Following, the kids took pictures of things that they thought demonstrated perspective.

On another trip, Phaedra took the kids to see Janine Antoni's "Lick and Lather" chocolate and soap sculptures at the Hirshorn Museum. Phaedra engaged the kids in a discussion about the art; after, she handed out mini chocolate and soap sculptures (SHE MADE FROM STAR WARS MOLDS!). The kids got to lick the chocloate and lather with the soap! It was a clever and fun way to engage the kids in art exploration and to have them consider the creative and intellectual process of artists.

The "lick."

The "lather."

These trips are just two of the fun activities Phaedra planned this past fall; looking ahead, we are very excited for her Arts Exploration program. Happy Exploring everyone!

A little note about our SUPER parent:

Phaedra Siebert is an art historian with over twenty years experience. She has worked at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice as well as the Getty Museum in LA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York, and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. In addition to her work with City Kids, Phaedra currently works as a volunteer with the department of French Paintings at the National Gallery of Art.