Young People's Programs

The Violette de Mazia Foundation's Young People's Aesthetic Education Program introduces the objective method for appreciating art to K-12 students, as well as their teachers.  A specially trained VdMF instructor meets with children in their classrooms once a week for the entire school year.  Our instructors also work with teachers to prepare them to develop and teach units of study in their own classrooms.  Teachers also receive assistance in developing aesthetic education curricula that meets state academic standards.

Our art appreciation program for children will offer students the tools to begin to answer questions such as: What is art? Is a painting a recreation of reality, or is it something else? How can students have their own interpretations of art, and yet still agree as a group as to what they are seeing?  VdMF teaches an objective interpretation of art for children of all ages at a point early in their educational experience when they are learning their basic skill sets. Our intention is to incorporate visual understanding along with their other primary learning skills. Our hope is that learning visual language at a decisive point in the educational life will allow them to objectively see the world with a deeper appreciation.   

During the year-long study of works of art, students learn to experience the meaning in works of art and are introduced to the unique objective method of art appreciation originated by Dr. Albert Barnes and Violette de Mazia at The Barnes Foundation. Classes meet once a week for a full class period. Instructors work closely with classroom teachers to plan, develop, and adjust the program to the needs of their students.

Click on the titles below to view our current Young People's Aesthetic Education programming. Click on the link below to download a Request to Partner Letter and Request to Partner Form.  Many of our classes  for K-12 students are offered free of charge through the de Mazia Foundation's community outreach.

Click here to download our Request to Partner Letter.

Click here to download our Request to Partner Form.

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BB Comegy's

In 2009, the de Mazia Foundation began providing an educational program for the benefit of selected 4th graders at BB Comegy's Elementary School in Philadelphia.  This program takes place at the school and is conducted in one hour long sessions that take place once a week.  We look forward to continuing our partnership with BB Comegy's and providing art appreciation courses for a new group of students in the 2010-2011 school year.
Stetser Elementary School

In January of 2009, the de Mazia Foundation expanded its programming to 5th graders from Stetser Elementary School located in the Chester Upland School District.  In conjunction with the Widener University Art Gallery, students were invited to come on an adventure in seeing.  They were challenged to examine what is really in a painting and were taught to see their world the way artists do through study, analysis and  lively classroom activities.
Belmont Academy Charter School

In the summer of 2009, the de Mazia Foundation kicked off a pilot children's program for the benefit of selected pre-first graders at the Belmont Academy Charter School in Philadelphia. This course was the first of its kind for our Foundation and taught us that if five year olds are able to grasp the concept of aesthetic understanding, anyone can.