On the first day of class, I asked students to consider this question: “Why do artists make art?”
One student responded: “An artist is just trying to get what is in his head…out.”

This statement is at the heart of what the “Look and See” program teaches. Students use the objective method for appreciating art to discover the meaning of an artist’s visual experience.
At the start of the Look and See program, students learn to distinguish a picture from its subject as they are guided to notice the color shapes in pictures such as the still life painting Still Life with Skull, 1896-1898, oil on canvas, by Paul Cezanne from the Barnes Foundation Collection.

After looking and discussing, students created still life drawings of their own; an opportunity to get what’s in their head…out.

Once completed, students analyzed their peers’ artworks to discover the visual interests of one another. Students noticed that certain classmates utilized dark and vibrant colors, while other preferred a softer color effect. Some used sketchy lines, while others used solid curving lines. Through this process, students are becoming aware of just how differently everyone perceives life’s visual experiences and as a result they are learning about the meaning in artist’s and each other’s art.