Gordon County teachers participate in art fellowship

Jenny Akridge and Hannah Roddy participate in Hunter Museum of American Art Education Fellowship.

During the 2018- 2019 school year, Gordon County art teachers Jenny Akridge, of Red Bud Middle School, and Hannah Roddy, of Sonoraville High School, participated in the Hunter Museum of American Art Education Fellowship program in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Several professional development opportunities were provided throughout the year including guest speakers, peer feedback and collaboration, guided tours, and creative workshops designed to enhance student learning. Topics covered included STEAM — science, technology, engineering, art and math — diversity and inclusion, and creative problem solving.

Program participants developed curriculum using the Hunter Museum environment as a curriculum tool. Those curriculums resulted in student works which were later displayed in the Hunter Museum Education Fellowship Student Showcase during the month of May.

Akridge developed a curriculum focusing on composition techniques such as depth of field, point of view, and leading lines. The students attended a Hunter Museum field trip where they identified composition techniques in the museum collection. They then completed assignments by taking photographs with their iPads which demonstrated an understanding of these techniques. Twenty- two photographs were displayed at the culminating student showcase.

Roddy’s classes studied landscapes and how they change over time. Students researched landscapes of their choosing and developed works of art inspired by what they learned. Throughout the project, students participated in a field trip to the Hunter Museum and studied a wide range of topics related to landscapes, such as our interaction and impact on them, landscape artists and art, landscape architecture, and various techniques for painting and drawing landscapes. Twenty- nine student artworks were on display for the student showcase and will remain on display for most of the month of May.

Red Bud Middle School student artwork on display at the Hunter Museum of American Art.

Hannah Roddy, left, and Jenny Akridge.

Sonoraville High School student Makayla Hufstetler, a freshman, poses next to her artwork at the Hunter Museum of American Art.