The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Students on military bases see rare works
A Smithsonian program treats military-connected students to a treasure trove of art many other U.S. students never get to see.
For 50 minutes on a recent weekday morning, Debora Moore’s digital photography students received a private tour of the Smithsonian — from their classroom in Guam.
Using high-end videoconferencing equipment, Smithsonian American Art Museum educator Peg Koetsch showcased two dozen carefully selected photographs from SAAM’s world-class collection — including works by Walker Evans, Man Ray and Barbara Morgan, renowned for photographing dancers — to illustrate a lesson about composition, camera angle, and positive and negative space.
Many of Moore’s students have never been to the Smithsonian, which is not surprising considering their school, on the grounds of U.S. Naval Hospital Guam, is 7,900 miles away from Washington, D.C. But thanks to a little-known program involving the world’s largest museum complex and the Department of Defense, these military-connected students are treated to a treasure trove of art that many other American students never get to see.
“I wasn’t familiar with the images, but I was inspired to go look at those artists,” junior Khyla Jones, 16, said after the class. Jones has never visited the Smithsonian, but the lesson inspired her to change that. “Once I get to the States, that is something I want to do,” she said.
The partnership between the Smithsonian museum and the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), the unit responsible for 163 schools on military bases in the United States and around the world, began quietly in 2004. It has reached more than 40,000 military-connected students in 71 elementary, middle and high schools in Italy, Japan, South Korea and throughout the United States.
In addition to providing videoconferences for students, SAAM’s educators provide professional development seminars for teachers working at the schools. The partners signed another five-year contract this summer, ensuring the program continues through 2024. DoDEA pays the museum about $150,000 annually.
The museum’s educators provide lessons in art and art history as well as English language arts, social studies and even science and math. Teachers in DoDEA schools submit requests to the museum’s education department specifying the topics they want to cover, and the museum staffers mine the collection for ways to address them. The list of past subject areas includes surrealism, the Harlem Renaissance, the art of persuasion, the Civil War and Italian mathematician Fibonacci.
“Everything is customized, for the teacher, the class, the region,” said Chris Phillips, DoDEA’s Specialized Content Program Manager.”It has a very positive impact on our students and their learning. They are enhancing what we are doing already, not supplementing or taking the place of something. They make it interactive, and it brings (the lessons) to life.”
Moore, the Guam High School art teacher, said the program benefits her students because it offers new perspectives along with exceptional art.
“(I) might be teaching the lesson one way and then a museum educator or curator has a different viewpoint. They always bring in fresh ideas,” Moore said. “And it’s really nice that they can bring in artists that we might not know about. It pushes the kids to the next level of thinking, about what kind of photographer they might want to be.”