Florence Griswold Museum launches online learning portal for educators
The Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme has launched SEE/change, an immersive website that aims to help equip Connecticut elementary educators with new ways to teach a variety of subjects by tapping into the museum’s content-rich collection of American art.
SEE/change offers multiple tools designed to help teachers draw upon a single work of art for meaning on various relevant topics — from state and national history to geography to ecology. SEE/change challenges students to change the way they SEE paintings.
SEE/change was led by museum Director of Education and Outreach David D.J. Rau, who was inspired by the change that is underway in America’s schools.
“Connecticut teachers are being called upon to reboot their entire educational approach — moving away from teaching facts and figures towards inquiry-based instruction that encourages students to think critically and with deepening complexity,” Rau says in a statement. “It’s our hope that SEE/change helps educators and students see a change in the way they investigate subjects using primary sources and various points of view.”
The project was funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. It focuses on the museum’s 1853 painting “Seven Miles to Farmington” by Connecticut artist George H. Durrie. The popular genre scene of travelers arriving by sleigh to a rustic country inn on a winter’s day is steeped in historical content.
The web pages are designed by Julia Balfour, LLC, and feature visually rich essays about the artist, the painting, the inn in the painting, and the landscape.
Users learn more about the artist, his life in New Haven, and his artistic career. The site features a portfolio of Durrie’s work, a timeline, a visual glossary, and lesson plans. Three videos include a guided tour of the painting; a demonstration featuring Leslie Evans, director of the Avery-Copp House Museum in Groton, making a pounded cheese from a recipe from the period; and a short painting lesson based on Durrie’s dogs.
There is also a fun section of games and learning-to-look activities. Students can make the scene come alive by pressing buttons that link to things you might hear such as a rooster crowing, crunching snow, or a snoring traveler.
Although the portal is designed for teachers and students to connect art and history in their classrooms, any virtual visitor can enjoy exploring the mysteries behind this iconic work of American art by logging on to FlorenceGriswoldMuseum.org.