Bolivar artist to teach online class for Crystal Bridges museum

Last year, 45,000 students visited Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, said Anne Kraybill, director of education and research in learning.

The nationally renowned museum houses more than five centuries of American art and has a strong focus on education outreach. A major goal is to provide access to high-quality art education regardless of a student’s geographic location.

And starting this month, high school students in Springfield and Bolivar have an opportunity to take a semester-long class designed through Crystal Bridges.

In May, Diane Denton, a Bolivar artist, was selected to attend a training for educators through Crystal Bridges. It was a certification program for Denton and others to teach the museum’s semester-long classes already offered in Arkansas.

Denton is the only certified art instructor by Crystal Bridges in Missouri.

She already taught a pilot program and is now enrolling students for a class that begins on Jan. 26 titled "Art Appreciation: American Identity and The Art."

There are two separate 15- week classes — one in Bolivar and one in Springfield — geared toward high school and home school students.

“My goal is to bring awareness of what Crystal Bridges is doing to bring art to where you live. They are providing opportunities to experience art and talk about it in a meaningful way. These classes are written by Crystal Bridges. The level of academics put into this class is amazing,” she said.

While most of the learning is virtual, students will meet once a week for two hours at a Springfield library, and the other set of students will meet at a library in Bolivar. Students must register by Jan. 22. The cost is $195. Upon completion of the course, they will receive a certificate of completion from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art for their portfolio.

Each week students will study two different American artists from the 20th and 21st centuries. They will study, dialogue and write about 25 American artists and learn how to discuss, interpret and critique artworks.

As they make connections between art, history and identity, they will practice and apply the skills of curation to create two online exhibits: one about their individual identity and one about the American identity.

They will have access to Gallery 5, an online gallery at Crystal Bridges designed for these types of classes.

“These kids, what they will do is choose five pieces of art that they will study for the semester; the Gallery 5 is like a gaming tool. You can virtually go in and change the lighting, hang your pieces and add music in the gallery. They can select music that speaks to them. It’s an amazing program,” Denton said.

Aside from Gallery 5, students will start doing pieces of work that tell who they are and present those in the classroom setting.

“They will take selfies, have presentations, create two to three pieces in all mediums. Students make connections — one about their own identity and one about American identity. It will be virtual, so they will do it online. With the American identity, they will take pieces of work they create as well and have a place they can share their work with their peers and talk about it online. It’s called Art Chat,” she said.

Students will learn the role museum curators play in designing and promoting exhibitions.

Denton has her degree in art from Southwest Baptist University. She is a member of the Bolivar arts community and is on the board of the Springfield Regional Arts Council.

Her works have been exhibited at Drury, The Creamery in Springfield, Driskel Gallery and currently at the Springfield-Branson National Airport through February.

She taught Crystal Bridges curriculum to five students last year to work out any technology hiccups and is now ready to take this to a larger audience of high schoolers.

“It was so rewarding to see these kids grow and build confidence,” Denton said. “I am an artist myself and have been to numerous events at Crystal Bridges, and it’s amazing what they are doing. They invited me back this summer to mentor and train other teachers, so I feel very lucky. I feel so fortunate to be doing what I am doing and have an opportunity to be part of this.”

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

Diane Denton received a certification from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville to teach semester-long classes to high school students. The online course “Art Appreciation: American Identity and the Art” is from Jan. 26 to May 11 and is geared toward homeschool and high school students. There’s a class that meets weekly in Springfield for two hours and another in Bolivar (the bulk of the learning is online). Register by Jan. 22. Cost is $195 for 15 weeks. Students receive a certificate of completion from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art for their art portfolio. Contact Diane Denton: 417-399-8520 or through find her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/springfieldhomeschoolart/?ref=bookmarks

A short video about the classes offered. https://youtu.be/G9xZcuIS8U8

Crystal Bridges has an endowment fund and will reimburse the cost of a class field trip to the museum- even students in Missouri. This summer, it will offer free online training for educators who want to teach some of the museum’s courses, said Kraybill.  For more information regarding Crystal Bridges online learning opportunities: http://learn.crystalbridges.edc.org/