Practical art education
The Yu-Hsiu Museum of Art has a less widely known mission: promoting art education for schoolchildren from far-flung places.
This is also Lee Chu-hsin’s legacy. “Go and plant trees: Sow the seeds of art in every child’s heart, because one day they may grow into magnificent trees.” This wish is found in one of the manuscripts he left behind.
It was this vision of Lee’s that initiated the museum’s project of hosting art classes on site.
Education is a long-term investment. With an eye to the future, the conscientious team has applied the museum’s characteristic attention to detail to the cultivation of young minds. Every aspect receives meticulous care, from designing lessons that tie in with current exhibitions, through communicating with schools before the events and training instructors and volunteer guides, to post-lesson contact and follow-ups.
The team hopes to inculcate the polite manners that are expected in a museum context and to offer appropriate guidance to help children enjoy and appreciate artworks. The aim is for children to realize how interesting it is to visit a museum, so that a love for art may take root at an impressionable age. “What we seek is not so much to give something to children as to enable them to discover something here,” says Liu Hsin-yun of the museum’s education and communication section.
Take one of their past exhibitions, Tranquil Vastness, for example. The artist, Yang Pei-chen, created wood sculptures that were almost indistinguishable from real Boston bags, antiquarian books, and leather clothing. These simulacra of old objects had a mellow appearance, as if they had been washed over by time. They also quietly evoked the ineffable bonds between things and their owners.
After viewing the exhibition, the instructor invited the students to make observations and to think about questions such as “Who owned that bag?” These questions served to stimulate the children’s minds, encouraging them to step outside their comfort zones, giving free rein to their imagination, and ultimately supplying motivation for creating art. Begin with “observation.” Then activate the “imagination.” And finally, set about “practicing art.” All creative practitioners share this process.
These on-site art classes are integral to the founding vision of the Yu-Hsiu Museum of Art. They are intended to disseminate the idea that art is for everyone to appreciate. Beauty originates in our attentiveness to life. By the same token, if we know how to appreciate art, what we gain from it will ultimately enrich our lives.
By introducing schoolchildren to art, the museum is sowing seeds that one day will grow into magnificent trees. (courtesy of Yu-Hsiu Museum of Art)
By introducing schoolchildren to art, the museum is sowing seeds that one day will grow into magnificent trees. (courtesy of Yu-Hsiu Museum of Art)
By introducing schoolchildren to art, the museum is sowing seeds that one day will grow into magnificent trees. (courtesy of Yu-Hsiu Museum of Art)
By introducing schoolchildren to art, the museum is sowing seeds that one day will grow into magnificent trees. (courtesy of Yu-Hsiu Museum of Art)
By introducing schoolchildren to art, the museum is sowing seeds that one day will grow into magnificent trees. (courtesy of Yu-Hsiu Museum of Art)
Artist Janet Laurence uses living plants and other specimens to create an immersive experience, exploring the relationship between humanity and nature.
courtesy of Yu-Hsiu Museum of Art