SchoolArts - October 2009

Web Reviews Rebecca Arkenberg Continued from page 54.

The Renaissance Connection www.renaissanceconnection.org/ index2.cfm

In many ways, we are still living in a Renaissance world, and you can see the origins of our world in the visual arts of the Renaissance. That is the secret of “The Renaissance Connection.” This interactive feature from the Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, launches through a Monty-Pythonesque animated sequence that is a great introduction to the Renaissance and its impact on life today. Art Explorer presents Renaissance art and history through a timeline, map, and a list of works of art. Innovations 1400–2000 uses a “time telescope” to explore selected modern innovations and their origins. These include the Quest for Knowledge (books, libraries, and colleges); Arts and Architecture (oil paint to digital cameras); Patrons and Lifestyles (banking); Everyday Life (textiles and clothing); and Trade and Exploration (spices, foods, and markets). Be a Patron of the Arts allows you to commission a work of art to glorify yourself and your family, your city, or your beliefs. You can choose the subject matter, materials, and artist. The Artist’s Life provides information about apprentices and masters, patrons, innovations, and becoming an artist.

Lesson Plans, including a General Introduction, Language Arts, Art, Science, and Social Studies, are provided for middle-school classes and relate in an interdisciplinary manner. For example, the art lesson plans “ Discovering Linear Perspective” and “ Tempera vs. Oil Paint” relate to science and technology.

—Rebecca Arkenberg is a museum consultant from Stratford, Connecticut.

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