Posts Tagged ‘Smithsonian American Art Museum’
Electronic Superhighway, Singable Art at Smithsonian’s American Art Museum
Posted on: January 22, 2012
Electronic Superhighway (1995)
Artist: Nam June Paik
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Tuckahoe Elementary School’s second grade took a trip to Chinatown DC in observance of the Chinese New Year. I went to chaperone my daughter and a friend. When the Chinatown activities were over, including a delicious lunch, we had time to visit the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery and American Art museum, both museums are housed in one building (formerly the Patent Office Building) which just happens to be steps away from the Chinatown arch.
We first visited Mike Wilkin’s license plate art called, Preamble. We stood there to enjoy the art and then sang “The Preamble Song” and “Fifty Nifty States.”
Then we went to visit another work of singable art:
Electronic Superhighway (1995)
Artist: Nam June Paik
Smithsonian American Art Museum
“Alaska and Hawaii,” detail from
Electronic Superhighway (1995)
Artist: Nam June Paik
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Electronic Superhighway (1995)
Artist: Nam June Paik
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Electronic Superhighway (1995)
Artist: Nam June Paik
Smithsonian American Art Museum
You can sing this art with,
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Fifty Nifty States
Words and Music by Ray Charles
Book Assembled by Emily Leatha Everson Gleichenhaus
This item is for classroom, home, or library use only.
But it’ll be a challenge, you have to recognize the states by their location and shape alone.
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Click here for the Smithsonian’s webpage about this mammoth work of art:
http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=71478
More information on a separate Smithsonian webpage, here:
http://americanart.si.edu/education/rs/artwork/
This link allows you to explore the work of art up-close, with the ability to click on the picture and zoom in and out to view every aspect of the piece.
Information about the artist, here:
http://americanart.si.edu/education/rs/artwork/artist.cfm
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Related Posts
FIFTY NIFTY STATES, A SINGABLE PICTURE BOOK
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/fifty-nifty-states-a-singable-picture-book/
Preamble (1987) by Mike Wilkins
Smithsonian American Art Museum
http://americanart.si.edu
I have really been enjoying singing the School House Rock Preamble Song with kids at schools, pointing to the words as spelled out in Mike Wilkin’s wonderful work of art called “Preamble.”
I wondered out loud the other day if there was a licence plate for each state in this picture. I just counted them up and found that, indeed, there are 51. 51? Lookie thar (as my pop would say) a license plate for each state and the extra one is for the District of Columbia.
Closer inspection reveals that not only is there a plate for each state, but the plates are arranged in alphabetical order! This means to me that not only can one look at “Preamble” to sing “The Preamble Song,” but you can sing it with “Fifty Nifty States, too!”
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Fifty Nifty States
Words and Music by Ray Charles
Book Assembled by Emily Leatha Everson Gleichenhaus
This item is for classroom, home, or library use only.
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Related Posts
Preamble (1987) by Mike Wilkins, Singable Art…and We The Kids, a Singable Picture Book
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/02/15/preamble-1987-by-mike-wilkins-singable-art/
Fifty Nifty States, a Singable Picture Book
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/fifty-nifty-states-a-singable-picture-book/
Schoolhouse Rock Singable Picture Books
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/04/27/school-house-rock-singable-picture-books-but-just-a-few/
Preamble (1987) by Mike Wilkins, Singable Art…and We The Kids, a Singable Picture Book (and 50 Nifty States!)
Posted on: February 15, 2011
My kids and I recently visited the National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum and we discovered a piece of Singable Art!
Preamble (1987) by Mike Wilkins
Smithsonian American Art Museum
http://americanart.si.edu
A short bio of Mike Wilkins on the Smithsonian American Art Museum Website, here:
http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artist/?id=5398
My children with the picture,
We went to the National Portrait Gallery (which shares a building with the Smithsonian American Art Museum near Chinatown in Washington, DC) with the mission to see portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln to commemorate President’s Day. The woman seated at the Visitor’s Desk gave us the “must see artwork” short list for the museum, which included “Preamble.” I’ve walked by that installation many times before and never knew what it was. The artist collected licence plates from each of the 50 states with text and numbers that would spell out the Preamble to the Constitution. You’ve got to work at it a little, but start at the beginning and The Preamble emerges.
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The best part for me is that you can SING it! Lynn Ahrens set “The Preamble” to music for SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK in 1976!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_NzZvdsbWI
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The Preamble Song (Preamble Excerpt)
Words by Gouverneur Morris
Music by Lynn Ahrens
We the people (of the United States)
In order to form a more perfect union
Establish justice, insure domestic tranquility
Provide for the common defense
Promote the general welfare and
Secure the blessings of liberty
To ourselves and our posterity
Do ordain and establish this Constitution for the
United States of America.
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NOTE:
The only hitch with the lyrics to the song is that the phrase, “of the United States” is left out after the famous words “We the People.” You can insert the phrase by saying it out loud over the instrumental music in that spot or just take the pause.
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The Preamble to the United States Constitution
Words by Gouverneur Morris
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
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Note that the text above is a cut/paste from:
http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html
This text reflects the spelling as hand written on the original copy of the United States Constitution that resides at the National Archives in Washington, DC.
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You can find “The Preamble” in Singable Picture Books,
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We the Kids (The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States)
Forward by David Catrow
Illustrated by David Catrow
Sing this book with “The Preamble Song” from “School House Rock”
Additional Lyrics by
Music by Lynn Ahrens
(More information about the song, here: http://www.schoolhouserock.tv/Preamble.html)
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The Constitution of the United States of America (With Benjamin Franklin’s Address to the Delegates Upon the Signing of the Constitution)
Inscribed and Illustrated by Sam Fink
The Preamble to the Constitution (which you can SING, thanks to Lynn Ahrens and School House Rock) is printed and illustrated in this AMAZING book. It’s a tall, heavy book with fabulous illustrations which illuminate a complete printing of the US Constitution and includes a chronology of and historical information about constitutional creation.
You can hear a clip of Lynn Ahrens singing The Preamble, on Track 4 of this link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/recsradio/radio/B0000033XR/ref=pd_krex_dp_001_004?ie=UTF8&track=004&disc=001
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We the People (The Constitution of the United States of America)
Contains Singable Elements from the Untied States Constitution
Text by Peter Spier
Illustrated by Peter Spier
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For more information and a classroom activity (including a PDF with licence plates you can cut out and assemble into your own Preamble), here:
http://www.realclassroomideas.com/94.html
http://www.realclassroomideas.com/resources/Bulletin+Boards-+License+Plate+Preamble.pdf
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To view the United States Constitution to read a transcript, click here:
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html
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PREAMBLE SONG (Full Text)
Words and Music by Lynn Ahrens
Preamble Text by Gouverneur Morris
From SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK
Hey, do you know about the U.S.A.?
Do you know about the government?
Can you tell me about the Constitution?
Hey, learn about the U.S.A.
In 1787 I’m told
Our founding fathers did agree
To write a list of principles
For keepin’ people free.
The U.S.A. was just startin’ out
A whole brand-new country
And so our people spelled it out
The things that we should be.
And they put those principles down on paper and called
it the Constitution, and it’s been helping us run our
country ever since then. The first part of the
Constitution is called the preamble and tells what
those founding fathers set out to do.
We the people
In order to form a more perfect union
Establish justice, insure domestic tranquility
Provide for the common defense
Promote the general welfare and
Secure the blessings of liberty
To ourselves and our posterity
Do ordain and establish this Constitution for the
United States of America.
In 1787 I’m told
Our founding fathers all sat down
And wrote a list of principles
That’s known the world around.
The U.S.A. was just starting out
A whole brand-new country
And so our people spelled it out
They wanted a land of liberty.
And the Preamble goes like this:
We the people
In order to form a more perfect union
Establish justice, insure domestic tranquility
Provide for the common defense
Promote the general welfare and
Secure the blessings of liberty
To ourselves and our posterity
Do ordain and establish this Constitution for the
United States of America.
For the United States of America.
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11/8/2011
I have really been enjoying singing the School House Rock Preamble Song with kids at schools, pointing to the words as spelled out in Mike Wilkin’s wonderful work of art called “Preamble.”
I wondered out loud the other day of there was a licence plate for each state in this picture. I just counted them up and found that, indeed, there are 51. 51? Sure enough, there’s a license plate for each state and the extra one is for the District of Columbia.
Closer inspection reveals that not only is there a plate for each state, but the plates are in alphabetical order! This means to me that not only can one look at “Preamble” to sing “The Preamble Song,” but you can sing it with “Fifty Nifty States,” too!”
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Fifty Nifty States
Words and Music by Ray Charles
Book Assembled by Emily Leatha Everson Gleichenhaus
This item is for classroom, home, or library use only.
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Addendum 1/9/2013
Preamble Song, a Girl Scout Song for Troop 2740
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The Preamble Song (Preamble Excerpt)
Words by Gouverneur Morris
Music by Lynn Ahrens
To view or print this page, click here:
Preamble Song GSSLyrics
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Related Posts
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Schoolhouse Rock Singable Picture Books
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/04/27/school-house-rock-singable-picture-books-but-just-a-few/
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Preamble (1987) by Mike Wilkins, Singable Art…and We The Kids, a Singable Picture Book
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/02/15/preamble-1987-by-mike-wilkins-singable-art/
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Fifty Nifty States, a Singable Picture Book
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/fifty-nifty-states-a-singable-picture-book/
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Preamble Song, a Girl Scout Song for Troop 2740
http://brownietroop2740.wordpress.com/2013/01/09/preamble-song-a-girl-scout-song-for-troop-2740/
Norman Rockwell at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and 2 Singable Picture Books
Posted on: July 21, 2010
Triple Self-Portrait by Norman Rockwell
One of the great pleasures of living in or near Washington, DC is having access the incredible resources of the Smithsonian. We make good use of the museums, visiting weekly when the weather is cold and frequently in the summer. It is not easy to resist waxing poetical about the inspirational effect these places have on me!
So, to avoid yammering on for too long, I’ll get to the story…
My dad visited us in Arlington last week and he and I got to go see the WONDERFUL exhibit of Norman Rockwell paintings at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. All these Rockwell paintings and drawings were from the collections of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.
I grew up with the images of Norman Rockwell and I remember mostly the realistic and homespun qualities of his pictures. I was surprised by the degree to which Norman Rockwell paints emotion, which is stronly communicated by the paintings in person. The pictures stirred such strong feeling in me that I couldn’t stand looking at any one of them for too long or I simply would have begun to weep and spudder. I wasn’t prepared for this…especially the one of woman meeting a train of orphans at a train station, titled “Good Boy (Little Orphan at the Train).” The woman stands there and looks at the boy who is to be hers. She has brought him a basket of food and he is huddled in the arms of a nun. The looks on their faces are so authentic. One can feel their anticipation, wonder, excitement and hesitance in that moment…both the boy’s and the woman’s. I’m overwhelmed even now, just thinking of it.
Of course, there is plenty humor! In “Happy Birthday Miss Jones,” is the class cut-up, wearing a red shirt. You see him from behind with an eraser on his head and it was undoubtably that boy who wrote “Happy Birthday Jonesy” on the blackboard.
One thing I noticed over and over in Mr. Rockwell’s pictures was his effective use of reds. The colors are striking in his paintings, but his use of reds made an impression on me. I also remember the wonderful blue of the sky above the boy who peers in terror over the edge of the diving board, 20 feet up. We’re always jumping off the high dive in one way or another. That’s Life!
See a slide show with the wall card information printed along-side a thumbnail of the paintings, here: http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/online/tellingstories/
But honestly, GO SEE the pictures in person. This slide show is nice, but it does NOT compare to seeing the pictures in person.
I was excited to find two Singable Picture Books illustrated with images from Norman Rockwell’s canon.
You’re a Grand Old Flag
Music and Lyrics by George M. Cohan
Illustrated with Paintings by Norman Rockwell
Deck the Halls
Traditional Words and Tune
Illustrated with Paintings by Norman Rockwell
This book, not sold at the museum, is another wonderful find:
Norman Rockwell’s Christmas Book
Words and Music by Various Artists
Illustrated with Paintings by Norman Rockwell
There is also a “revised and updated” edition of this book.
Although this is not a Singable Picture Book, it is about a wood thrush who sings and it is the only picture book Norman Rockwell created for especially for children. And, it is a real charmer about the JOY singing one’s own song can be to oneself and to others (and that is what I hope everyone will do with Singable Picture Books!).
Willie Was Different (A Children’s Story)
Written and Illustrated by Norman Rockwell
Hear the song of a wood thrush here:
http://www.songbird.org/birds/woodthrush.htm
or here:
http://www.birdjam.com/birdsong.php?id=32&osCsid=17k5flg24plve0td1rohdpij52
Brief video histories of Norman Rockwell and his work:
American Chronicals “The Art of Norman Rockwell,” Part 1
youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiL24GF3q_s
American Chronicals “The Art of Norman Rockwell,” Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TO4kOmpyUM
Drawing Inspiration: Norman Rockwell in Stockbridge- part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nDrIfMEqXM
Drawing Inspiration: Norman Rockwell in Stockbridge- part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGZJQMqgt6k
Drawing Inspiration: Norman Rockwell in Stockbridge- part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-K4RC3K3Yg
The Norman Rockwell Museum’s YouTube Page
(an AMAZING resource for information and you get to see Norman Rockwell at work):
http://www.youtube.com/user/NormanRockwellMuseum
Website for the Norman Rockwell Museum
http://normanrockwellmuseum.com/
When I was a girl growing up in Indiana, a copy of this picture hung in my room:
