Teacher Workshop | Curating Connections: Pairing Artworks and Stories

How can placing two artworks in conversation with one another deepen our understanding of history and the American experience?
About this Event

In this interactive workshop, educators will explore strategies for making meaningful connections across artworks and using those connections to reveal new perspectives that might not emerge when studying a single work alone.

Building on an initial guided close-looking experience with two artworks in the galleries, participants will then take on the role of curator. Working in small groups, they will select and pair artworks from the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery to create mini exhibitions connected to relevant themes. Each group will develop a title and identify a central idea that explains how their chosen artworks speak to one another and what new insights emerge from the pairing.

Educators will leave with practical tools for integrating curatorial thinking into the classroom, helping students make connections between artworks, develop evidence-based interpretations, and find relevance to history and their lives today.

Recommended for: Grades 4–12 social studies, history, civics, visual arts, ethnic studies, and English language arts educators

Learning Goals:

· Use close-looking strategies to analyze artworks and objects as sources of historical and cultural meaning

· Identify connections between artworks across time periods, media, and subjects

· Explore how pairings can reveal broader themes

· Practice curatorial thinking by selecting and interpreting meaningful artwork pairings

· Adapt object-pairing strategies for classroom discussions, writing activities, and inquiry-based learning

The Portrait Gallery strives to provide programs that are accessible to all visitors. If you have questions about the accessibility of this program, or if you would like to request real-time captioning (CART), sign language interpretation, or any other accommodations, please contact Vanessa Jones at [email protected]. Two weeks advance notice is appreciated for requesting accommodations.

Image Credit: Left: Porto Rican Cotton Picker (detail) by Miguel Luciano, 2011. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquisition made possible in part with federal funds through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the National Museum of the American Latino