City Gallery Explorer

Key competencies Thinking, Managing self, Relating to others, Using language symbols and text
Curriculum strands Visual Art: Understanding the arts in context, Communicating and interpreting
Social Science: Social Studies: Identity Culture and Organisation
Achievement objectives
Visual Art: Level 1-2: Share ideas about how and why works are made and their purpose, value and context. Share ideas, feelings and stories communicated by objects and images. Level 3-4: Investigate the purpose of objects and images and identify the contexts in which they are made viewed and valued. Explore and describe ways in which meanings can be communicated and interpreted. Level 5-6: Investigate and analyse the relationship between the production of art works and the contexts in which they are made, viewed and valued. Investigate, analyse, and evaluate ideas and interpret artist’s intentions in artworks. Level 7-8: Use research and analysis to investigate contexts, meanings, intentions, and technological influences related to the making and valuing of artworks. Research and analyse how art works are constructed and presented to communicate meanings. Use critical analysis to interpret, respond to and evaluate art works
Social Science: Level 1: Understand that people have different roles and responsibilities as part of their participation in groups. Level 2: Understand how cultural practices reflect and express peoples customs traditions and values. Level 4: Understand how people pass on and sustain culture and heritage for different reasons and that this has consequences for people. Level 6: Understand how cultures adapt and change and that this has consequences for society. Level 7: Understand how conflicts can arise from different cultural beliefs and ideas and be addressed in different ways with different outcomes

Programme Content Students will: Engage in a general introduction to the City Gallery Wellington, and take part in discussions and activities about a range of topics relating to the ways in which contemporary art galleries function.

Activities may include:

  • Exploring all public and exhibition spaces in the gallery including the front foyer and reading room, discussing questions about the functions of City Gallery. Participating in individual and group activities designed to use the student’s own experiences and perspectives as a starting point for exploring city gallery and it’s contents.
  • Discussing questions such as ‘what is contemporary art?’ what does an artist do? How and where do they work? How is an exhibition organised? What happens to the art work? How does it get here? What is curating – what does it involve? What other people work at the gallery- What do they do? Who pays for exhibitions? How much do they cost?
  • Exploring the reasons why galleries use: wall labels/brochures/gallery educators/a reading room/gallery hosts. Discussing and experimenting with different ways of interpreting an artwork. Developing new vocabulary and becoming familiar with visual literacy skills.
  • Examining some different types of contemporary art e.g. installation, photography, paining, film, performance, sculpture, text etc. Learning about different art genres, and styles of art.