Museum – School Partnership: Part 1

Museum – School Partnerships allow for museums to work with a group of students a number of times, in contrast to the majority of school programs in a museum which are one-offs. I am actually (scarily) leading the three-part program for the Museum's partnership with a Bronx school. The theme is Trade Signs, old fashioned advertising which relies heavily on symbols. The first part is an introduction to the museum and trade signs in the classroom, the second will be a tour looking at trade signs in the museum with an art project making sculptural trade signs out of clay, and the third will be another tour in the museum focused on sculpture and a finishing the students’ sculptures by painting them.

Today was the first program, which meant I was off to the Bronx early in the morning. It required a train and a bus, which is one vehicle too many in my opinion. I arrived a bit early, and decided to take advantage of the McDonalds on the corner to get a hotcake and milk. The last time I had a McD’s hotcake was with my mother outside of Jerusalem. I mused over the similarities between the two cities, and then headed to the school where I met with Jennifer.

I taught two classes of 5th graders in a row, and pretty much stuck to the same lesson for both. The Museum and the school have been working together for the past few years, and so many of the students had already been to the museum and many recognized Jennifer. After initial introductions, I asked them “What is Folk Art?” and found that many students think it’s old, though some say it can be old and new, and that it is about people. I then asked “Who are folks?” which elicited a great number more responses about average people, neighbors, family members, and ourselves being folk. I then explained that Folk Art is art made by ordinary people who have not gone to school to learn how to make art, but teach themselves or learn some techniques from a mentor.

From there we began The Sort. The students got into groups and we handed out images of different pieces of art to the students. We asked them to decide whether a the piece of art was Folk Art or not, and to think about evidence for their arguments. Once the students had discussed amongst themselves, I asked that each group share one image that was Folk Art and one that was not. The students’ opinions influenced each other, for instance one student said that a painting was Folk Art because is had a border, and most other students began to say that all the pieces with borders were Folk Art. Some felt that only paintings could be Folk Art, or the content had to be about real people or places, or that if the piece had a signature than it couldn’t be Folk Art because the artist was famous. Of course, all the pieces were Folk Art, and the students were genuinely surprised. Even the Van Gogh? Even the graffiti?

From there we began a discussion on the main topics of the lesson; symbols and trade signs. I asked the students “What is a symbol?” and received a number of answers all relating to an image representing a bigger idea. I then had them think of symbols that they see all the time, and the students shared symbols like the American flag (America, citizenship), the Statue of Liberty (freedom, immigration and welcoming), and Chinese written symbols (the idea of symbols being understood by an in-group and not an out-group). The student had no idea what a trade sign was, so first I explained that it was a sign outside a shop which used the symbol of what was being sold inside to attract customers. I then showed them four examples of modern advertisements, three of which are not trade signs, and on which was.
The first was the McDonalds Golden Arches (I am certainly doing my part for McD’s advertising today). First they looked at the image, and then readily called out what it made them think of; fries, burgers, McNuggets, soda. I then told them to think about the sign itself, and if it told you anything about what was being sold inside. Besides a few kids who claimed the arches resembled fries, they all agreed that a person who did not know McDonalds would have no idea that it was a fast food restaurant from the sign.


We then looked at the Nike swish, which made the students think of “good job,” shoes, athletes, and money (because they’re expensive). The students said that if they didn’t know what Nike was, based on the sign they might think it sold fishing hooks, checks, or canes.







I then showed them a Hebrew Coke sign. The students had absolutely no idea about the language, but from the color, style of writing, bottom ribbon and dash between the two words they knew it was Coke. One student thought it might be Pepsi, because he could see Ps in the words.






We finished with a modern trade sign, Big Boy! At first I was disappointed that they were unfamiliar with Big Boys, but then I realized it was an advantage. I had them figure out from visual clues what Big Boys might be. The students were able to figure out that it was a restaurant (holding a burger, wearing an apron, serving food), that it was called Big Boys (name on the shirt, it is a Big Boy), that it was fast food (burger, Big Boy is stepping forward in movement, reminded them of Ronald McDonald).




From there we moved on to two images from the museum’s collection. The first is the JB Schlegelmilch Blacksmith Shop Sign and Weathervane. The students were able to point out that the man was a blacksmith (though they didn’t know that word) by looking at the tongs and hammer he holds, and the shape of what he’s working on. The students didn’t mention the anvil, which I thought was a bit surprising. I had them all say “Schlegelmilch” together a few times which elicited some giggles and made them start to think about the “er” in the sign. I then pointed out to them that just as people make sentences out of symbols, like putting an eye next to a heart and U to write “I love you” that the same kind of message can be found in the sign. I pointed out the & sign on top of the horse, then the horse, the shoe, and the “er.” Blacksmith and horseshoer! Quite the advertisement!

We ended with the Hanging Sheep Shop Sign. Most kids immediately thought that the sheep was dead. Then there was the discussion of whether it was indeed a sheep (there were other ideas of it being a goat, a donkey, and due to the lines a zebra by one imaginative child). Several students pointed to the lines made by where the pieces of wood meet to show where the butcher would cut up the sheep. Only when one student pointed out that the lines were there because the “furr” or wool was gone did we begin to pursue that line of thought. I asked, “If the wool is gone, than what would the shop have used it for?” And the idea of tailoring, making clothes, and even making shoes (oh Uggs) were suggested. Indeed, this sign is popular at many fine tailors, and you may have seen it on Brooks Brothers shirts.