The Gibbes Museum of Art may be closed for construction, but Elise Detterbeck, Museum Educator at the Gibbes and ECM Partner, has not let that stop Charleston students from having their education enriched by art! Through the Gibbe’s Eye Opener experience, Detterbeck collaborates with teachers to infuse the curriculum with art and creative writing.
At ECM school Angel Oak Elementary, Detterbeck helped 3rd graders bring together history, writing, art and analysis into a powerful lesson plan. The students were each presented with the image of a real person that lived in antebellum South Carolina and some basic information about that individual. Each student then answered questions from the perspective of their person, using what they had learned in class and also what they observed from the images. In the second part of the project, the students created self-portraits and wrote about their own identity and heritage. This is just one of many experiences Detterbeck and the Gibbes are bringing into ECM schools that gives students unique and fun opportunities to achieve the required academic standards with art!
