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Category: Behind the Scenes

Staff Spotlight: Haley Hermes

Posted on by Kelsey Longpine
Haley Hermes assisting during a class.
Haley Hermes, Gallery Teacher

From Andale, Kansas, Haley Hermes was the education intern for the fall 2014 semester.  Majoring in Family Studies and Human Services, Conflict Analysis and Trauma, Haley graduated in December 2014 and is applying to graduate school.

Haley enjoys reading, working with her hands, rock-climbing, cycling, and yoga.  She is also an Assistant Teacher for Crèche Day School, a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, and Wish Granter for Make A Wish Foundation.

“I love working with the different age groups that come in for all of the programs,” Haley says. “We get everyone from two years to seventy-two and that has really helped me learn how to work with many different ages of people. I also really enjoy learning how to work better with those who may have disabilities, as I have not had as much previous experience in this area. These experiences have helped prepare me to become a more holistic helping professional.”

Fun fact: Haley has 10 siblings.

Peine Foundation grant to Beach Museum providing visual art training to USD 383 teachers

Posted on by Kelsey Longpine

Training on a new teaching method that uses art to develop children’s visual learning abilities will be offered to USD 383 elementary teachers thanks to a grant from a local foundation to Kansas State University’s Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art.

The museum has received a $10,000 grant from the Caroline Peine Charitable Foundation to help fund teacher training in the use of Visual Thinking Strategies curriculum materials, mentoring support for participating teachers during the 2015-2016 school year, and field trips and busing for students of participating teachers.

The Visual Thinking Strategies program is a multiyear image curriculum for students from kindergarten through the 8th grade that was developed by Abigail Housen, a cognitive psychologist, and Philip Yenawine, an art educator. With training, teachers learn to facilitate their students’ discussions of art images to help them develop critical thinking, communication and visual literacy skills. Students can transfer these skills to other subject areas, including English language arts, social studies, science and math. The Visual Thinking Strategies, or VTS, curriculum has been developed and tested internationally by Visual Understanding in Education, and was published for use in American schools in 2000.

Interest by USD 383 teachers and administrators in the program sparked a pilot project in December 2013 that included introductory sessions for teachers and classroom demonstrations.

“VTS engages learners in a rigorous process of examination and evidence gathering through discussions,” said Lucas Shivers, USD 383 director of elementary education. “The instructional practice measurably increases observation skills, evidential reasoning and speculative abilities. We hope educators will use strategic facilitated discussion to enable students to practice respectful, democratic, collaborative problem-solving skills that, over time, transfer to other classroom and life interactions.”

With the grant, a training workshop for interested USD 383 teachers will be offered June 4-5 by the national Visual Thinking Strategies office. Beach Museum of Art education staff will then mentor participants as they provide monthly VTS sessions to their students. Participating teachers receive a small honorarium and the training workshop qualifies for professional development hours. Museum and school officials hope the teachers will become program mentors for future participants as well.

“We are very excited about this teacher-driven partnership,” said Kathrine Schlageck, Beach Museum of Art senior educator. “VTS fits well with Kansas College and Career Readiness Standards, develops 21st century super skills, and students really enjoy the process. We look forward to helping teachers learn VTS and become adept at helping their students transfer new skills to other disciplines like science and math.”

Artworks used in the program are carefully chosen to highlight cultural diversity and understanding.

Additional support for the Visual Thinking Strategies project has been provided by David and Mindy Weaver, Charles and Sandy Bussing, the Patricia Conderman Education Endowment Fund, the van Swaay Family Foundation and the Manhattan-Ogden Public Schools Foundation.

Choosing a Common Work

Posted on by Adrianne Russell

The Kansas State Book Network (KSBN) recently announced its selection for the 2014 Common Book, Steven Johnson’s The Ghost Map.

Described by KSBN as “a historical account of the terrifying outbreak of cholera in the summer of 1854 in London and how a pair of interdisciplinary thinkers work to find a solution to the deadly problem”, The Ghost Map is also a stark reminder that even in our so-called “modern” world, people still struggle with the deadly ramifications of the lack of basic sanitation services. This year, the Beach Museum of Art will again select a Common Work of Art and create programming in support of the campus-wide Common Book program.

With the 2014 Common Book announcement, it seemed fitting to reflect on last year’s experience. The inaugural Common Work of Art was presented in 2013 in conjunction with the K-State Common Book, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. When the book selection was announced, the Beach Museum of Art staff collectively agreed that the museum should get involved. It was decided that one art object that reflected the themes and issues presented in the Common Book would be chosen for installation in a gallery.

KSBN Selection Committee members object viewing

Beach Museum of Art staff developed a list of objects from the permanent collection and invited the 2013 KSBN selection committee to view them. This was extremely valuable as it gave us insight into the reasoning behind the Common Book selection and helped us see visitors’ initial impressions of the objects.

Gordon Parks (United States, 1912-2006), Flavio Amuses Smaller Brothers and Sisters (Holding Up Torn Paper), 1961.

Based on that feedback, Gordon Parks’ Flavio Amuses Smaller Brothers and Sisters (Holding Up Torn Paper) was selected as the inaugural Common Work of Art. Parks not only has connections to the State of Kansas (a Fort Scott native) and the Manhattan community, his photograph depicting a young man in a Brazilian favela, or slum, mirrored the living conditions of Ready Player One’s young male protagonist Wade. It was a pleasant surprise to learn that author Ernest Cline envisioned favelas when writing about the overpopulated and dilapidated “stacks” environment where Wade lived.

Ready Player One Easter Egg banner on Beach Museum of Art exterior wall

The 2013 KSBN Common Book experience also included an award-winning campus-wide interactive Ready Player One game. Game interactions at the Beach Museum of Art included:

  • Clues embedded in science writer and physicist Margaret Wertheim’s talk “Making Space.”
  •  Clues hidden in the K-State 150 commemorative exhibition “Museum of Wonder.”
  • Earning points by submitting to The Mosaic, an artistic response to the Common Work of Art.
  • Part of the daily campus clue featuring a sculpture search.
  • Part of the daily campus clue featuring Willie the Wildcat.
  • Earning points by viewing the Common Work of Art.
  • Earning points by joining the Beach Museum Gunter Clan.

Collaborating with other campus units in developing programs and activities in conjunction with the 2013 K-State Common Book was extremely gratifying. Students visited the Beach Museum of Art for the first time, interacted with their peers and our staff (including our enthusiastic student employees), created art, and discovered new ways to view themselves and their place in the world. We couldn’t hope for better outcomes.

The 2013 Common Work of Art is on view until May 25, 2014.