From our Archive: Virtual Tours of FAM exhibitions
from past school years & supporting lesson plans
Once Upon a Book by Grace Lin
Featured exhibition for the 2024/25 School Year.
Just click on the images below to view the videos of the virtual tour and the related art lesson.
Growing an Artist: The Story of a Landscaper and His Son
Featured exhibition for the 2023/24 School Year.
Just click on the image to view the video.
This is a virtual tour of the Art of the Word exhibition Growing an Artist which features the artwork of John Parra from the book Growing an Artist: The Story of a Landscaper and His Son written by John Parra. This tour of the 2023/24 exhibition at the Fresno Art Museum was created in support of the Arts-Integrated Unit Plan, especially for third-grade students. The supporting lesson plan can be found in the current Arts Integration Unit Plan.
Art Lesson inspired by John Parra's book Growing an Artist: The Story of a Landscaper and His Son
You are welcome to access our archived virtual tour if you want to give your students a tour of the exhibition that inspired this exhibition. Or you are welcome to read the book to your students first.
Imagine you are a landscape designer like John Parra's father. You are given the task of designing a park. What would you put in your park? (Click the image below to link to video.)
After reading the book Growing an Artist: The Story of a Landscaper and His Son and/or virtully touring the Museum exhibition, students can design and draw their own park.
Create a Wild Thing
Inspired by the exhibition Maurice Sendak: Sixty Years of Wild Things and the book Where the Wild Things Are (Click the image below to link to the video lesson - the virtual tour is not available due to copyrights related to Maurice Sendak properties.)
You can read the book that inspired this art lesson. Think and talk about what animals Maurice Sendak took bits and pieces from to create his wild things. Have the students think about what animal features they would like to use to create their own wild thing. If this is done with a group of students, they can play the game The Exquiste Corpse which is explained in the video below.
Light for All, for third-grade students
Featured exhibition for 2022/23 School Year
(Click the image below to view the video.)
This is a virtual tour of the Art of the Word exhibition Light for All which features the artwork of Raúl Colón from the book Light for All by Margarita Engle, preceded by a walk-through tour of A Queen Within: Adorned Archetypes. This tour of the fall 2022 exhibitions at the Fresno Art Museum was created in support of the Arts-Integrated Unit Plan, especially for third-grade students
Art Lesson based on Light for All: Just Imagine! What would you put in your suitcase if you had to move far from the only home you ever knew?
(Click the image below to view the video.)
After reading the book Light for All and/or watching the virtual Museum exhibition, students can imagine what it would be like to move to a new home. This lesson was used as a post-visit lesson during the 2022/23 school year.
Virtual Tours of FAM exhibitions for 2021/22 School Year
(Click the image below to link to video.)
This tour was created especially for third graders who had chosen a virtual tour and includes FAM's Pre-Columbian Mexican exhibition, Delicious: The Art of Food, and the Art of the Word: Celebrating Differences featuring the illustrations of Rafael López from the book Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You by Sonia Sotomayor.
Just the Virtual Tour of the 2021/22 López exhibition:
(Click the image below to link to video.)
Create Your Own Garden Art Lesson
Inspired by the illustrations of Rafael López from the book Just Ask!
(click image below to link to video)
You can watch the virtual tour inspired by the book Just Ask! from the 20221/22 school year (above) if you want and then create your own artwork inspired by the exhibition to create a garden that is all about you.
Create a Garden About You!
Inspired by illustrations of Rafael López from the book Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You by Sonia Sotomayor
(Click the image below to link to video.)
You can watch the virtual tour inspired by the book Just Ask! from the 20221/22 school year if you want and then create your own artwork inspired by the exhibition to create a garden that is all about you. Get inspired by looking at gardens and utilizing a variety of lines, shapes, and colors.
Other Art Lesson Plan Videos:
An Ir-Resistable Character Art Lesson
(Click the image below to link to video.)
In this lesson, students will create a character in an artwork using a simple resist-method and write a poem to describe the good qualities of the character they create. They will use a combination, of lines, shapes, and colors to create their fanciful character. Note that this may be done over several days to allow the glue used for the resist to dry.
