BWE's Traveling Art Gallery! (TAG)

You Don’t Have to Be an Artist to Make an Impact!

"Pittsburgh Memories" by Romare Bearden

Have you ever thought about volunteering in your child’s classroom for TAG, but worried you don’t know enough about art? Don’t let that stop you! Traveling Art Gallery (TAG) is one of the most volunteer-friendly programs at BWE... and no prior art experience or knowledge is necessary!

TAG’s goal is to help develop and promote visual literacy and an appreciation of art in elementary students. We want to get kids EXCITED about ART.

Traveling Art Gallery sessions are particularly enjoyable because there are no right or wrong answers in responding to art! This is an opportunity for students to join in discussion and give their opinions and reasons why they feel a particular way about a piece of artwork.

Everything You Need Is Provided!

We make it easy for you! TAG volunteers are given ALL of the materials and information needed for their presentation. You don't have to be an art expert or come up with a lesson from scratch.

You'll receive:

The artwork to present, provided by BWE
Prepared lesson materials
Talking points and information about the artist & artwork
Art activity ideas & materials
Guidance from the TAG Coordinator(s)

Your job is simply to review the materials & share what you've learned with the students. If you can have a conversation with a group of elementary students, you can do TAG!

We hope the information below helps you prepare for your TAG experience:

What does a TAG session look like?

TAG presentations are approximately 20-30 minutes in duration and involve an adult volunteer leading a discussion of an artwork with students. You do not need to be an expert on art, or even like the artwork, to lead a successful discussion!

Introduce yourself and give a quick explanation of what the TAG program is at BWE. It is a nice touch to thank the class teacher for welcoming you to their classroom. Check with the teacher if students will be staying at their desks/tables or whether there is a preferred area for you to work with the students.

Reveal the artwork you will be discussing and give the students a few moments to look at the artwork without comment. You can choose to reveal the artist and title of the artwork before or after your discussion or for certain artworks it can sometimes be fun to discuss the artwork first and then ask the students what the title might be.

A good presentation format is as follows -

Discuss the artwork - encourage students to talk about what they see, start with some basic questions like:

What’s going on in this picture? What do you see? What do you see that makes you think that? What more can we find? It is helpful to paraphrase student responses as you go along and check back with them to see if they have more to add. Try to elicit a response from as many students as possible even if they are just repeating someone else!

Areas for discussion might include -

COLOR- What colors do they see? Are the colors light/dark, bright/dull, pretty/ugly, soft/hard, hot/cold- let students try and find the words to describe what they’re seeing.
LINE- curvy/straight, angles/bent/straight, soft/hard
MOOD- Maybe ask “How does this painting make you feel?” Happy/sad, comfortable/uncomfortable, afraid/safe, calm/upset, peaceful/angry - Why?
TEXTURE- How or the way something feels- soft/hard, smooth/rough, velvety/prickly
What might be happening in the artwork... is there a story? What might that be? What makes them feel that way?

Remember you are encouraging students to engage and respond to the artwork, to share their responses to what they see and what evidence they see to support their thoughts. There are no right or wrong answers, this is all building their skills in visual literacy! Within the digital TAG folders, there is a lot of information available to volunteers to learn more about VTS (Visual Thinking Strategies) and an unedited example of a presentation is included there, as well!

If time permits, you can share some information about the artist - this does not need to be too much detail and is probably best weaved into your discussion. Students don’t do well listening to a biography or timeline of the artist’s life! Please keep in mind the grade level appropriateness of the information you share- many of the artists have had bizarre, tragic lifestyles, so use discretion.

Other helpful tips -

While you are leading your TAG presentation, the class teachers are still responsible for classroom behavior since they know the skills that work best for classroom management. Please do not be alarmed or insulted if a teacher does jump in and help out with the classroom behavior! Also, please keep in mind that any information you may become aware of while in the classroom is confidential and must not be discussed outside of the classroom.
Younger siblings or siblings from other grades are not permitted to join you during presentations and under no circumstances should you post/comment about your TAG experience on social media- only teachers may share photos or information regarding their TAG experience via school-approved media.

Scheduling TAG presentations- Present When It Works for You!

All volunteers have the opportunity to deliver TAG to their own child’s class. Sometimes we don’t always have volunteers for every class; therefore, we ask that where possible, TAG volunteers deliver more than one session. This is usually just a repeat of the session in another homeroom in the same grade.

TAG is designed to fit into your schedule. Volunteers coordinate directly with the classroom teacher they signed up for to choose a time that works for everyone during the school year.

Each classroom presentation is approximately 20-30 minutes, with about 1 hour of preparation time that you can complete whenever your schedule permits. That's it!

TAG sessions are to be delivered in the timeframe already laid out by the coordinators; however, it is up to the volunteer to schedule the exact time of their presentation with the homeroom teacher. Please contact your teacher as soon as you are able- teachers tell us that email is usually best (BWE TAG Coordinator(s) will advise you with this step). When you contact your teacher, please give some available times for you to deliver your presentation. Sessions are usually 30 minutes; however, please confirm this with your teacher. If you must change your scheduled presentation time, please contact the teacher as soon as possible.

TAG Artwork

The TAG Coordinators will work with volunteers to plan when they can collect their prints from the BWE Main Office. It is advised that you arrive in plenty of time to collect your print from Mrs. Hunter. Prints MUST remain at school at all times to protect them from possible damage. When you have finished your TAG presentation, please collect the artwork and return it to the Main Office with Mrs. Hunter.

Who Can Volunteer?

Anyone! **You do not need to be a PFA member, and no clearances are necessary. (See document with this district policy below). TAG welcomes BWE parents, grandparents, family members, and BWE student alumni who would like to give back to our school community. Anyone over the age of 18 is allowed to present (all IDs are scanned using the RAPTOR system upon arrival at the school).

The Impact Is Bigger Than You Think

Kids love TAG! For many students, TAG is their first opportunity to learn about a famous artist or experience a piece of artwork they may never have encountered otherwise. These presentations help children develop curiosity, creativity, and an appreciation for art.

Ask former elementary students about TAG, and chances are they'll remember a particular artist, artwork, or project from their classroom experience. By volunteering, you can become part of those memories!

TAG, You're It!

Traveling Art Gallery is a special BWE tradition, but it needs volunteers to continue. You don't need to be an artist. You don't need to be an expert. You don't even need prior knowledge of the subject. The program provides the tools. You bring your time, enthusiasm, and willingness to share something new with our students. We need your help to keep this beloved program going for our BWE students!

Interested in learning more?...

Or Are You Ready to Sign Up?

If you have any questions or are interested in signing up for a slot (perhaps more than one?!), please contact our TAG Coordinator(s): Beth Ann Smith & Andrea Eshenbaugh: bwepfa@gmail.com, Subject: TAG Committee.

PLEASE SEE THE LIST BELOW FOR PRINTS THAT ARE STILL AVAILABLE FOR YOU TO PRESENT. If it says "TAKEN" after the title, that particular print has already been selected by a volunteer.

LINK- Click here to learn more about the program at the district-level & tips for presentations: TAG General Info

List of artwork pieces (organized by grade-level it is offered to):

KA:

The Child’s Bath- The Child's Bath - KDG

The Peaceable Kingdom- The Peaceable Kingdom - KDG

The Starry Night- Starry Night - KDG (TAKEN)

Children at Play- Children at Play - KDG

KB:

The Child’s Bath- The Child's Bath - KDG (TAKEN)

The Peaceable Kingdom- The Peaceable Kingdom - KDG (TAKEN)

The Starry Night- Starry Night - KDG (TAKEN)

Children at Play- Children at Play - KDG