Early French silent filmmaker Georges Melies made delightful, humorous short films at the birth of cinema in the 1890s and early 1900s. He almost single-handedly invented movie special effects in his largely fantasy-type films. All filmmakers today owe him so much. Enjoy excerpts from his films, some in color, with this presentation.
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Archived workshops. Some no longer available. Please visit the Statewide Faculty page for up-to-date listings.
In every area across the state, VMFA offers both teacher workshops at a variety of grade levels and Art on the Spot Statewide, elementary level classroom adventures.
Browse Teacher Workshops by Level: Elementary, Middle School, High School, All Ages
The Juxtaposed: Rousseau, Magritte, Cornell
United through their art, this talk with images explores the connections between three vastly different artists: France’s Henri Rousseau, Belgium’s René Magritte, and U.S.A.’s Joseph Cornell. Surrealism, a literary and visual artistic movement which began in the 1920s, experimented with new modes of expression. Rousseau, pre-dating Surrealism, was a naive “involuntary” Surrealist and was adored…
Request ProgramEarly Artistic Pioneers of American Cinema:
American movie directors D.W. Griffith and Edwin Porter developed the artistry of cinema in the early 20th century. Griffith even used the paintings of Jean Francois Millet to design his film A Corner in Wheat (1909). This presentation highlights the art of movies as Griffith and Porter created it. Excerpts from their films also shown.
Request ProgramAbe Lincoln’s Image in Movies
The movies have loved Abraham Lincoln and helped form his legend. He is the U.S. president who has appeared as a character in more movies and TV shows than any other, over 300 documented works. This presentation focuses on and includes images from Hollywood movies and of many famous and not-as-famous actors who have portrayed…
Request ProgramWhat You Always Wanted to Know About Postmodern Art
Our current era of art and society is considered Postmodern. This talk will define Postmodernism and show its evolution throughout history with examples from art and architecture. Postmodernism is not necessarily the new; it is often a process of recovering popular motifs of the past. Sometimes Postmodernism is perceived as puzzling and avant garde but…
Request ProgramRoman Echoes on the National Mall: The National World War Two Memorial
The National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. is one of the most recent and popular destinations on the National Mall. Designed by the modernist architect Friedrich St. Florian, this monument’s overall design and its details are deeply rooted in the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome. In this lecture, Peter Schertz provides an…
Request Program“An Ornament to Empire:” The Temple of Herod as a Roman Building
The Temple of Herod in Jerusalem was one of the largest and most thoroughly documented religious sanctuaries in the Roman world. Described as an “Ornament to Empire” by its destroyer, the future emperor Titus, it is the Temple that stood in the time of Jesus. Working with archaeological evidence as well as ancient Jewish, Christian,…
Request ProgramCircles and Squares: The Fashion/Geometry Connection
Learn the secret formulas of the Bauhaus Designers. Use your Fashion design skills, dust off your rulers, apply basic geometry and viola, you have a new garment! Learn the art of math by calculating your next look! In this workshop students will make a garment while learning basic pattern drafting and sewing machine skills. This…
Request ProgramDrawing Machine- Basic Sewing Machine Skills
Collage and stitch your next masterpiece. Young designers will learn the basics of using a sewing machine, how to thread it, adjust tensions, start, stop and stitch while creating embroidered drawings inspired by the work of Sonia Delaunay. A small accessory embellished with machine drawing will be made during the workshop. The focus of the…
Request ProgramRecruited to Record: Official Artists of World War I
This lecture explores the role of prints in portraying the preparations, combat, and aftermath of World War I. Rather than presenting a chronology of events, this talk focuses on how printmakers evoked eyewitness experiences of war. As European and North American nations expanded their campaigns, select artists were enlisted to create a visual record of…
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