Overview
The Wellin Museum welcomes K–12 school groups to engage with our exhibitions and collection. K–12 school visits are designed to encourage creative engagement with art through close looking, imaginative activities, and dialogue. Visiting the Wellin Museum of Art supports all areas of learning by helping students strengthen critical skills such as observing, describing, reasoning with evidence, questioning, connecting ideas, responding, and creating.
Docents at the Wellin Museum
As a teaching museum at Hamilton College, the Wellin Museum is a site of experiential learning. K–12 school visits are led by docents, or educational guides, in collaboration with museum staff. The Wellin’s docents are Hamilton College students who have a wide range of academic backgrounds and an interest in teaching, museums, and art. They provide an engaging and personable experience for K–12 students and, in turn, they gain valuable teaching experience.
Scheduling
The Wellin Museum of Art would be delighted to organize a visit for your group. K–12 school visits can be arranged Tuesday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., when Hamilton College is in session. School visit availability is limited during Hamilton College’s holiday breaks: November 24 – 28, December 12 – January 21, and March 16 – 27.
The museum can accommodate up to ninety students in one visit. Depending on the size of your group, it may be necessary to divide your students into smaller groups to accommodate everyone. Museum staff will design an itinerary that will ensure a positive learning environment for all students.
In order to accommodate as many groups as possible, we ask that all requests be made at least two weeks in advance of the intended visit date.
Use this form to request a K–12 school visit.
The Wellin Museum is free and open to everyone. Wellin Museum K–12 School Visits are free of charge.
K–12 School Visit Topics
This year’s School Visits will be based on the exhibitions Jamea Richmond-Edwards: Another World and Yet the Same and EXODUS. All School Visits will include a hands-on artmaking component. Please feel free to indicate themes or areas that would be of interest to your class on the K–12 School Visit request form.
PRIMARY TOPIC: Powerful Places and Sparkling Settings
Recommended for grades K – 5
In Jamea Richmond-Edwards’s art, we see many special places. Some of the places are drawn from her imagination, some come from stories, some are ancient lands, and some are destinations that she dreams of visiting. In this program, students will learn about Jamea Richmond-Edwards’s artwork, think about important places in their life, and create a depiction of a favorite place using techniques embraced by the artist.
LOWER SECONDARY TOPIC: Build Your World in Creative Mode
Recommended for grades 6 – 8
World-building, or the creative practice of inventing worlds, is an important part of Jamea Richmond-Edwards’s art. Drawing inspiration from her own memories, experiences, and her friends and family, she creates collaged paintings bursting with color that draw the viewer into her world. Inspired by Richmond-Edwards’s artistic world-building, students will create a quick-drying collage painting, experimenting with saturated colors and energetic patterns to portray their own world.
UPPER SECONDARY TOPIC: Your Epic Future
Recommended for grades 9 – 12
Artist Jamea Richmond-Edwards uses her creativity to imagine and represent possible versions of the future. This program will encourage high school students to imagine a possible future for themselves, while exploring dual themes of independence and community. Drawing inspiration from the artist’s concept of an epic journey set in the future, students will envision a quest—the pursuit of a personal desire, a professional goal, or an unexplored possibility—and represent it in their own original artwork.
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