Shadbolt - Belkin Education Project

Prepared for:
Prepared by:
July 30
th
, 2008
Objective
Jack Shadbolt worked in various mediums, including print, drawing, oil painting and video. And while this
exhibition examines his drawings, the goal of the education resource packet is to help students and teachers
make connections between the various mediums and explore the legacy of Shadbolts work.
Goals
To make the public aware of Shadbolts legacy, as one of Canadas greatest artists.
Solution
Prepare a comprehensive education resource packet, that provides teaching resources for educators, and
self guided tours and activity for students - divided into three age groups; primary, junior high and high
school. We are proposing to provide a DVD that contains high resolution images, lesson plans, themes in
Shadbolts work, a comprehensive biography, a short video and other tools to help educators explore Jack
Shadbolts legacy with their students. We would also encourage the museum to upload resources to the
website, making it accessible for educators across the country.
For students, we propose more hands-on, tactile approach to his work; in-house (in-gallery) drawing activi-
ties, self-guided tours and workbooks to explore the drawings. Since Shadbolt himself wrote extensively
about the role of art and art making for children, it May be useful to have a short video segment for children
to watch - and a possible Q & A with the tour guide or with the accompanying adult.
Ways to approach Shadbolts work
1. Thematically (themes within the body of the work)
2. Material (Acrylic, watercolor, printmaking, drawing etc)
3. Time Period (progression)
4. Where its created (B.C., Europe)
5. Making connections with socio-cultural and political movements at the time that the work is created.
Elementary Middle/Junior High School
Themes Animals Animals
Abstract
Primitive
Coastal Indian/Aboriginal
Animals
Abstraction
Material Silkscreen
Charcoal
Conte Crayon
Painting gestural
Drawing
Paint
Fiber
Paint
Print
Drawing
Experience/
Skill/
Understanding
Preference for brighter colors
Weaker hand-eye coordina-
tion
Weaker motor skills
Relate-ability to lived experi-
ences
Need to control movement
Interest in realistic rendering
of images
X-Ray vision
Can make connections with
other artists, medium etc
Examples
1. Elementary/ Primary
Material exploration ways of approaching art making, expanding on the multidimensionality of art
making.
Birds series silk screens
i. Concept of layering, using bright colors.
ii. Accessible for younger aged children with less dened motor skills.
2. Middle/Junior
Themes that appear in the work of an artist creates what are they, what doe they tell us about the
artist?
How they come to be represented? Why is certain imagery privileged over others? (eg. Animals vs.
nature)
Pen and ink drawing
i. Bird series from the late 60s, early 70s
ii. This age group has more motor control, and a desire for representational/ ideally
drawn imagery.
Coastal Indian imagery
iii. Muralist feel
iv. Links with Emilys Carr inspiration for his work and also a great Canadian artist.
3. High school
Social-political connections
i. 1948-49, he studied the work of Picasso & ideas of primitivism
ii. Surrealism impact lead to biomorphic surrealism evident in a lot of work
Buttery series animated painting
iii. Challenges the conventional ideas of art and art making