This document describes the Google Art Project, a collaboration between Google and museums around the world that provides high-resolution images of artworks. It can be used to create online galleries and develop instructional materials connecting art and language learning. The document outlines how to create galleries on the site, provides examples of performance tasks, and notes some limitations including incomplete museum representation and lack of embedding. Alternatives like individual museum sites, Padlet, and Wikimedia Commons are suggested.

1. The Google Art Project:
Curating The World’s
Masterpieces in Your Language
Classroom
Donna Shelton, PhD
Northeastern State University
By Joan Puigcerver, via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, http://www.flickr.com/photos/joanpuigcerver/4395318834/

2. Welcome!
What Google tools do you use?
How do you integrate art into your
curriculum?

3. www.swcolt2013dshelton.pbworks.com
Word Cloud via Wordle.net

4. Outcomes
 Describe the resources available on the Google
Art Project site; explain how the site works
 Create and organize a gallery of works selected
from the project’s collection
 Develop standards-based tasks that connect
communication in the target language and art
 Recognize limitations of Google Art Project and
identify alternatives

5. The Google Art Project
By Turismo Madrid, via Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, http://www.flickr.com/photos/turismomadrid/5186987004/

6. What is the Google Art Project?
 A collaboration between Google and museums
from around the world
 Currently 230 collections, 8,990 artists,
43,130 works of art
 High-resolution images with information on
each work
 Now in its second version, which includes User
Galleries

7. Part of the Google Cultural Institute
Along with these other projects
Check out World Wonders also!
www.googleartproject.com

8. Google Account
 To view the works in Google Art Project, no
account is needed
 To create galleries, you must sign in
 Class Google accounts

9. Overview of Its Use
 Screen capture videos not available in this
version of the presentation
 See the PBWorks wiki at the URL below for
an overview of the site’s use
www.swcolt2013dshelton.pbworks.com

10. Creating Your Own Art
Galleries
By Kieran McGlone, via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0, http://www.flickr.com/photos/kieranmcglone/3917390160/

11. Creating Your Own Art Galleries
 Sign in with a Google account
 Two methods of creating a gallery
 Create gallery first, then add works of art
 Select works of art first, then create galleries
and distribute the art

12. Go to My Galleries. Click Create New. Add a title and choose
Public or Private. These options can be changed later.

13. To select a work for a gallery, click on the squares icon.

14. Once you’ve clicked on the squares icon, this column
will open. Select the gallery, add a description, and
click Add.

15. Or, if you select work for a gallery while viewing an
individual image, it will appear as unassigned. You can
then drag and drop it into the right gallery.

16. Change the order of works in your gallery by
dragging them into position.
You can add a short description and a link to a
related YouTube video.

17. Instructional Materials and
Performance Tasks
By dolphin.s, via Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, http://www.flickr.com/photos/dolphin_s/4531845737/

18. Galleries and Authentic Tasks
 5 Cs
 Three communicative modes

19. Teacher-Created Galleries
 Advantages
 Select works in advance for entire unit, quarter,
or course
 Less chance of seeing works inappropriate for
school
 Students select from those works for their
galleries

20. Share Artworks and Galleries
 Google+
 Google+ Hangout
 Facebook
 Twitter
 Email

21. Combine with Other Tools
 For an audio component (played on separate
device or browser tab)
 For recording reactions or opinions

22. Museum Tour Project
 Interpretive / presentational
 Focus target country / culture museum
 Investigate museum using its TL website,
Google Maps
 Research artists and selected works
 Using centers with laptops or a computer lab
with space to move around, conduct tour

23. Gallery Tour Project
 Interpretive / Presentational / Interpersonal
 Select works of art from target culture,
organize gallery, research
 Create brochure or audio recordings to
inform gallery visitors
 Pair or small group activity to express
opinions

24. Interview the Artist (or Art Critic)
 Interpretive / Interpersonal / Presentational
 Pair information gap activity
 Use Comparison feature in Art Project
 Each student researches one of the two
paintings; becomes “expert”
 Partner conducts interview of “expert”;
writes article

25. Pecha Kucha (see video on wiki)

26. Language-focused Tasks
 Tell a story about a painting
 Match reading and listening texts to
appropriate works of art
 Use paintings as writing or speaking prompts
 Description
 Narration
 Comparison
 Expressing opinion

27. What was Van Gogh’s room like?

28. How are these paintings alike? How are
they different?

29. Civilization Course Gallery Project
Task
 Each student will curate an individual art gallery on the
Google Art Project site. Gallery curation, as in a
museum, involves the careful selection and
arrangement of the works and research on the artists,
their time periods, their styles, and the history of the
area in order to inform the gallery visitors of the value
of the art and its role in the culture of the country or
region. To accompany the gallery, students will conduct
research and write a three and a half to four-page
essay on the artists and works they have chosen, the
theme that the works represent, and the connection of
the works to history and culture.

30. Civilization Course Gallery Project
Works of Art
 Students will select four or five works of art, each
created by a different artist from the chosen country or
region and spanning a large period of time. All of the
works must be clearly related to the theme the student
has identified, and the theme should enable the
student to discuss the history and culture of the
country or region as it has changed over time as part of
the essay. As a starting point, she recommends that
students view a number of works of art from their
country or region to look for similarities. Students
could search for a country, a particular artist, or view
works from museums from the country.

31. Limitations
and Alternatives
Photo by Chad_K, CC BY 2.0, http://www.flickr.com/photos/chad_k/3448400127/

32. Limitations
 Google Art Project is a work in progress
 Some major museums not represented
 Few works by some artists
 Some “glitchiness”
 Limited application of other languages
 Tablet use; no apps and Flash-dependent, but try
iPad browsers such as Puffin
 No embedding
 Its functionality likely to improve

33. Digital Alternatives
 Museums with own online efforts
 Museo Nacional del Prado
 Museo Nacional del Prado on Google Earth
 Padlet (formerly Wallwisher) and
Wikimedia Commons, for artists deceased
more than 70 years
 Quick example with Siglo de Oro art

34. A Padlet Wall, Wikimedia
Commons images only

35. Reflection
Did we meet our learning
outcomes?
Is Google Art Project a tool you
could use?

36. Thank you!
Donna Shelton
sheltods@nsuok.edu
@donna_shelton
www.swcolt2013dshelton.pbworks.com
By kiszka king, via Flickr, CC BY 2.0, http://www.flickr.com/photos/kishka_king/7358187474/