‘What a Treat for Mississippi!’
Viewing an exhibit of masters of Impressionism just a few moments from your school is an opportunity too exceptional to miss. Thanks to the Mississippi Museum of Art, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi, and the Feild Cooperative Association Incorporated, Jackson Academy art and French students received free admission to Van Gogh, Monet, Degas & Their Times, an exhibit of 74 pieces curated from the posthumously donated, personal collection of Paul and Bunny Mellon. The exhibit, which is the 17th collection of the Annie Laurie Swaim Hearin Memorial Exhibition Series, features some of the most prominent artists and works of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Jackson Academy teachers Catherine Arnold, Susan Ingram, and Avery Truitt arranged the visit as an optional, after-school extra credit assignment. Some students attended with family members and others attended with small groups of classmates.
“From my perspective, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get these kids in front of some of the greatest masterpieces in the world by artists of the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist periods, the majority of which are French,” said JA French teacher Catherine Arnold. “COVID canceled our plans for a field trip in April and again in September. Susan Ingram then had an excellent idea to make it an after-school extra credit outing. We were delighted that over 100 students in French and in art signed up.” The museum observes capacity limits, physical distancing, and masks for all attendees.
“There is no intellectual or emotional substitute for the authentic, the original, the unique masterpiece.”
Paul Mellon
JA’s teachers devoted class time to discussing the artists featured in this exhibit in advance. Arnold noted that students seemed genuinely curious to go see the exhibit once they had learned a bit about the artists and their artistic styles. Ingram developed a scavenger hunt exercise used as part of the students’ experience. After locating specific works of art, students determined the medium used, the artist, and the title. In addition, they were asked to take selfies in front of paintings or sculptures they liked that fell into certain categories, such as still life, landscape, portrait, and animal.
“It was cool,” said sophomore Cooper Flechas who takes French 1 at JA. “My favorite piece in the exhibit was Edgar Degas’ Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen. I think that all the different ways they created their artwork were interesting.”
“It was fun to observe our students genuinely enjoying themselves in a museum setting,” said Arnold. “What I personally love about this exhibit is that it is relatively small (74 works of art) and therefore not nearly as overwhelming as a place like The Louvre in Paris or the Prado in Madrid can feel. The Mississippi Museum of Art is such a beautiful space, and they did a wonderful job installing this temporary exhibit. What a treat for Mississippi! We are so grateful our students got to experience it before it leaves in January.”
Mississippi Museum of Art’s Assistant Director for Visitor Services Sarah Wade, ‘13, says that the museum’s education programming uses a pedagogical practice called close-looking. “Close-looking helps to build a student’s observational and analytical skills, asking them to draw from their own personal experiences and the experiences of their classmates in order to learn more about a piece or art, an artistic movement, or wider theme,” she explained. “Impressionism as an artistic movement was key in creating new artistic methods (paint mixing, treatments, etc.), techniques (exposed brush strokes, palette knives, color mixing), and the popularization of en plein air artwork, which not only changed the French art scene but affected artistic practices to this day.”
Senior Kate White, who studies French 2 and AP Art at JA, has viewed the original pieces of art that inspired the Impressionist art movement on two occasions. “For me, there was so much to learn by viewing these great works, going one time was not enough to soak it all in. I just had to go again,” Kate said. “As an artist myself, an exhibit like this is an inspiration goldmine. To be able to see such influential pieces of the Impressionist era in person is an indescribable feeling.”
