Teen Lab at the Art Institute of Chicago

At the beginning of the semester, we discussed how it is not necessary to give tours of artworks in the museum from an “expert” perspective, knowing all of the facts and the one, “right” interpretation of the work. Rather, with some basic background knowledge of the artwork, we can give tours from a more personal perspective. An artwork can have many different meanings based on what we observe in it and the way it connects to our personal experiences.

 

We asked the teen apprentices to pick an artwork in the museum to which they felt drawn. What is a piece you connect to? Why? The apprentices prepared tour stops for the works they selected. We talked about how to ask questions to engage tour participants with the works more deeply: “What emotions does this piece evoke when you first look at it? How would you feel and what would you see if you stepped inside this painting? What do you see that makes you say that?”

 

When we hosted the youth organization My Block My Hood My City, a group of apprentices, Ocieann, Nyla, and Joshua, took them on a tour of three works in the galleries.