Field Assignment: Where to Go
There are many local arts organizations that feature modern and contemporary art. For your final project, you will visit a museum, gallery, or public art installation (such as Chicano Park) in person. You are welcome to base your assignment on your experience at a different museum that features modern art if you have been traveling or if you are located in a different community. Please be in touch if you cannot visit a museum or gallery in person so I can give you an alternate assignment.
Museums
At Balboa Park, you can visit several museums that include works by many artists you have studied in class. I will be going to the San Diego Museum of Art on Saturday May 23 at noon and you are welcome to join me and a few other students. Unfortunately, parking at Balboa Park is no longer free.
The San Diego Museum of Art () is currently free to college students with a student ID, as well as veterans with Military ID, and people 17 and younger. The Balboa Park Sculpture Garden next to SDMA is also open to the public and includes some examples of Modern art sculpture (). The Timken Museum is free to visit and has a small but wonderful collection.
The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego () features works of art from 1950 to the present, and their collection includes artists that you will be learning about in the final section of this class. Admission is free for people 25 and under, SNAP/EBT card holders, visitors with disabilities, and military veterans. Second Sundays and third Thursdays of the month also offer free admission.
If you are in North County, the Oceanside Museum of Art () is an amazing museum and frequently features local contemporary artists.
The California Center for the Arts, Escondido (often abbreviated CCAE) is located in Escondido and organizes many large exhibitions as well as performances:
Assignment Instructions:
For your essay, you will once again be comparing and contrasting the work of two artists. This time you will pick a work of art that you discover at a museum or gallery and compare and contrast it with another work of art that you have studied in this class. You may select any artist that has been included in your textbook or in previous discussion boards to compare and contrast with the artist you choose to research from your museum visit.
You have written a comparison essay in this class before so you should have some insight into the process.
Some things to consider:
How do the works of the two artists relate?
What stylistic similarities and differences can you identify?
What ideas do you see expressed in their artwork?
Can you relate their works to art movements you’ve studied in this class?
How does the artwork reflect the time period in which the artists lived?
Just do your best! This is simply an opportunity for you to revisit the work of an artist that you’ve learned about this semester and relate it to something new you discover. I encourage you to also reflect on your own experience visiting a museum in this essay. How is seeing art in person different than viewing it online or in a book?
Your essay should be about three pages (double-spaced in MLA format) and must include a works cited! Be sure that you cite your sources and don’t just copy and paste from online sources as your work will be flagged for plagiarism. If you notice that it is a high match, please revise your work and resubmit so that you don’t lose points. I want to read your ideas about the artwork as well as the results of your research!
