The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), cultural icon of New York City, closed all of its doors on March 12th due to the COVID-19 crisis racking the Big Apple. A responsible decision, even if every day closed feels like it jeopardizes the chances of the non-profit museum ever opening again. But they aren’t silent, in their closure.
MoMA has been keeping up an online presence for art-lovers via virtual art exhibitions and remote educational resources. With millions of people around the world currently suffering enforced idleness, there’s no time like the present to develop a love and passion for art.
To that end, MoMA is expanding their educational offerings with eight courses available for free on Coursera, an online learning platform with nearly 4000 educational offerings. These courses are as follows: What is Contemporary Art? This is a survey course of art from 1980 to the present, exploring new mediums responding to new pressures of our time. Modern Art and Ideas. Modern Art is a confusing umbrella, so this course divides it into four themes and exploring a handful of artists in each.
Seeing Through Photographs. This course uses MoMA’s expansive photography collection to explore the many ways this medium has been used. Contribution from photographic artists explore the experimentation that goes into creating an image that says more than just what is seen.
Fashion as Design. “Look closely at what we wear, why we wear it, how it’s made, and what it means.”
Postwar Abstract Painting. An in-depth look at a few abstract artists, from Jackson Pollock to Yayoi Kusama.
As well as these, there are three courses aimed at educators, both teacher and parents looking to create home-curriculums, These explore how to teach with themes, with inquiry, and with activities. Each course involves between 12 and 38 hours of lesson time, and can be completed at any student’s own pace.
Source: Smithsonian
Editorial credit: littlenySTOCK / Shutterstock.com