Grade 2 Explores Masks and Faces at The Met

Last Friday, second graders visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art with their art teachers Ms. Boccella and Ms. Fidler, for a guided tour entitled “Masks and Faces” in conjunction with their mask making unit in art. In homeroom groups, boys viewed a selection of masks and images of heads and faces from various cultures. These artifacts included a hammered gold Sican funerary mask made in Peru in the 10th century and a carved wooden Janus (two-faced) fire spitter helmet mask from the Ivory Coast.

Our boys explored concepts of shape, form, color, symmetry, exaggeration, and ritual in these works. They also had the opportunity to engage in some observational drawing of the masks they examined. This out of the classroom experience, as well as what they have been learning about masks in their art classrooms will inspire the boys' own creations back at school.

We provide our boys with plentiful opportunities to learn by exploring and examining real artifacts, through partnerships with several educational and cultural institutions in our city and beyond. In so doing, we strive to deepen their understanding and broaden their perspectives. It is from this place of comprehension and thought that boys are empowered to explore ideas, old and new, and the ideals behind them.

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