Quarantined With Katy: Online Arts Education Resources

Hi! Katy Lang, Director of Education & Community Engagement, here again to deliver the second installment of Quarantined With Katy. This time, I’ve got a sampling of fun arts education websites.

As many of us enter our second week at home, some are also entering their second week of home-schooling. While we aren’t able to host bucket drumming classes or pre-show lectures at The Grand for the time being, we still believe that arts education is of the utmost importance and deserves a place in our lives.

So, I’ve put together a short list of some of my favorite online arts education resources for students of all ages (including adults – we’re just students of life!) to explore. After you’ve finished watching Frozen 2 and Onward on Disney+, that is.

Music

If you’re looking to incorporate some music education into your students’ day, a good place to start is with Google Chrome Music Lab. The Chrome Music Lab makes music accessible through hands-on experiments that connect music to science, math, art, and more. You can even use it to create your own songs! Incredibox offers a similar experience in which you can make your own musical mix with the help of cartoon beatboxers.

There are also plenty of places to find great music theory and music history content, including Camp Congregation, the newest project from our friends Sammy Miller and the Congregation. The joyful jazz 10×10 Series alums are entering their second week of a virtual music summer camp that airs each day at 3:00 PM on their YouTube channel.

Visual Art

If you’re looking for visual art, dozens of museums and galleries across the globe have made virtual tours available online, including: British Museum (London), Guggenheim Museum (New York), National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC), Musée d’Orsay (Paris), and more. Wausau’s own Center for the Visual Arts is even making some of their exhibits accessible online, starting with a video tour of the 30th Annual Midwest Seasons exhibit on their Facebook page. 

If making your own art is more your kids’ style, The Kennedy Center has been hosting LUNCH DOODLES with Mo Willems every day at 12:00 PM. Mo Willems, acclaimed author of the Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! and the Elephant and Piggie series, teaches viewers how to draw, doodle, and explore new ways of drawing. 

Theater

In addition to an abundance of options for streaming “live” theater, there are also plenty of online theater resources available for middle and high school students stuck at home. If you want to learn more about theater history, check out some of the videos on the CrashCourse YouTube channel, which covers everything from Shakespeare to Broadway. If you’re looking to hone your acting skills, check out RE:THEATRE. Founded by Wausau area native Lindsay Kujawa, RE:THEATRE is an online theater education and consulting company that offers a variety of free resources, including masterclasses, workshops, and even a podcast dedicated to creating meaningful theater in schools and communities.

Literature

Another hugely popular trend online has been virtual storytimes. Josh Gad, the voice of Olaf in Disney’s Frozen, has been hosting nightly story readings via Twitter. The Save with Stories Instagram account also features virtual storytime with a variety of celebrities like Kerry Washington, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ellen Degeneres, and more.  

If you’re looking for storytime on demand, Vooks is a virtual library of read-aloud animated storybooks that can be accessed at any time. Vooks is currently offering one month of free access to its impressive digital library, which typically costs $4.99 a month. 

Vooks Digital Library

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miscellaneous

If you aren’t sure which discipline you want to explore, check out some of these integrated arts experiences. PBS Learning Media offers hundreds of resources designed to help Wisconsin educators bring music, dance, theater, and visual arts into their classrooms with hundreds of videos, interactive lessons, lesson plans, audio media, and interactive galleries. Google Arts & Culture also hosts a plethora of art-related content. Its current homepage features a virtual tour of the Taj Mahal, an interactive gallery of the world’s most famous opera houses, an in-depth analysis of the ballet Romeo & Juliet, and more.  

What other websites are you using to keep the arts a part of your life and the lives of your children? Email education@grandtheater.org to share with us!

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