KU Spencer Museum of Art Project by Tamara Brinckman I have visited the Natural History Museum on the campus of KU many

times and have considered much of what I saw there to be works relevant to teaching and learning about science and the world around us. I had not considered, however, what an art museum such as the Spencer Museum of Art could contribute in my future classroom and was less than enthusiastic about exploring that as an option. I have since been made a believer! Whether it involves visiting the campus museum or other art museums or bringing works of art into the science classroom, the resources available can be an incredible addition to any lesson on the environment. Using art to look at and consider environmental issues engages more of the senses and can open up dialog about many interesting topics. Sometimes we need to think outside of the box and look at things in ways we never have before. During our class visit to the Spencer art museum, the first thing that I was shown was a photograph of an apothecary. While I thought that students might be interested in seeing what an old apothecary looked like, I couldn't imagine that I would take my time and go out of my way to reserve that photo and bring it into the classroom. I then saw a couple of other works of art that were related to the content area of science. Not bad...could generate some good discussion, but again, we could talk about either of those things without an actual piece of art to go along with the discussion, right? I saved the special Water exhibit for last and just wandered through looking briefly at all of the photos, paintings, sculptures, and other works. I was standing with a couple of other students observing a strange water tower sculpture and didn't think much about it until an older lady behind us spoke up. She knew the artist personally and wanted us to catch some of the special features of this sculpture. She pointed out the crosses that were situated around the tower and told us that the artist was very religious. Then she showed us how it was missing a few pearls here and there and that this was intentional. It was the artist's way of saying "Nobody's perfect". I don't really know why, but, somehow, knowing a little more about the artist's intent and "hidden" messages made me want to examine it a bit closer and look for other symbols and things that I may have overlooked. The "Alpha-Omega: Water Tower #5" by Richard Mawdsley 1945 Winfield, KS., was made of heavy metals, sterling silver and gold, rhodium plating, pearls, and mahogany. I also noticed that the base was a well. It was no ordinary structure for generating and storing water. Environmental studies could include a discussion on how wells and towers impose upon water systems in our communities. From here, I looked closely at the many paintings and photographs nearby. A few caught my eye and drew me in. "Place Defined by Lack of Water" by Wanda Hammerbeck 1945/1995, Lincoln, NE was a black and white photo of an old concrete slab that appears to have been the site of an old carwash. The pavement and earth are now cracked with age and covered with nothing but brush and tumbleweed. It gives off a "ghost-town" feeling. On another side of the exhibit gallery a quote jumped out at me and connected with Wanda's visual statement. "When the well's dry, we know the worth of water."Benjamin Franklin.

I was given a flyer entitled "Water in Kansas and around the Globe" which shared more about the Spencer Museum of Art Gallery Exhibition "Conservation XIV: Water". The next line was "Water is timeless...or is it?" All of these works share the artists' perspectives on water. Issues include, but are certainly not limited to, pollution, scarcity, and the sanctifying or destructive force of water. There was a large display surrounding the Kaw River of Kansas and the Yangtze River in China but I did not spend as much time in that area. "Lamb 1 & Lamb 2" by Ernesto Pujol 2009-2010 is an archival digital print that, at first glance, just seem basic and a bit odd. In the first print, "Lamb 1", a man in a white robe or gown is standing on a serene beach at sunrise (or sunset?) Soft layers of wispy clouds frame the scene. The water is calm with few ripples. He gazes out to the hills and forest on the horizon past the lake. The colors of the print are very soft, sepia and gray tones. Peaceful. In "Lamb 2", what is depicted is that same scene but with the white gown laying on the beach. It does not lay as if it was taken off or tossed or folded, rather slipped out of. The man is gone and judging by the ripples we now see off of the shore, it looks as if he jumped and submerged himself completely under rather than just walking into the lake. You wouldn't expect the water to be deep enough to submerge him so close to the shoreline, but he is gone, swallowed up, with no indication of reappearing at the surface. Other than the immediate ring of soft waves and ripples, the rest of the lake is just as calm and oblivious. I have my own ideas about what these photos may symbolize but maybe I could have my students write about what they think is happening in the two photos, to tell a story. The message one takes from a work of art such as this one, may differ from another's perspective. But, again, this particular piece could be used as a springboard to discussing the beauty and cleansing, healing, or purifying aspects of water and then maybe contrasted with pictures of water as a destructive force. Spencer offers many workshops and public programs and some of great significance for me as a science teacher included "Workshop: Art and the Environment", "Symposium: Global Water: Drought, Conservation and Security in the 21st Century", "Panel Discussion: Watershed" and "Museum Family Activity: What a Wonderful World" which explores water, plants, and animals. The issues of water resources and conservation are of current and ongoing importance in today's world. We all have a part to play and decisions to make in this area. Even as middle school and high school students. I think that incorporating these pieces, or other works of art similar to them, can be a powerful way of getting students to see the symbolic and complete nature of water. To see its beauty and therapeutic effects and to see its powerful, destructive abilities such as with flooding damage. To think about its use in hydropower and generating electricity. I am most definitely interested in and excited about the possibility of using works of art such as, and possibly including, these in my future science classroom. Any biology or Earth Science class could work through a unit about water. Art could be a springboard to many great discussions. We could explain the water cycle, talk about its quality and about conservation. We could talk about how you shouldn't drink from the Yangtze and collect and crystallize your urine samples in test tubes for the masses to gawk over...unless, that is, you WANT people to show up intrigued in what an art museum could possibly have to offer that is related to the wonderful world of science.