Educational Resources

Educational Resources

The Sharp Museum is committed not only to curating collections and resources for the SIU community, but also the greater Southern Illinois region. From special programs & tours to hands-on workshops, the museum engages the entire region with its impressive collections, knowledgeable staff, and interactive atmosphere.

Additionally, we provide educational materials and support for educators to incorporate our museum collections and themes into their own curricula, and host an annual Arts Education Festival every spring, enabling thousands of children and teachers to experience an array of memorable concerts, performances and learning activities.

Digital Exhibitions

• Conversation 2.0
  African art from the Reginald Petty African Art Collection and works of Edna Patterson-Petty
  
  
• People, Places and Things: Art Speaks to Life!
  This exhibition was carefully selected to show the stages of Adedayo's creative development. With special consideration to show that my focus since childhood remains!
  
  

Recorded Artist Talks

• The Art of Darkness
  Tim Atseff engaged in dual careers as an artist and as a journalist. Now, he has returned to his creative roots painting with an urgency that matches our times and time itself.
  
  
• Double Whammy
  An interview with William J. Thielen about his current exhibit "Double Whammy" and about his life in art
  
  
• The Land That I Love
  Farming in Southern Illinois is rooted in the lives of the farmers who care for the land. The farms are more than crops and soil; they are Southern Illinois' heritage and its future.
  
  
• Midwestern
  Drawn from his time intentionally lost on the backroads of the states he knows best, Justin Hamm’s work, visual and verbal, is equal parts inspection of the American mythos and testament against the worn-out adage that the Midwest is merely "flyover country".
  
  
• Off the Wall, Into the Story
  Kristy Deetz's work is as complex metaphorically as it is surreal. By layering imagery she is able to create new realities in her paintings, creating surrealist dream like worlds where her subjects and the audience are able to explore a variety of concepts.

Online Collections

• Exploring Collections Online Web Kiosk (ECO)
  The Sharp Museum's Exploring Collections Online Web Kiosk (ECO), shares selections from the art and humanities through subject-related collection portfolios. Each portfolio includes these major sections: a portfolio introduction, a narrative about significant donor/s and collector/s, a summary of the portfolio's subject with pertinent details and research sources, and a selection of distinct object records that have detailed information as related to the portfolio subject.