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Sarah Alvarez

About Sarah Alvarez

Sarah Alvarez is the Senior Fellow in Public Art History at Smarthistory. She was previously the Director of School Programs in the Department of Learning and Public Engagement at the Art Institute of Chicago. In this role, Sarah oversaw professional development programs and curriculum resources for teachers, school partnership programs, museum-based experiences for K-12 students, and the Art Institute's docent program. Sarah actively engages in city-wide dialogue about quality arts education experiences for students and has published numerous articles about museum learning. She holds a B.A. in Art History from Skidmore College and an M.A. in Art History from Rutgers University.

Hand-colored tintype with cover glass of an unknown Black U.S. soldier, in black thermoplastic case with brass hinges and red velvet liner, c. 1861-65 (Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture) — Questions for learners and teachers about the U.S. Civil War in art

U.S. Civil War in Art discussion questions

by Sarah Alvarez

Leger — Consider your own surroundings and how you might enhance them through the decoration of a particular space, just like Léger’s and Matisse’s murals did for the fireplaces in the Rockefeller apartment

How would you enhance your space?

by Sarah Alvarez and Smarthistory

Carry out your own investigation of the relationship between painting and sculpture, like Frank Stella in Protractor, Variation I

Is it a painting or a sculpture?

by Sarah Alvarez and Smarthistory

Rembrandt_Gardner_Video_Still — Explore the value of self-portraiture and experiment with making your own self-portrait, like Frida Kahlo and Rembrandt van Rijn

What can I learn from making a ...

by Sarah Alvarez and Smarthistory

Use the format of chess to create your own version of the game that reflects and reinforces the unique values of your school classroom or community

What values do we want to protect ...

by Sarah Alvarez and Smarthistory

Use found objects to create an artwork that offers a reflection on a topic from today’s society that is of personal importance to you, inspired by Thornton Dial in Crossing Waters

How do you give materials new meaning?

by Sarah Alvarez

How to paint like Kusama (video still, MoMA) — Explore materials, ideas, and your own feelings about art and the broader world by tapping into your imagination

Art-making activities

by Sarah Alvarez and Smarthistory

Reception Room (Qa'a), Ottoman period, 1119 a.h. / 1707 a.d., Damascus, Syria, poplar, gesso relief with gold and tin leaf, glazes and paint; cypress, poplar, walnut, black mulberry, mother-of pearl, marble and other stones, stucco with glass, plaster, ceramic tiles, iron, brass, 22 feet and a 1/2 inch high x 16 feet, 8-1/2 inches deep x 26 feet, 4-3/4 inches long, Metropolitan Museum of Art — Investigate ideas presented in a Masterpiece Moment video by tracking down more information and analyzing your findings

Research strategies

by Sarah Alvarez

Create your own Masterpiece Moment presentation

Find your favorite

by Sarah Alvarez

Eakins, The Gross Clinic — Engage in thoughtful conversations about what makes a work of art a masterpiece

For deeper discussion

by Sarah Alvarez

Tips and tools for integrating Masterpiece Moment videos into teaching and learning

Getting started

by Sarah Alvarez

Hokusai, Five Beautiful Women — […]

Masterpiece Moment Learning Guide

by Sarah Alvarez

Homer wrote that the sharpshooter's role was "as near to murder as anything I can think of."

The U.S. Civil War, sharpshooters and Winslow ...

by Dr. Kimberly Kutz Elliott and Sarah Alvarez

Home wrote that the sharpshooter's role was "as near to murder as anything I can think of."

The U.S. Civil War, sharpshooters and Winslow ...

by Dr. Kimberly Kutz Elliott and Sarah Alvarez

Examining visual evidence

by Sarah Alvarez, Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

Joan Mitchell, City Landscape, 1955, oil on linen, 203.2 × 203.2 cm (Art Institute of Chicago 1958.193, ©The Estate of Joan Mitchell) — Does abstract art mean something? How can a viewer approach such a work of art?

Finding meaning in abstraction

by Sarah Alvarez and Dr. Beth Harris

Joan Mitchell, City Landscape, 1955, oil on linen, 203.2 × 203.2 cm (Art Institute of Chicago 1958.193, ©The Estate of Joan Mitchell) — Abstract expressionism invites us in

Finding meaning in abstraction

by Sarah Alvarez, Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

Face Jug from Edgefield county, South Carolina, c. 1860, stoneware and alkaline glaze, 13.3 cm high (The Art Institute of Chicago 2006.84) — This jug is one of the earliest known alkaline-glazed stoneware face vessels made by slaves or their descendants in the Edgefield District of South Carolina.

Cultures and slavery in the American south: ...

by Sarah Alvarez, Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris

This jug is one of the earliest known alkaline-glazed stoneware face vessels made by enslaved people or their descendants in the Edgefield District of South Carolina.

Thinking about cultures

by Sarah Alvarez and Dr. Beth Harris

Todros Geller, Strange Worlds, 1928, oil on canvas, 71.8 x 66.4 cm (Art Institute of Chicago) — Geller captures the tensions of the Jewish immigrant experience in the early 20th-century United States.

Todros Geller, Strange Worlds

by Sarah Alvarez and Dr. Beth Harris