What would it be like to manage the White House Collection? As students are exposed to impressive paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts from the White House collection, they will play professional roles such as artist, curator, and historian. Students will gain insight into the role of art in portraying significant events in U.S. history. To conclude the program, students will produce an exhibition of their own.

For Educators: Pre-Visit Lesson/Activities

This pre-visit lesson plan and accompanying image sets were designed to prepare students for our Executive Detectives II: 3-6 in-school program, a free outreach program available to teachers in the DC Metro Area.

If you are an educator outside of the DC Metro Area, this lesson includes several engaging activities perfect for classroom use. Instructions for each image set and reproducible can be found within the lesson plan.


Pre-Visit Lesson Plan and Background Information:

EXECUTIVE DETECTIVES II  [PDF]

BACKGROUND  [PDF]


      Image Sets:

      1. "White House Art Tour" [PDF]
      2. "Avenue in the Rain Surface Study"  [PDF]


      Reproducibles:

      "Avenue in the Rain"  [PDF]


* These materials are for educational use only and unless otherwise noted, copyrighted by The White House Historical Association

Program Related Online Resources

For more information the White House art collection and architecture:

The White House Art Collection
The White House: Arts Museum
American Art in the White House 4-8 Lesson
Art in the White House (William Kloss)
Architecture

White House History Online Resources

Picturing the President's House
White House Time Machine
The President's House and Its People (Betty Monkman)
The President's House (William Seale)