Art Do - Seattle Children`s Theatre

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Art D
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Table of Contents
Synopsis .....................................................................................................................................................
Washington State Learning Standards .........................................................................................
Thacher Hurd – A Born Artist ..........................................................................................................
A Chat with Michael K. Hase, Technical Director .....................................................................
About the Set ...........................................................................................................................................
About the Costumes .............................................................................................................................
Vanished Masterpieces – How and Why People Steal Art .........................................................
It’s Alive! – Stories about Art Coming to Life ...........................................................................
Are You an Artist? .................................................................................................................................
Super People ............................................................................................................................................
Art Dog Art in the Real World ...........................................................................................................
Jump Start – Give This a Try ..............................................................................................................
Drama in Action – Learn by Doing .................................................................................................
Activity Pages ..........................................................................................................................................
Booklist ......................................................................................................................................................
Share Your Thoughts ............................................................................................................................
2
3
4-5
6
7-8
9-10
11-12
13-15
16-17
18
19
20-22
23
24
25-27
28
29
SYNOPSIS
As we write this synopsis, the script for Art Dog is still being developed. There may be some differences
between what you read here and what you see in the show.
Dawn breaks over the city of Dogopolis. Mild-mannered Arthur proudly dons his guard uniform at the
Dogopolis Museum of Art. Whistling jauntily to himself, Arthur carefully adjusts the paintings: Sunday
in the Park with Spot, American Dog Gothic, Vincent van Dog’s self portrait and Arthur’s
beloved Mona Woofa. The Museum Director enters. The Director, as usual, forgets poor
Arthur’s name as she calls for him to open the doors. Arthur’s workday has begun.
After work, Arthur goes back to his humble apartment. He makes some
tea, judiciously selects some classical music for his record player and
settles in to enjoy his book. But as the Moon rises over the city, its light
spills on to Arthur and he is transformed. He puts on a mask and beret.
Clasping brush and paints, Arthur is now Art Dog!
Out in the moonlit streets, Art Dog paints. Monsters, enormous fish, birds and stars leap from his brush
onto alley walls. He signs his work with a splash of his tail, and disappears.
Meanwhile, back at the museum, two thieves sneak into the darkened gallery. They locate their prize—
the Mona Woofa—and remove her from the wall. To cover their tracks they paint a crude replica in
her place and leave with the priceless masterpiece. Alerted by the alarm, the Director
arrives. She is horrified that there is a freshly painted “Mona Lulu” in place of the Mona
Woofa and the police vow to catch the culprit.
The police come upon Art Dog in the act of painting walls and, after a chase, arrest
him as the thief. Art Dog is shocked to learn that his adored Mona has been stolen. Left
alone in his jail cell, Art Dog knows he needs to take action. He takes out his brush and paints. This time,
however, they glow with an eerie light. He paints a ladder and a window and, amazed, climbs up and
jumps out into the night.
Art Dog paints a sleek, aerodynamic car—the Brushmobile—in which he flies through the night,
over the bridges and warehouses of Dogopolis, following his nose to where the thieves have hidden
Mona. Using his brush and pigments, Art Dog battles the thieves, shackling
and handcuffing them into a marvelous, abstract painting. The Museum
Director and police arrive to see Art Dog’s masterpiece: a gigantic collage
capturing not just the images of the thieves but the thieves themselves.
And there is Mona, safe and sound! Grateful and impressed, the Director
offers Art Dog his own exhibit at the Dogopolis Museum.
It is opening night at Art Dog’s show. The Director and the police look everywhere for Art Dog, and also
for Arthur, who should be on duty. Suddenly, music draws everyone outside where they marvel at huge,
spinning whorls of color creating fantastic shapes in the sky—Art Dog is bringing light to the night over
Dogopolis! But who is this catcher of crooks, this…Art Dog?
The next morning, Arthur resumes his daily rounds at the Museum. The
Director checks her watch and, forgetting his name once again, instructs
him to open the doors. Arthur smiles. He is back with his beloved
paintings. And Art Dog is, at least for now, his own secret to keep.
3
WASHINGTON STATE LEARNING STANDARDS
Art Dog touches on many themes and ideas. Here are a few we believe would make good
Discussion Topics: Museums, Identity, Famous Painters, Artistic Expression.
We believe that seeing the show and using our Active Audience Guide can help you meet the
following Washington State Standards and address these 21st Century Skills:
• Growth Mindset (Belief that your intelligence and ability can increase with effort.)
• Perseverance
• Creative Thinking
• Critical Thinking
• Communication
• Collaboration
In our 2014-15 season guides we will transition to Common Core Standards along with
Washington State schools.
Washington State K-12 Learning Standards
Theatre
Visual Art
Reading
1. The student understands and applies arts knowledge and skills.
1.1 Understand arts concepts and vocabulary.
1.2 Develops theatre skills and techniques.
1.4 Understands and applies audience conventions in a variety of settings and performances of theatre.
3. Theatre: The student communicates through the arts (dance, music, theatre, and visual arts).
3.1 Uses theatre to express feelings and present ideas.
3.2 Uses theatre to communicate for a specific purpose.
4. The student makes connections with and across the arts to other disciplines, life, cultures, and work.
4.1 Demonstrates and analyzes the connections among the arts disciplines (dance, music, theatre,
and visual arts).
4.4 Understand that the arts shape and reflect culture and history.
4.5 Demonstrates the knowledge of arts careers and the knowledge of arts skills in the world of work.
1. The student understands and applies arts knowledge and skills in dance, music, theatre, and visual arts.
1.2 Develops visual arts skills and techniques.
1.4 Understands and applies audience conventions in a variety of settings, performances, and
presentations of visual arts.
3. Visual Arts: The student communicates through the arts
3.1 Uses visual arts to express feelings and present ideas.
3.2 Uses visual arts to communicate for a specific purpose.
4. The student makes connections with and across the arts to other disciplines, life, cultures, and work.
4.1 Demonstrates and analyzes the connections among the arts (dance, music, theatre, and visual arts).
4.2 Demonstrates and analyzes the connections among the arts and between the arts and other
content areas.
4.4 Understands how the arts influence and reflect cultures/civilization, place, and time.
4.5 Understands how arts knowledge and skills are used in the world of work, including careers in the arts.
1. The student understands and uses different skills and strategies to read.
1.1 Use word recognition skills and strategies to read and comprehend text.
1.2 Use vocabulary (word meaning) strategies to comprehend text.
1.3 Build vocabulary through wide reading.
1.4 Apply word recognition skills and strategies to read fluently.
2. The student understands the meaning of what is read.
2.1 Demonstrate evidence of reading comprehension.
2.2 Understand and apply knowledge of text components to comprehend text.
Continued on the next page...
4
Reading
(continued)
Communication
2.3 Expand comprehension by analyzing, interpreting, and synthesizing information and ideas in
literary and informational text.
2.4 Think critically and analyze author’s use of language, style, purpose, and perspective in literary
and informational text.
3. The student reads different materials for a variety of purposes.
3.1 Read to learn new information.
3.2 Read to perform a task
3.3 Read for career applications
1. The student uses listening and observation skills and strategies to gain understanding.
1.1 Uses listening and observation skills and strategies to focus attention and interpret information.
1.2 Understands, analyzes, synthesizes, or evaluates information from a variety of sources.
WHAT IS ARTS INTEGRATION?
A definition and checklist from The Kennedy Center’s Changing Education Through the Arts program.
Arts integration is an approach to teaching in which students construct and demonstrate
understanding through an art form. Students engage in a creative process which connects an
art form and another subject area and meets evolving objectives in both.
Some educators confuse any effort to include the arts in their classroom with arts integration.
While all types of arts-based instruction are encouraged, it is helpful for educators to know when
they are engaged in arts integration. To achieve this awareness, an Arts Integration Checklist
is provided. Educators answering “yes” to the items in the Checklist can be assured that their
approach to teaching is indeed integrated.
Approach to Teaching
• Are learning principles of Constructivism (actively built, experiential, evolving,
collaborative, problem-solving, and reflective) evident in my lesson?
Understanding
• Are the students engaged in constructing and demonstrating understanding as opposed to
just memorizing and reciting knowledge?
Art Form
• Are the students constructing and demonstrating their understandings through an art form?
Creative Process
• Are the students engaged in a process of creating something original as opposed to
copying or parroting?
• Will the students revise their products?
Connects
• Does the art form connect to another part of the curriculum or a concern/need?
• Is the connection mutually reinforcing?
Evolving Objectives
• Are there objectives in both the art form and another part of the curriculum or a concern/need?
• Have the objectives evolved since the last time the students engaged with this subject matter?
For more thoughts about this subject and a wealth of useful information
(including lesson plans) go to:
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators.aspx
5
THACHER HURD – A BORN ARTIST
“To make a book exciting, to make the pages turn, to make a child laugh, to
bring out a child’s sense of wonder; these are what I am aiming at in my
books.” – Thacher Hurd
On March 6th, 1949, Thacher Hurd was born to parents who created picture
books. His parents, author Edith Thacher Hurd, who wrote many books for
young people, and illustrator Clement Hurd (Goodnight Moon), filled his
world with things of the imagination: “I loved to just sit and watch my father
work and be in that atmosphere of paint smells, color and creativity.”
Hurd grew up in rural Vermont surrounded by the books his parents created together and with others.
His entry into the profession came when he was 16 and wrote Little Dog Dreaming with his mother;
his father illustrated it. Hurd then went on to study at the University of California at Berkeley and the
California College of Arts and Crafts, receiving his BFA in 1972. Working as a builder, designer and
cabinetmaker after graduation, Hurd set his sights on being a “serious” artist. Still lifes, landscapes and
figure drawing held little magic for him, however, and soon he turned to picture books.
Thacher began writing books again when he could find no manuscripts to create pictures for:
“My mother always read to me before bed, all sorts of books and she had a beautiful way of
reading that really made you love whatever book she was reading. She truly instilled in me a
love of writing and good stories.” He has written and illustrated more than 25 books for children,
among them Mystery on the Docks and Mama Don’t Allow, both of which were Reading Rainbow
Feature Selections. Mama Don’t Allow also won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Picture
Books in 1985. He also wrote and illustrated Art Dog, Moo Cow Kaboom, Sleepy Cadillac and most
recently Bad Frogs. He collaborated with Elisa Kleven on The Weaver, which was published in
2010. He has also written and illustrated two board books, one of which, Zoom City, was a New
York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year. He has illustrated books by other authors as well.
Hurd plays the piano, guitar and trombone, and music fans will find his books full of rhythm and
musical images—his own band, The New Tokaloma Swamp Band, inspired the Swamp Band in
Mama Don’t Allow, a book based on the jazz song of the same name.
Together with his wife, Olivia Hurd, Thacher founded Peaceable Kingdom Press, a publisher of
greeting cards and posters featuring illustrations from children’s books. He lives in Berkeley,
California and spends summers in Vermont.
Excerpted and adapted from:
Thacher Hurd - http://thacherhurd.com
Scholastic - http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/thacher-hurd
Children’s Literature Network - http://www.childrensliteraturenetwork.com/birthbios/
brthpage/03mar/3-6hurd_t.html
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A CHAT WITH MICHAEL K. HASE, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Please tell us a little bit about your work.
As technical director, I coordinate the technical elements of the play. I
work with the director and the set designer to help fulfill their visions
while keeping to the realities that exist. Those realities vary widely but
include things such as budget, time, skills of the crew building the set
and running the show, safety, fire codes, physical limitations like the size
of the theater and, often, the laws of physics (gravity and such). I then
work with other departments—props, costumes, lights, running crews
(the people who move the scenery, make the costume changes and
work the light and sound cues during the show)—to coordinate their needs.
What is a particularly interesting or unusual challenge on this project and how are you setting
out to solve it?
There are several challenges in this production. The play takes place in the Dogopolis Museum of Art,
Arthur’s apartment, an alley, a police station, the streets of Dogopolis and a warehouse. In the book
Art Dog moves from one location to a completely different one with the flip of a page. Of course it
isn’t that easy on stage. Jennifer Zeyl, the set designer, has come up with a design that tells the story
using scenic pieces that move on and off stage or change position to become a different place—for
example, the Museum is two long walls filled with art work, Arthur’s apartment is a cozy little room
that rotates to become one of the alley walls, the other alley wall rotates to become the police station.
I’ll work with Jennifer to make decisions about how we build all those pieces so that we can make the
shifting easy for the crew to do quickly, quietly and safely.
The alley walls also have a special effect in them. As Art Dog paints, they light up from the inside
to reveal the paintings. Can we plug something in or do we need the lights to be run by batteries?
How much space do we have inside the walls for lighting instruments? What lighting technology is
available to us? How do we build the walls so we can get back inside them if during the run of the
show we need to replace some lighting equipment? I’ll need to work with the lighting designer, Geoff
Korf, to come up with practical solutions.
There are also some cool chase scenes—the police chase Art Dog when they think he stole a painting
from the Museum, and Art Dog chases the real thieves to get the painting back. There is not a lot of
moving scenery used in these chases, but I’ll be coordinating with many people to make sure that
whatever set pieces are used are safe to climb on or have other action played out on them. I’ll need to
work with the costume designer, Scott Gray, and the costume shop manager, Nanette Acosta, to make
sure that shoes have the proper traction and that sleeves or capes or other costume parts won’t get
caught on things. I’ll coordinate with the crew chief, Ben Baird, to be sure we have the proper people
in the correct places to secure the set pieces being climbed on; and I’ll work with my assistant, Eric
Koch, and the master carpenter, Brian “Chili” Culver, to see that we are building things that are strong
and secure enough. I’ll also work with the properties manager, Elizabeth “Fried” Friedrich, so that the
props in those scenes are not trip hazards. And, of course, I’ll work with the director, Rita Giomi, to do
Continued on the next page...
7
our best to fulfill her vision for how the scenes play out and
to advise if things need some adjusting for any reason. That
way the set is safe for everyone.
What in your childhood got you to where you are today?
I was always mechanically minded. Like most kids, I loved to
take things apart. I, more than others, loved to put them back
together again and prided myself on having the tenacity and
patience to make sure they worked when I was done. And
I made sure that I knew why and how they worked. Bikes,
radios, car parts. Lots of time spent with
my tinker toys and erector sets.
As far as the arts, my mother had a
beautiful singing and speaking voice.
My father did not. But they both would
sing and read to me. Both equally gave
me a love and appreciation of music and
voice. I recall being in elementary school
plays as well as campfire skits in the
Boy Scouts. I had a love for the musical
movies on television (Camelot, The
Wizard of Oz, State Fair, Music Man, etc).
And I saw wonderful live theater as well.
My first real play memory is The Legend
of Sleepy Hollow at Honolulu Theatre
for Youth. There was a teenager in it
who ended up being my Kabuki mentor
twenty-something years later.
This is a set designer’s drawing of a bed from the
play Adventures with Spot. She designed it to hide an
actor. Part of the technical director’s job is to take
drawings like this and redraw them...
... like this—with exact measurements and details so they can be built
correctly by the carpenters.
All this set up an interest in theater and arts. Once I was old enough, I took some creative dramatics
and acting workshops. But it wasn’t until my junior year in high school that it all took off. After two
years of not auditioning, I tried out for a three school production (which was a big deal). I was cast
in the chorus to play many roles. At first I was disappointed but it was the best thing that could have
happened. I ended up helping build scenery, working on costumes, doing some run crew roles and
was also acting, singing and dancing. The following summer, I learned about lighting. My senior year, I
was in two shows and co-designed and built one of them. I helped start a Drama Club.
After high school, I studied Theatre for Young Audiences and Asian Theatre at the University of
Hawaii. I paid my way through college working in television and theater and have been working in
theater ever since.
Before moving to Seattle nearly 20 years ago with his wife Tammy, Mike was the technical director for
the Honolulu Theatre for Youth. Once in Seattle, he immediately showed up at the SCT production shop
door and has been here ever since. Mike is well versed in theater, boasting professional credits in scenic
design, lighting design, sound design, projection/video design, acting and playwriting.
8
ABOUT THE SET
From Jennifer Zeyl, Set Designer
For this production of Art Dog, we are lucky to have permission to work with the wonderful
images from the book—but illustrations in a book are very different from set design.
Thacher Hurd could let his imagination run wild to create the fantastic world of Dogopolis.
He didn’t have to figure out how a painting of a ladder could become a real ladder, or how
to fill the entire sky of Dogopolis with art or how to turn the walls of an alley into an art
gallery. There are ways we can make these moments happen by using digital technology or
projections. But in Art Dog’s world, paint is everything, so we want to use paint whenever
we can, too.
Art Dog paints on alley walls in the book. On the set for the play, the
paintings will be in different positions. The designer rearranged
them to help the flow of the action as Art Dog sings and paints.
For example, the first time we see Art Dog at
work, he’s in an alley painting images on the
walls—and he’s singing about everything he’s
painting. There’s no time for the actor playing Art
Dog to actually paint everything he sings about.
To make these images on stage we use a technique
called “back painting.” Our painters take a piece of
fabric and starch it many, many times on each side
so that anything they paint on that fabric won’t
immediately show through on the other side.
Then they paint an alley wall on one side (being
Continued on the next page...
9
careful to choose colors and
patterns that will let light
shine through them) and
one of Art Dog’s paintings
on the backside. When the
fabric is lit from the front
you see the wall, but when
light shines through the
back of the fabric you see
Art Dog’s painting.
We are still working on
solutions for some of the
other special moments in
the play. There are things
Rough sketch of the set design showing the moon and alley walls with the general
we won’t know for sure
placement of each painting’s “lightbox” marked.
until we’re in rehearsal
working with the actors and can see how what
they’re doing connects with what needs to
happen with the set. It’s one of the most exciting
things about working on a play. Everybody
works together to figure things out and make
them happen.
A lightbox is just what it sounds like—a box with lights in it. In this
case, as this rough sketch shows, the front of the box is covered by
muslin (a kind of fabric) that has been painted on both sides. When the
light in the box is off, you see the mural image painted on the front of
the muslin. When it’s on, you will see the image painted on the back
of the muslin. Each image, including Art Dog’s signature, is in its own
lightbox so we can control when it lights up and so the light from it will
not reveal any of the other images on the wall at the same time.
Try it yourself !
You can experiment with this back painting technique. Get a blank piece of paper, draw
whatever you’d like on one side and draw something completely different on the other. Then
hold the paper up to the light and you’ll be able to see both drawings at once. What happens
if you draw some clouds on one side and some birds on the other? If you look at just the
cloud side all you’ll see are the clouds, but when you hold the paper up to the light, birds
magically appear in the sky. What other things can you draw on each side of a piece of paper
that could surprise someone when you hold it up to light?
10
ABOUT THE COSTUMES
From Scott Gray, Costume Designer
When I design costumes for a play in which actors play animals,
one of my first questions for the director is how much we want the
actors to look like the animals they play. In the Art Dog book all
the characters are dogs, but they dress like humans. Their heads
are dog-shaped, most have floppy dog ears, and they have tails.
But they have hands instead of paws and they walk like humans—
they are a mix of things. One of the many fun details in the book
is that Art Dog signs his paintings with his tail, so we decided
to keep tails on the characters. But instead of attaching floppy
ears to the actors’ heads, we’re creating hairstyles that will
remind the audience of the shape of different dog’s ears. (By
the way, it’s very funny that whenever someone puts on a tail,
their behavior changes right away. Some people just wag them,
some people follow them in small circles! )
As for the clothes, the most important thing is designing
something that is right for each character. Arthur is a quiet,
shy museum guard and we see him most often in his simple
uniform—but when he turns into Art Dog, we want something
almost magical about both the change and the costume. He
becomes Art Dog quickly, right in front of the audience, so
he can’t do a complete costume
change. He might remove
part of what he’s wearing in
an unexpected way to reveal
something different underneath.
Or he might suddenly change how
he’s wearing something. It is a
challenge to find a trick with the
costume that will surprise the
audience and that we know can
happen easily every time it needs
to happen.
Rough sketch of Arthur and Art Dog. Art Dog
wears tubes of paints on a sash across his chest so
he’s always ready for action.
Continued on the next page...
11
Hairstyles from the cartoon series
Jacob Two-Two and the way they are
drawn inspired the Art Dog wigs
Costume designer Scott Gray modeling
his rough mock-up for Arthur’s wig.
Can you see the dog ears? Scott makes a
mock-up so that he can experiment with
shape and the materials he wants to use.
For most of the other characters, I’m trying
to design clothes that look sort of like what
people wear every day but are clearly things
you’d only find in Dogopolis. For example, one
of the thieves is wearing a sweatshirt from his
school days at U. M.U.T.T. Maybe he took an art
appreciation course there. He does seem more
interested in the beauty of the art he’s stealing
than in the money he’s going to get for it.
Sketch of one of the Thieves. His hat looks a bit like the top
of a fire hydrant, don’t you think?
Iris Apfel, a legendary fashion icon, is the
inspiration for the Museum Director’s costume.
The Museum Director, however, has a style of
her own. Her everyday work clothes are not
something you’d see on anyone else anywhere.
But when the burglar alarm goes off at the
Museum during the night and she comes
running in to see what has happened, she’s
wearing a comfortable bathrobe and her hair
is up in curlers. Bone-shaped curlers. That,
you’d see only in Dogopolis.
Sketch of the Museum Director’s costumes. Yes, she is wearing a cuckoo clock around
her neck. It’s a much more interesting way to tell the time than a simple watch. And
even when she’s in her bathrobe and curlers she makes sure to show her style.
12
VANISHED MASTERPIECES –
HOW AND WHY PEOPLE STEAL ART
Seeing a great work of art can shock you. You may have seen copies hundreds of times, but when you
see the thing itself it looks unbelievably big, or incredibly small. And the colors are different than in any
reproduction. You didn’t realize that it was painted directly on to a wall—or a ceiling! A picture you
thought was flat turns out to be so thick with oil paint that it could be called a sculpture.
It is sad when people steal art. When thieves steal a very
famous piece of art, they often don’t know what to do with
it. If they try to sell it, they risk being caught. Sometimes
they try to hold it for ransom. Often the art disappears from
the world. Less than a tenth of stolen art is recovered. The
reproductions—art-ghosts—haunt us as reminders that we
can no longer visit the art itself.
Before World War II, most art thieves were skillful,
This is a picture of a picture by Vincent Van Gogh,
independent cat burglars. But over the last 50 years, art theft
called View of the Sea at Scheveningen. Van Gogh
has grown enormously, dominated by organized crime and
painted it outdoors in stormy weather. Thieves stole
terrorists, who use simpler, more brutal methods. They sell
it from the Van Gogh Museum in 2002 and it hasn’t
art on the black market, often for less than a tenth of what it is been seen since. If it is ever recovered, you might
worth. They don’t usually steal the most famous works of art, be able to see grains of sand blown by the wind that
day, which stuck to the paint.
because those are more heavily guarded and more difficult
to sell. But great works of art continue to be stolen. Paintings by Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt van Rijn,
Georges Seurat and many, many others have vanished. The most valuable missing painting in the world
today is The Concert by Johannes Vermeer. It was stolen in 1990 from the Gardner Museum in Boston by
two men disguised as police officers. They also took paintings by Edgar Degas and Rembrandt van Rijn.
In all, they stole 500 million dollars worth of art—the largest property crime in the history of the United
States. None of the stolen art has reappeared.
Stéphane Breitwieser
Most art thieves are in it for money. But not all. Stéphane Breitwieser, a French
waiter, stole 239 pieces of art from 172 different museums before he was caught.
He never tried to sell them. At his trial, he said “I love such works of art. I collected
them and kept them at home.” He enjoyed thinking about being “the wealthiest man
in Europe”—the stolen art was worth more than a billion dollars. He hid it all in his
bedroom in his mother’s house.
He was no cat burglar. He had a knack for picking museums and galleries with low
security, and he would simply take things when nobody was looking and walk off
with them. He often used a small knife to cut paintings out of their frames. Sometimes he would throw
pieces of art out a window and pick them up outside.
Stéphane Breitwieser
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13
In 2001, when he was finally arrested in Switzerland, his mother destroyed many
of the paintings by cutting them up, throwing wrecked frames in the trash and
forcing shredded canvases down the garbage disposal. She tossed vases, jewelry,
pottery and statues into a nearby canal. Some were later dredged up. She claimed
that she destroyed the paintings out of anger at her son, who had never told her he
was hiding stolen art in her house, but police believe she did it to destroy evidence
against him. She spent 18 months in prison; he served 26 months.
In 2011, Stéphane Breitwieser was again arrested for stealing art. Police found 40
stolen paintings in his apartment, and more near his mother’s house—she had
thrown some chandeliers and watches into a pond, and hidden other artworks
in a neighbor’s chicken coop. This time it was clear he wasn’t stealing for love
alone—police found 60,000 euros ($80,000) in cash in his apartment as well.
Hermann Göring and the Nazis
It isn’t only obsessed waiters, mobsters and terrorists who steal art. Governments
do it, too. The German Nazis may have been the biggest art thieves of all time. And
Hermann Göring, an evil man who loved beautiful things, was the biggest art thief
of all the Nazis.
One of the first paintings he stole was Tower of Blue Horses by Franz Marc. After
the Nazis took over Germany, they took the painting out of the Berlin National
Gallery and put it on display as part of their “Degenerate Art” exhibition, made up
of artwork that the Nazis thought was unhealthy or anti-German. Some German
veterans protested against including The Tower of Blue Horses as anti-German,
because Franz Marc had died fighting for Germany in World War I. So Hermann
Göring took it for himself, as he did thousands of other paintings during World
War II. It hasn’t been seen since 1949.
The Mona Lisa
This is the most valuable
painting Stéphane
Breitwieser stole: Sybille,
Princess of Cleves painted
by Louis Cranach the Elder
in 1526. It is part of a
series of portraits done by
Cranach of Sybille that span
much of her life. Stéphane
cut it from its frame at an
auction where it was to be
sold. It was recovered.
The Tower of Blue Horses
(1913), Franz Marc
When the Nazis tried to steal all the great art of Europe, they were imitating the French Emperor
Napoleon. After conquering Italy, Napoleon boasted that “We will now have all that is beautiful in Italy,
except for a few objects in Turin and Naples.” He dreamed
of making the Louvre in Paris a grand central museum of
European art. And he succeeded. Some art was returned
after Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, but most of it stayed
at the Louvre, which became the most famous art museum
in the world. Napoleon’s success led, indirectly, to the most
famous art theft of all time.
On August 21, 1911, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa was
stolen from the Louvre. The theft didn’t come to light until
Continued on the next page...
14
Detail from Mona Lisa (1503-1506), Leonardo da Vinci
the next day. Guards who noticed that the painting was missing assumed
it had been removed to be photographed. Once museum officials realized
the terrible truth, they shut down the Louvre. Police arrived to question
the staff. They sealed the French border and searched departing ships
and trains.
By the time the museum re-opened nine days later, the theft was frontpage news around the world. Tips poured in from amateur detectives,
nutty professors and psychics. Thousands of people lined up at the
Louvre to see the empty spot where the painting once hung. Hundreds of
people were investigated and questioned, including Pablo Picasso.
Mug shot and fingerprints of
Vincenzo Peruggia, the man who
stole the Mona Lisa
But the trail went cold. Rumors reported that Mona Lisa had been
shipped to Switzerland or South America; she was in an apartment in the Bronx, a private gallery in St.
Petersburg, a secret room in the mansion of an American millionaire. In fact, she didn’t leave Paris for
over two years. But then she turned up in Florence, Italy.
The thief, Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian house painter living in France, had smuggled her into Florence to
try to sell her. Peruggia had been questioned by French police, but escaped suspicion, despite the fact that
he had once worked at the Louvre and had even helped build the glass case in which the Mona Lisa was
displayed—so he knew how to get her out of it quickly. He had hidden in the
museum on Sunday night, knowing it would be closed the following day. He
wore a loose smock, which was the uniform of Louvre employees at that time,
and walked out of the museum with the painting hidden under the smock.
Andrea Giovanelli, Vincenzo
Peruggia’s great-great-grandson,
with a copy of the Mona Lisa that
he painted
Though Peruggia tried to sell the picture, he insisted that he stole La
Gioconda (the Italian name for the painting) to return her in glory to Italy
and to take revenge on Napoleon for his massive theft of artworks all
across Europe. But Mona Lisa hadn’t been part of the Napoleonic plunder.
Leonardo da Vinci himself took the picture to France hundreds of years
earlier. Despite this, Peruggia became a hero to many Italians. An Italian jury
convicted him of theft in August 1914, but his sentence was reduced to the
time he had already spent in jail and he was set free. Mona Lisa went on a
triumphal tour of Italy before she returned to the Louvre in Paris. Vincenzo
eventually moved back to Paris and opened a paint store.
Before the theft, Mona Lisa was already pretty famous. She had her own mailbox at the Louvre, because
so many people wrote letters to her. After the theft, she became by far the most famous painting in the
world. Today, six million people come to visit her every year, though the crowds are so large that each
visitor spends, on average, fifteen seconds in front of the painting.
FBI information on art theft:
http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/march-2012/protectingcultural-heritage-from-art-theft
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/vc_majorthefts/arttheft
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IT’S ALIVE! – STORIES ABOUT ART COMING TO LIFE
Once there was a sculptor, named Pygmalion, who carved a statue of a woman so beautiful
that he fell in love with it. He named the statue Galatea. He could love no other woman with the
sculpture by his side, so he prayed to Venus, the goddess of love, to bring the statue to life. Venus
granted his prayer. Galatea and Pygmalion were married and lived happily ever after.
That’s a famous old story about art coming to life. Here’s a newer one. Maybe you recognize it:
Once there was a school filled with beautiful paintings. Unlike the paintings in your school, the
people in these paintings could move and talk to you. They could even travel to other paintings
and visit each other. To get to their rooms, some students had to tell a lady in one of these
portraits a password. She would then swing the portrait backwards to let them in. One night a
wizard tried to get past her without saying the secret word. When she wouldn’t let the wizard
pass, he slashed the portrait. She fled to another painting and hid there until it was safe for her to
return.
One more (you might recognize this one, too, though it has been made a lot simpler than the original):
A man gets a job as a night guard at a museum. When night falls, he discovers that the objects
in the museum come to life! He has to run for his life from living statues of Attila and his Huns.
Another statue, of Teddy Roosevelt on horseback, helps him restore order and get all the statues
who have escaped back into the museum. But then he tries to help the Cavemen statues in their
quest for fire. He gives them a cigarette lighter and they burn down an exhibit. When the director
of the museum sees the wreckage, he fires the poor night watchman. But the director re-hires him
when news reports of strange events—such as cave paintings appearing in the museum’s subway
station—get huge crowds of people to come to the museum.
People have always had fun telling stories about art, toys and other objects coming to life—The
Nutcracker, Pinocchio, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Toy Story—you can probably think of many more.
People have also loved making up stories about great art. Especially with paintings like the Mona
Lisa. We don’t know much about the woman in the painting, but she seems so real and is smiling
so mysteriously that we are tempted to make up stories about who she is and what she is thinking
about. Leonardo da Vinci, who painted the Mona Lisa, often made pictures that tempt you that way.
Here are some drawings
by Leonardo—what do
you think these people
are thinking about? What
would they say if they were
released from the moment
in which they are forever
frozen? What is their story?
Continued on the next page...
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Of course, sometimes maybe it is better that art—like this
dragon Leonardo drew!—stays safely on the page.
Vincent van Gogh wasn’t known for creating portraits of people—
with one exception. He created many great portraits of himself.
He doesn’t look like he
is interested in saying
anything, but he does
seem to be looking at
you as hard as he can,
and you get the feeling
that he always looked
at the world that way.
Vincent van Gogh had an amazing talent for making the
things he looked at—waves, houses, stars, sky—come alive. Here are some sketches he made of a
starry night and a fishing boat at sea. What do you think is the story behind these pictures?
The models that Leonardo da Vinci painted
lived long before photography, so we can’t
compare how they look in the drawings
to a photograph of them. For more recent
art, though, we can. Grant Wood used his
sister and his dentist as models for his
famous painting, American Gothic. Does it
seem strange to see a photograph of them
standing next to the painting? If you made
up a story of how they got into or out of the
painting, what would it be?
(Did you recognize the stories in this article? The lady in the painting hid from the wizard in Harry Potter and the Prisoner
of Azkaban. The museum guard’s adventure is the movie Night at the Museum.)
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ARE YOU AN ARTIST?
All over the world, for thousands of years, all sorts of people have created all sorts of art, making
pottery, weaving colored cloth, decorating tools or carving fantastic designs on doorways or canoes.
People have always enjoyed making things to express something
about themselves. You probably like to have something around
your home express a little bit of who you are, so maybe you cut
shapes out of construction paper and put them on your wall or
arrange your rock collection in a special way.
Artists notice things and how those things make them feel and
that helps them create art. For example, have you noticed how
many colors of red are in the sky in the morning? And how those
colors change? Artists choose from all the reds they see when they paint a sunrise. You can find an
amazing number of different red colors all around you. Maybe you’ve already made your own kinds
of red by mixing watercolors, or crayons, or even strawberry and vanilla ice cream.
Have you noticed how many colors and shapes there are on the way to school? Patterns in bricks,
buildings, clouds? How about patterns on the beach? Or in shells, or grass blowing in the wind?
Patterns are everywhere and some even echo each other. Bike spokes and flower petals. Veins in
leaves and water running down gutters. If you have tried to draw patterns just for fun, you may have
found that the more you draw, the more you see and feel. It can go on forever!
Did you ever make a sandbox sculpture? Have you ever pushed your mashed potatoes around to hold
the gravy, and then made them into a volcano and a lake? Maybe you’ve tried the same thing with
backyard mud or clay at school. Or with old chairs, pieces of cardboard or leftovers from the garage.
Do you like to put things together or take things apart, or both?
Making things is not the only way to make art. When your great-grandparents were young, there
were no televisions or computer games to pass away the evening hours. People entertained each
other. Someone might play the fiddle, another the piano, banjo or harmonica. Or tell stories. You may
like making up stories to share, too.
Do you sing? Do you hum or whistle or beat box? Did you ever tap out a rhythm with your fingers?
Have you ever banged pots or sticks or hands or feet to get others moving?
Do some patterns you see make you want to move? How often have you jumped over cracks in the
sidewalk or mud puddles? Have you ever put a rhyme and a song to it, like you do in hopscotch or
jumping rope?
Art you make, songs you sing or dances you make up don’t need to be perfect. They just need to
express and help you share your thoughts, feelings and reactions to the world. Maybe you do some of
these things or some other art that is completely different. If you like to explore ways of expressing
yourself, then you are an artist.
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SUPER PEOPLE
Diana Prince, Peter Parker, Tony Stark—do you know those names? Diana Prince has held
many jobs: Army nurse, Air Force secretary, owner of a fancy clothing store. Peter Parker
attends high school and takes very good photographs. Tony Stark is a very rich businessman
and scientific genius. You may know these people by their other names: Wonder Woman,
Spider-Man and Iron Man. They are all comic book superheroes—characters with powers
that make them able to do things ordinary people can’t. Their super powers make their lives
very complicated and dangerous. They hide their superhero selves from the world so that
they can keep the people they love out of danger and because, well, it’s really hard being
super all the time. They show the superhero side of themselves when it’s needed.
That’s what happens when moonlight transforms Arthur—a quiet, kind, museum guard at
the Dogopolis Museum of Art—into Art Dog, a mysterious, amazing artist. When thieves
steal the Mona Woofa, Art Dog gets super-powered and becomes a fearless protector of art.
Where do super powers come from? Wonder Woman was born with her powers—she’s
a warrior princess from a tribe of women called the Amazons. Spider-Man was created
when Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider. Iron Man’s strength comes from the
incredible suit of powered armor Tony Stark designed and wears. We don’t know for sure
why moonlight gives Arthur super powers. Maybe because of his love of art.
We may not have super powers, but we do have a lot of different parts that make up who
we are. Think about the different things you do every day. You are a student, a friend, a
daughter or a son. You may be an athlete, a singer, an artist, an explorer, a writer, a cook, a
scientist, a gardener, an inventor—the list goes on forever. Even though you aren’t doing all
the things you can do at the same time (when you are playing soccer you probably aren’t
thinking about the model robot you are building), all the things you do fit together like
puzzle pieces to make you who you are. Some of those pieces may be things you only let
your family or best friends know about—maybe you aren’t ready for everyone to read your
poems. So that’s a kind of secret identity.
Where do your powers come from? Like Diana Prince, you are born with some. Like Peter
Parker, unexpected things happen that surprise and change you. Like Tony Stark you learn
about things and that makes you stronger. Like Arthur, you love
something and it brings you joy.
Pretty super, don’t you think?
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ART DOG ART IN THE REAL WORLD
When Thacher Hurd wrote Art Dog, he was inspired by famous real works of art to create what you
see hanging on the walls of the Dogopolis Museum of Art. Here’s a chance to look at images of some
of the originals and Hurd’s remakes side by side. What differences can you find? What is the same?
In the book, the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci is called Mona Woofa by Leonardo Dog Vinci. What
dog related names would you give the other Dogopolis paintings and their artists?
Mona Lisa (1503-1506),
Leonardo da Vinci
The Mona Lisa is over 500 years old and
one of the most famous paintings in the
world. It is believed that Leonardo spent
at least four years painting this portrait.
Mona Lisa means “Madam Lisa” in Italian, but in Italy the painting
is called La Gioconda which means The Happy One.
American Gothic (1930),
Grant Wood
Many people who see this painting
think it shows a farmer and his wife.
It is actually meant be a farmer and his daughter. The
models for the painting were Grant Wood’s sister and
their dentist.
Continued on the next page...
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Starry Night (1889),
Vincent van Gogh
This painting isn’t hanging in the museum. It’s in Arthur’s home and inspires his painting of the
sky at the end of the story. Starry Night has been compared to a photograph of a star named V838
Monocerotis, taken by the Hubble telescope in 2004—115 years after it was painted. The clouds of
gas around the star look like the swirling patterns van Gogh used in this painting
The Blue Boy (1770),
Thomas Gainsborough
Gainsborough began drawing
when he was very young and left
home to study art when he was 13. He earned his living
painting portraits like this one, but he loved painting
landscapes more.
Continued on the next page...
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Self Portrait (1887),
Vincent van Gogh
Van Gogh painted at least 37 self portraits in
his lifetime. They probably show his face as
it looked in a mirror, so his left side in the image
is really the right side of his face.
A Sunday Afternoon on
the Island of La Grand
Jette (1884),
Georges Seurat
If you could see this
real painting closeup, you might be
surprised that it is all
made by little dots of
paint in primary colors. Our eyes and mind
blend the dots into a complete picture of
many colors. This style of painting is called Pointillism. In the book Art Dog, only part of the painting is
shown, so for the play our set designer will fill in the rest in Thacher Hurd’s style.
To see these wonderful works of art in color, go here:
Mona Lisa – http://www.parisdigest.com/photos/louvre_mona_lisa.jpg
American Gothic – http://mydailyartdisplay.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/grantwood-americangothic-1930.jpg
Starry Night – http://411posters.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/van-gogh-starry-night.jpg
Blue Boy – http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Thomas_Gainsborough_008.jpg
Van Gogh Self Portrait – http://figurepaintings.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/self-portrait-vincentvan-gogh.jpg
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jette – http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
commons/7/7d/A_Sunday_on_La_Grande_Jatte%2C_Georges_Seurat%2C_1884.jpg
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JUMP START
Ideas for things to do, wonder about, talk about or write about before or after you
see Art Dog.
Draw a picture of yourself to hang in the Dogopolis Museum of Art. Don’t forget your dog ears
and tail!
If you were a superhero, what would your powers be? What would your name be?
Draw your superhero’s car, or plane or boat.
Why do you like art? What kind of art do you like best?
What do you imagine happens to Art Dog after the end of the story? What happens to Arthur?
If you could draw something that would suddenly become real, what would it be?
Why do people make art?
Do animals make art?
Why do people steal things?
Why does Arthur keep Art Dog secret?
Go to a museum. There are lots of free museums and others that have a free admission day
once a month.
Pretend your home is a museum and give your friends or family a tour, pointing out interesting
items and telling the story behind them.
If you were a dog, what would your name be?
Why does Arthur paint his masterpiece high in the sky instead of in the museum?
Write another adventure for Art Dog. Who are the bad guys, what have they done and how
does Art Dog save the day?
What kind of superhero do you think a cat would be? How
about a bird? A fish? A horse? A lizard? Can you move like
one of those superheroes would?
Look at a piece of art. Can you freeze yourself in the same
position? Can you bring the picture to life? How would it
move? What might it say?
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DRAMA IN ACTION
This is a customized Art Dog Dramashop* exercise for you to try.
EXERCISE: Go, Stop, Arthur, Art Dog, Masterpiece!
GRADES: Age 5 and up
TIME: 10 minutes
SET-UP: This exercise works best in an open space
SUPPLIES: None
INSTRUCTIONS:
By day Arthur is a mild-mannered museum guard, but when the moon is full he transforms into
Art Dog, a mysterious artist who creates masterpieces. In this exercise students respond to verbal
signals and create a physical connection to the characters and plot.
Give the students a verbal signal (“Go”) to move randomly around the room. While they move,
call out any of the following prompts, in any order. Encourage students to use levels, facial
expressions and gestures when creating their frozen shapes.
Go: Move around the room using a normal inside pace
Go Slow: Move around the room using a slow motion pace
Arthur: Freeze in a shape that represents Arthur the museum guard
Art Dog: Freeze in a shape that represents Art Dog secretly painting a masterpiece
Masterpiece: Freeze in a shape that represents the masterpiece that Art Dog has painted
When the students are ready for more complex action the following layers can be added:
Focus (focusing eyes and attention on a particular point or direction)
Cues for emotional states
Cues for specific ways of moving
Combined cues – “Go as Art Dog” for example
Music – for example, “Masterpiece inspired by this music”
Environments – “Go through a city street at night” or “through a hot desert”
More characters from the play – “Freeze as the Mona Woofa”
*A Dramashop is an interactive drama-workshop that Seattle Children’s Theatre offers to schools and community groups
through our Education Outreach Program. Dramashops explore the themes, characters, historical context and production
elements of SCT Mainstage productions. Professional SCT teaching artists work with students for an hour, fleshing out
themes and ideas through dynamic theater exercises. Dramashops can occur either before or after seeing the play and can
be held at SCT or at your location. Students get on their feet in these participatory workshops, stretching their imaginations
while learning about the play.
For information about bringing a Dramashop to your classroom or community group, email [email protected].
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MAKE YOUR OWN ART TO HANG IN THE DOGOPOLIS MUSEUM!
Using your imagination and a pencil, what can you turn this squiggle into?
Help
Art Dog!
Find the following words in the word search below
and circle them.
Words can go across or down.
ARTHUR
MUSEUM
DOGOPOLIS
ALARM
POLICE
MOONLIGHT
GUARD
WAREHOUSE
CROOKS
LISTEN
PAINTINGS
RHAPSODY
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Help
Art Dog!
WORD SEARCH ANSWER KEY
ARTHUR
MUSEUM
DOGOPOLIS
ALARM
POLICE
MOONLIGHT
GUARD
WAREHOUSE
CROOKS
LISTEN
PAINTINGS
RHAPSODY
L
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BOOKLIST
For Children & Young Adults:
For Adults Working With Children
& Young Adults:
Younger Readers
Art
Patrick McDonnell
13 Art Mysteries Children Should Know
Angela Wenzel
Art Lab for Kids: 52 Creative Adventures in
Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Paper, and
Mixed Media - For Budding Artists of All Ages
Susan Schwake
Chalk
Bill Thomson
Colorful Dreamer: The Story of Artist Henri Matisse
Marjorie Blain Parker
Art with Anything: 52 Weeks of Fun Using
Everyday Stuff
MaryAnn F. Kohl
Just Behave, Pablo Picasso!
Jonah Winter
Oooh! Matisse
Mil Niepold and Jeanyves Verdu
Drawing with Children: A Creative Method for
Adult Beginners, Too
Mona Brookes
Vincent’s Colors
Vincent van Gogh
Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for
Children in the Styles of the Great Masters
MaryAnn F. Kohl and Kim Solga
From the Renaissance to Pop Art, this is a brief
overview of great artists of different eras with
an art activity for each artist. In addition, there
are other art games, activities and a resource
guide packed full of terms, art styles, an index
and a chart of icons denoting art style, skill level,
technique and preparation for each activity.
The Art Treasure Hunt: I Spy with My Little Eye
Doris Kutschbach
Filled with single and double page copies
of great works of art from ancient Egypt to
Keith Haring, this I Spy book asks readers to
seek out objects and shapes in the pictures.
The time spent searching for these items
reveals more detail and characteristics of the
style of the artwork. Some of the objects are
obvious and others more subtle. It’s a fun way
to introduce children to a variety of art, in a
format they enjoy. The last pages provide more
information on each artist’s style.
Middle Readers
Chasing Vermeer
Blue Balliett
Leonardo da Vinci
Kathleen Krull
Me, Frida
Amy Novesky
Wideness & Wonder: The Life and Art of Georgia
O’Keeffe
Susan Goldman Rubin
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Booklist prepared by Tamara Saarinen
Pierce County Library System
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
Engaging young people with the arts is what we are all about at SCT. We hope that the Active
Audience Guide has helped enhance and extend the theater experience for your family or your
students beyond seeing the show.
Send us your comments
We’d love to hear your feedback about the guide. You can email us at [email protected].
Educators
We need your help. Please take a moment to go online and answer this brief survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SFQ2DCK
Thank you for your support.
Seattle Children’s Theatre, which celebrates its 39th season in 2013-2014, performs
September through June in the Charlotte Martin and Eve Alvord Theatres at Seattle Center. SCT
has gained acclaim as a leading producer of professional theatre, educational programs and new
scripts for young people. By the end of its 2012-2013 season, SCT had presented over 230 plays,
including 110 world premieres, entertaining over 4 million children.
29