Inside Outdoor Sculpture Kit
Public outdoor sculpture—the most user-friendly form of art and history in America—is a rich and accessible resource. Sculpture has the potential to inspire creativity, community involvement, and scientific experimentation in people of all ages. Unfortunately, as a teaching tool, sculptures and monuments have been virtually overlooked—till now.
Inside Outdoor Sculpture, our interdisciplinary resource guide, kit, and website, aims to unleash that potential by encouraging Americans to see our national collection of outdoor sculpture with new eyes, to relate to it in new ways, and to safeguard it for future generations. Inside Outdoor Sculpture takes a hands-on approach to examining outdoor sculpture in three ways—a resource guide, a suggested kit with objects, and a website; the components can be used alone or together.
The resource guide is available for purchase in our bookstore, but is also available as a free download here. SOS! Sculpture Cards and lesson plans are also available online. Please note, Heritage Preservation no longer loans object kits. However, kits are easy to recreate at home and many of the resources are now available online for free. To see a list of the objects included in a kit click here.
Inside Outdoor Sculpture has three goals:
- To generate appreciation, enthusiasm, and a sense of ownership for American outdoor sculpture;
- To promote the use of sculpture as an interdisciplinary teaching tool and a focus for community involvement;
- To raise awareness about the need for ongoing preservation of outdoor sculpture.
Our primary audience is children 9–14 years old and their teachers, scout leaders, and other adults who direct students’ learning in formal and informal settings. All activities have been designed as springboards for further discovery and support national standards of learning for history, science, and art.
Photos: Jessica Ruskin
Original Contents of the Inside Outdoor Sculpture Kit:
SOS! Print Resources
Inside Outdoor Sculpture: Resource Guide
SOS! Sculpture Cards
Books
Rushmore and Liberty by Lynn Curlee
DVDs
Preservation of Outdoor Sculpture and Monuments, Heritage Preservation, 1995.
Men of Granite. The Rock of Ages, 1994.
I Am A Sculptor. Arts Commission of Greater Toledo, 1994.
Hands-on Resources
Box of Rocks & More Kit Includes:
Polished marble tile, limestone/chalk, ceramic tile, wood, granite, bronze (aged and new), and aluminum copper strips.
Pollution Solutions Kit Includes:
Wax (neutral color shoe polish), patina green antiquing solution (noted as SOS! “Acid Rain” I), and PH strips (hydrion papers).