Website: The Art Institute of Chicago

The ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO contains online collections and exhibits along with educational materials.

The website links to exhibition information and their online collections.

The digital collection includes many well-known works of art such as Grant Wood’s American Gothic and A Sunday on La Grande Latte by Georges Seurat. Each work of art includes lots of background information and many pieces contain links to multimedia and educational resources.

The website’s blog spotlights collections and also contains interesting essays and “behind the scenes” stories.

The Educators Resources section contains dozens of artwork resource packets for teachers. Each resource includes background information, discussion questions, activity ideas, a glossary, and links to the digital collection.

Librarians will find the digital collection to be easy to use. Use the educational resources with art and history teachers. Of particular note is the Art + Science resource that can be incorporated into the school’s STEAM program.

To visit the website, go to https://www.artic.edu.

Website Review: Google Cultural Institute

GOOGLE CULTURAL INSTITUTE is an astounding online resource focusing on art, history, and world wonders. It even contains powerful tools for creating online galleries and exhibits.

The Art Project section includes art collections from around the world. Users can browse the exhibits, zoom in for an up-close examination, and take virtual tours of art museums. Artwork can be searched by creator, medium, event, place, person, media, and date.

The Historical Moments area contains online exhibitions focusing on significant moments from human history. Exhibits represent the photos and historical artifacts of museums and personal collections. Historical materials can be browsed or searches. Don’t miss the new First World War and World War II: D-Day exhibits.

The World Wonders section brings both the modern and ancient world heritage sites to life using Google Street view. Like the other exhibits, the materials can be searched or browsed.

Tools allow users to share, compare, and save the collections. Those interested in building their own collections can “request an invite” to participate.

To learn more about the exhibits, go to https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute.
To build your own exhibit using their powerful online tools, go to https://www.google.com/opengallery