Showing off student work through the establishment of an art exhibit has been a common school practice for decades, but with the increase in available technology, the format for these exhibits is beginning to change. Now many schools abandon the traditional art exhibit featuring original student art hung on the walls, and opt instead for an accessible and engaging virtual art exhibit. By featuring student work in a virtual art exhibit, schools can allow busy parents and relatives who live far away to experience the opportunity to see the work of a loved one displayed.
Instructions
1. Select a virtual art exhibit program. There are a number of programs that have been created for educators to use in the creation of a virtual art exhibit. Programs of this type contain a pre-planned virtual environment, that exhibit creators can modify and fill with student work.
2. Explain the virtual art exhibit concept to students. Show some examples of virtual art exhibits, so they can see how an exhibition of this kind works.
3. Provide students with any guidelines they must follow to ensure their work can be featured in the virtual museum. Limitations are dependent upon the virtual museum service that you elect to use and your school's technology. If your school only has a scanner capable of capturing 8 ½ by 11 images, for example, students need to create images that are below this maximum size.
4. Scan in student work to populate the museum. Following the input guidelines of the program you selected, scan in student art work and place it throughout the museum.
5. Label student art. Place the title of the piece and the name of the student artist on each piece of art, allowing friends and family to quickly identify pieces created by their artistic loved one.
6. Create a link to the art exhibit on the school website. Allow visitors to the website to quickly access the virtual art exhibit by creating, and prominently displaying, a link to the exhibit on the school web page.
