Museum holds online art appreciation workshop for Kansai kids

On September 9 and 10, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum conducted an online workshop for fourth-grade students of Kansai Soka Elementary School in Osaka prefecture. Using tablet PCs either at home or at school, the children viewed two works of art—“A Roman Studio” by the British painter Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912) and “The Age of Bronze” sculpted by Auguste Rodin (1840-1917)—from the museum’s prized collection.

Students from Hachioji elementary school visit museum

On September 1, sixth-year students from the Hachioji Daisan Elementary School took part in an art appreciation tour of the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. Splitting in groups, the students viewed the “From the Renaissance to the 20th Century—500 Years of Western Paintings” exhibition. As part of their free research project, the participants were asked to find their favorite work and explain why they chose it.

Students from Tokyo Junshin Girls’ school visit museum

On July 9, third-year students from Tokyo Junshin Girls’ Junior and Senior High School took part in an art appreciation tour of the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. Split up in five groups, the junior high students viewed the “From the Renaissance to the 20th Century—500 Years of Western Paintings” exhibition, with students from nearby Soka University Faculty of Education serving as docents.

School kids tour TFAM as part of community outreach initiative

On June 26, some 50 people led by students, guardians and faculty members from Toyo Elementary School in Hachioji City, along with residents from the local community, took part in “Asobi-jutsu-kan,” an extracurricular program launched in 2019 held at the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum primarily on Saturdays for local students and the Hachioji community at large.

Due to the lockdown, the event was the first in three years in which the children could tour TFAM in person (the previous two sessions were held online). Participants were divided into four groups, with students from nearby Soka University, who completed a museum education course, serving as docents. The main activity was the special viewing of the exhibition, “Mitsuaki Iwago’s World ‘Cats’ Travelogue,” which opened to the public on June 1. Mitsuaki Iwago is a renowned wildlife photographer whose favorite motifs are cats; the TFAM exhibition features 209 works taken on his trips across the world.

Museum shares education award with local elementary school

An art appreciation application developed by the Hachioji Municipal Toyo Elementary School with the support of Tokyo Fuji Art Museum has won The Tokyo Shimbun newspaper’s annual educational award. The application draws on such high-tech tools as AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) to encourage both children and adults on ways they can enjoy art and culture in a game environment that includes entertaining quizzes and imitating poses of sculptures on display.

We took part in the development and organization as part of our community outreach initiative to promote ways people of all ages can appreciate art. The Tokyo Shimbun award honors educators who create novel and enjoyable programs as learning tools for students.

PHOTO CAPTION: Students and adults take part in an art appreciation program co-developed by the Hachioji Municipal Toyo Elementary School and TFAM

Special lecture held on French painter Poussin

On January 10, Prof. Takao Ito at Soka University’s Faculty of Letters gave a lecture on legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus, who later artistic greats such as Shakespeare and Beethoven featured in their works. Classical French Baroque style painter Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) also created a piece entitled “Coriolanus Pleaded with by His Wife and Mother.” The painting is one of the major pieces on display for the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum exhibition, “Through the Eyes of René Huyghe: The Splendor of French Paintings—Formation and Transformation of the ‘Grande Manière,’” currently on display.

PHOTO CAPTION: Prof. Ito (podium) held a lecture at TFAM on Jan. 10

Art appreciation for children: A year in review

As part of its outreach initiative, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum has conducted programs to promote the appreciation of art among people of all ages, with a special focus on children. One such program caters to elementary and junior high school students enrolled in the city of Hachioji, a major suburb community of Tokyo which TFAM serves.

Under the program, TFAM hosted 2,144 students from 28 local schools over the calendar year of 2019, up from 1,684 kids from 20 schools in 2018. The curators are volunteers, either lecturers of or students taking university-level museum education courses.

TFAM also aims to provide its collected works and the museum itself as a center of learning to kindle the imagination and excitement of creativity by holding workshops, concerts, seminars and special summer vacation events. And it remains committed to this outreach initiative in service of the Hachioji and other communities in the Tokyo area.

TFAM, local junior high host Tokyo art appreciation event

On December 6, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum and the Hachioji Daigo Junior High School hosted an art appreciation course for junior high school students in the local community. TFAM held a special program for 30 students from the Yui Junior High School in which printed material containing a photograph of a painting from the museum’s collection was distributed to participants at school prior to their visit. They were asked to look over the piece to create their own unique story regarding the art and write it down. They then came to see the actual work in person and share their stories with their peers.

PHOTO CAPTION: Above: Yui Junior High students at TFAM; Below: Students attending a museum education lecture

Local school kids view TFAM’s artworks

On November 26, some 60 fourth-grade students from the Hachioji Municipal Ongata Daiichi Elementary School took part in a field trip to the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum’s Permanent Gallery. After viewing the works, they attended a lecture provided by a volunteer curator who teaches a Museum Education course at nearby Soka University, at which the kids were asked questions (“How is the painting different from a photo of the same scene?”) to stipulate their powers of observation and unique perspectives.

PHOTO CAPTION: Above: Ongata Elementary School kids examining TFAM Permanent Gallery artwork; Below: Soka University lecturer showing students new ways to enjoy paintings

Museum hosts women’s college seminar

On September 16, Soka Women’s College held a Student Life Support (SLS) seminar at the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. Some 60 junior college students took part in the seminar, which aimed to teach participants in the display and presentation of works by using those shown in the exhibition, “The World of Yamamoto Nizo, Master of Japanese Animation Art Director.”

PHOTO CAPTION: TFAM hosted a Soka Women’s College SLS seminar