Most of the time, our museum is chock-full of teaching opportunities. By way of example, the current exhibit, Long May She Wave, opens many doors to American history. As docents, we enjoy not only refreshing our own mental data-bases, but also leading others, especially school children, down the corridors of time.

But what about those “in-between-exhibit” times? Those are the days that some of us wonder how to make our tours meaningful. And those are the days that offer unique opportunities to really teach about art—specifically, to discuss the elements and principles of art.

One way I like to do this is to ask our younger visitors: “What kind of tools do artists use to create art?” Typical responses include, “Paint, canvas, clay, wood…” You get the idea. But it’s not too hard to take it a step further. “How about lines or shape?” I ask. “What else do you see?” That’s when we take a look at one or two aspects of visual design, for example: value, texture, balance, movement and contrast, to name a few. One of the elements of art that our younger audience seems to “get” is color. You might want to grab a color wheel from the volunteer room and drop into the Wiegand gallery. See for yourself how some of the works in our permanent collection use color to make a point.

Start by paying a visit to In the Pantry, Boydsnest by Rutherford Boyd, circa 1924-1928. What colors (hues) predominate? Take a look at your color wheel. Has the artist chosen primary colors—the three colors from which Rutherford Boyd, In the Pantry, 1924-28, Watercolor on paper, Collection of Nevada Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by the E. L. Wiegand Foundation. 5 NMA Volunteers Newsletter | Winter 2009 all other colors are mixed (red, yellow and blue)? Or are they secondary—formed from a mixture of two of the primary colors? Are the colors intense or pure or has the artist added black to create a shade or white to create a tint? Can you identify any use of complementary colors? That is, has the artist used colors that are opposite one another on the color wheel to make them stand out? Or has he blended complementary colors to neutralize them? Examples of complementary colors include orange/blue, red/green and purple/yellow. What other paintings in this gallery showcase bold or intense use of color?

Now, contrast the Boyd painting with The Wood Pile by Jacob Getlar Smith. What colors stand out in this painting? Would you say that these colors convey a sense of warmth or are they cool? Refer again to the color wheel. How do the colors relate to one another on the wheel? We’ve discussed complementary colors—can you identify if the artist has used them anywhere in this work? Analogous colors are those that reside next to one another on the wheel. How has the artist employed analogous colors and what do they suggest?

A closing word on color: take another look around the gallery. Different works express different feelings, don’t they? Chances are that the artist has manipulated color to create a mood. You’ve heard expressions such as “Red with rage.” What other colors do you see that might evoke an emotional response?

One of the joys of being a docent is to help younger people discover the building blocks of art. Next time you visit the museum when the feature galleries are closed, you might want to bring a child, a grandchild or a friend and introduce them to the amazing realm of color.