The Visual Thinking Process

The Visual Thinking Process teaches the ability to look carefully at a work of art and unlock its meaning and context. This is done through the Visual Thinking Curriculum developed by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, a method of inquiry that draws out viewer response and explores information about an art work meaningful to the viewer. Most museum visitors, especially children, are new to looking at art and search for ways in which it relates directly to them and their life experience. This is where visual thinking starts.

The Visual Thinking Process progresses from simple and narrative works of art to more complex and symbolic ones. It explores images that relate to, but play off of each other. Questioning begins by asking students “What do you see in this picture?” and allows the discussion to follow a logical progression. The teacher or exhibition guide weaves in information about the artwork or the artist as necessary to guide the discussion to places that illuminate the work of art, or when students ask for it.