Art Trunks are mobile educational kits designed to enrich the appreciation and understanding of present and past art exhibitions at the Frist Art Museum.



Since 2000, the Frist Art Museum has provided art educational programs to Nashville-area communities in partnership with local organizations. Our Art Trunks are mobile kits that enrich the community members’ experience of exhibitions at the museum.

For more information, contact our community engagement director at sgiles@FristArtMuseum.org or 615.744.3254.


Here are some of the Art Trunk videos and lesson plans created for past exhibitions.

See Art Trunks from 2021–Present


American Art Deco:
Designing for the People, 1918–1939

American Art Deco was on view in the Ingram Gallery through January 2, 2022. Learn more about the exhibition.

Download lesson plan (2nd–4th grade)
Download lesson plan (5th grade–Adult)


Creating the American West in Art

Download lesson plan (K–4)
Download lesson plan (5–Adult)


Rina Banerjee: Make Me a Summary of the World

With the safety of all participants in mind, we designed the Art Trunk for Rina Banerjee: Make Me a Summary of the World to be digitally accessible, with an at-home art-making activity inspired by the exhibition. Please enjoy the instructional video and lesson sheet for this Art Trunk:
Download Lesson Plan



J.M.W. Turner: Quest for the Sublime

Download Lesson Plan (PDF)
J.M.W. Turner reproductions
J.M.W. Turner weather worksheet



Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists

Download Lesson Plan 1 (PDF)
Download Lesson Plan 2 (PDF)
Download Lesson Plan 3 (PDF)

Author and narrator: Chelsea Kaiah (teaching assistant), Apache/Ute; videographer: Lesa Dowdy; additional actors (Lesson 3): Rosemary Brunton (educator for community engagement), Brandi Coates (education assistant), and Shaun Giles (assistant director for community engagement); producer: Rosemary Brunton; rights and reproductions manager: Wallace Joiner


Dorothea Lange: Politics of Seeing

Download Lesson Plan (PDF)

Author: Oakland Museum of California; narrator: Chelsea Kaiah, teaching assistant; videographer: Lesa Dowdy; additional actors: Rosemary Brunton, educator for community engagement, and Rachel Van Doren, intern; producer: Rosemary Brunton; rights and reproductions manager: Wallace Joiner



Paris 1900: City of Entertainment

Download Lesson Plan (PDF)

Author and narrator: Rosemary Brunton, educator for community engagement; videographer: Lesa Dowdy; additional actor: Shaun Giles, assistant director for community engagement; rights and reproductions manager: Wallace Joiner



Nick Cave: Feat.

BLANKET STATEMENT

Author: Nick Cave; narrator: Rosemary Brunton (educator for community engagement); videographer: Emily Harper Beard (community relations manager); actors: Brandi Coates (teaching assistant), Veronica de la Cruz (education coordinator), and Stephany Avila-Ramos (high school intern); producer: Rosemary Brunton; rights and reproductions manager: Wallace Joiner



Secrets of Buddhist Art: Tibet, Japan, and Korea

Watch this series of videos to learn about art activities related to our 2017 exhibition, Secrets of Buddhist Art: Tibet, Japan, and Korea. You can also download complete plans for each lesson.

Lesson 1: Tibetan Mandala
Download Lesson Plan 1 (PDF)


Lesson 2: Japanese Daruma Doll
Download Lesson Plan 2 (PDF)

Authors: Brandi Coates, education intern, and Rosemary Brunton, educator for community engagement; narrator: Brandi Coates; videographer: Emily Harper Beard, community relations manager; rights and reproductions manager: Wallace Joiner



Women, Art, and Social Change: The Newcomb Pottery Enterprise

Lesson 1: Concrete Poetry
Download Lesson Plan 1 (PDF)



Lesson 2: Layered Landscape
Download Lesson Plan 2 (PDF)



Lesson 3: Artistic Tile
Download Lesson Plan 3 (PDF)

Author and narrator: Rosemary Brunton, educator for community engagement; videographer: Emily Harper Beard, community relations manager; rights and reproductions manager: Wallace Joiner
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