In advance, after or in place of a field trip to The Missouri Governor’s Mansion, please use the information below to facilitate your classroom discussion and learning.

Docent Joan Solomon and her husband, Warren Solomon, compiled the following sample questions to complement the Missouri Department of Secondary and Elementary Education Show-Me Standards.

To reprint this information, please credit “Missouri Mansion Preservation, Warren and Joan Solomon”

Sample Questions: Social Studies

• How did the land of Missouri become a territory of the United States?
• When did Missouri become a state?
• What happened in Missouri during the Civil War?

Principles and processes of governance systems

• What is a Governor?
• How does he/she get into office?
• What does the Governor do?

Economic Concepts

• Who owns the Governor’s Mansion?
• Who pays for keeping it in good repair?
• How have changing technologies influenced life in The Governor’s Mansion?

Geographical Study and Analysis

• Where within Missouri is Jefferson City located?
• What is the nature of this place called Jefferson City?
• What role did Missouri play in the movement of people and in trade in its history?

Sample Questions: Fine Arts (Most effective during or after a tour of the Mansion)

• What might artists’ portraits try to show in their paintings?
• How does the painter try to show three dimensions, or depth, on a particular portrait painted on flat canvas?
• What techniques did the artist use to communicate his ideas about the people shown in the sculpture?

Vocabulary to explain perceptions and evaluations of works in visual arts

Terms that may be emphasized are:

• Foreground, middle ground and background
• Placement of various things (people, animals, objects, etc.)
• Balance, symmetry or asymmetry (The punch bowl is symmetrical.)
• Center of interest
• Texture (Brush strokes–disguised or easy to see–are used to show texture, shading and highlighting. Curved lines are used to show fabrics, etc.)
• Patterns (apsidal, Greek key, etc.)
• Realistic as opposed to abstract (Most portraits in The Missouri Governor’s Mansion will strive to be realistic.)
• Function (some of the artwork and artifacts are not only artistic, they may also have a specific function, example: fireguard by the fire place, silverware, dishes, punch bowl, etc.)
• Color (color pertains to different hues, such as red, yellow, blue. Yellows are thought of as warm colors; whereas blues are thought of a cool colors.)
• Value (value pertains to darkness or lightness in paintings and drawings.)

Visual arts in historical and cultural contexts

• How does any painting or sculpture on the tour give an insight into what life was like during the time it was created?
• How does the artwork or architecture shown at The Governor’s Mansion reflect artistic ideas from other cultures such as Greek, Roman, British, French, etc.?

Note: the similarities and differences might pertain to the following

• Subject matter (portrait, landscape, event, etc.)
• Theme of the work of art
• Color (dominant colors in the paintings, warm or cool colors)
• Line (Are lines sharply demarcated or blurred?)
• Media (sculpture, oil paint, water color, photography, etc.)
• Purpose of the art or artifact in The Governor’s Mansion (Is it purely artistic or also functional?)
• Use of space
• Place shown in the work of art