Pictures at a Think Tank Exhibition
By: Heather Kretschmer
On a particular stage,
a conductor raises his baton,
a trumpet player takes a deep breath,
and a painter lightly grips his paintbrush.
The first notes of Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition sail out into the concert hall as the painter dips his brush into the first color he’s chosen and begins painting on the blank canvas. Spellbound, the audience experiences aural and visual art emerge. What’s the painter painting? What melodies will the orchestra play? And will the orchestra and painter finish their artistic endeavors at the same time? As the music of Mussogsky’s masterpiece unfolds, the painter transforms the white canvas into a colorful coherent picture.
What’s he painting? That’s a question language teachers can adopt for our context. For each course we teach, we can ask ourselves: What am I teaching today? Next week? This semester or school year? And will something beautiful emerge? Every course we teach is a work of art. As teachers, our job involves penciling in the initial design of a course and then inviting our students to join in with their linguistic and social pencils, erasers, paintbrushes, and paint. During each class period, our students add their individual colors, textures, and artistic ideas to the painting our class renders. Often, this creative process is hard work for everyone involved. And sometimes, it doesn’t go exactly according to plan. But as long as we and our students not only persevere but also open our imaginations to new possibilities, something beautiful will take shape little by little.
Similarly, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition unfolds in beautiful and surprising ways. In 1874, Mussorgsky was inspired to compose this piece for solo piano after he visited a special exhibition featuring artwork by Viktor Hartmann, a good friend of his who had passed away very suddenly. In Pictures at an Exhibition, Mussorgsky portrays himself walking through the exhibition, viewing Hartmann’s paintings.
Back in the concert hall,
as the final notes of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition fade,
the painter puts the finishing touches on his painting
and lays down his brush.
Just half an hour was all the painter and orchestra players needed to create enchanting art! For us, it naturally takes longer for our artwork to emerge, depending on how many weeks a language course runs. But consider this: If each course a student takes is one painting in their personal art gallery, how marvelous, unique, and extensive is each student’s gallery!
This month’s Think Tank is along the same lines as Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. In this issue, we open our art exhibition to you. Every article is a picture in the Think Tank exhibition. We invite you to stroll through our exhibition to contemplate and savor each article. Between articles, we further invite you to take the time to listen to the different movements of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. For these musical interludes, we provide you with brief descriptions, images, and links to the music. We hope you enjoy an aesthetic and intellectual Think Tank experience!
Heather Kretschmer watched the Toledo Symphony Orchestra perform Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition as artist Félix de la Concha painted a picture of the concertmaster in the Toledo Museum of Art Peristyle Theater in February 2012.