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There are many paths to success in this challenge, making it a fun way to discover the photographers of the Farm Security Administration. Even an incorrect guess can reveal something new. Although the New Deal photographers shared a common mission each brought a distinctive artistic vision, technical expertise, and choice of camera to the task. As you learn to recognize their unique styles, you’ll also gain a deeper understanding of the Great Depression and its lasting impact on the American people.

Extension Activity 1: Become a Photo Detective

Use the game’s assessment hints to guide a collaborative analysis of New Deal photographs. Project or share the images linked below, then organize students into small groups to investigate each photograph and identify its most likely photographer. As students defend their choices with visual evidence, they will strengthen their visual literacy skills while applying the vocabulary and stylistic traits introduced throughout the game.

1. Roadside fruit. Ponchatoula, Louisiana
2. Wife of a migratory laborer with three children. Near Childress, Texas. Nettie Featherston
3. Greensboro, Greene County, Georgia. Playing checkers outside a service station on a Saturday afternoon
4. Washington (southwest section), D.C. Negro woman in her bedroom
5. Chicago, Illinois. Washing a locomotive at the coaling station at an Illinois Central Railroad yard
6. Kitchen scene in Spanish-American home near Taos, New Mexico, Taos County. Making tortillas
7. Main street, Lancaster, Ohio

Answers: Select link to lean more at the Library of Congress
1. Walker Evans 2. Dorothea Lange 3. Marion Post Wolcott 4. Gordon Parks 5. Jack Delano 6. Russell Lee 7. Ben Shahn

Extension Activity 2: Curate a Signature Photograph

Documentary photographers rarely captured a great image with a single click—they often explored a subject from multiple angles before creating an iconic photograph. The Farm Security Administration collection at the Library of Congress preserves thousands of these images.

Challenge students to become curators by selecting a photograph that best represents one photographer’s distinctive style—without revealing the photographer’s name. Using the Library of Congress nimble search engine, students should explore the work of a favorite FSA photographer and choose an image that clearly displays that artist’s signature traits. Display the selected photographs and invite the class to identify the photographer behind each one. Which images are so characteristic that most students recognize the photographer at a glance? This activity reinforces close observation while celebrating each photographer’s unique visual voice.

Extension Activity 3: Discover the Story Behind the Lens

Every photographer brings a lifetime of experiences to the camera. The Smithsonian Archives of American Art preserves oral history interviews with each of the photographers featured in this game, offering a unique opportunity to hear their stories in their own words.

Ask students to read an interview with their favorite photographer, then share their discoveries with the class. As they present, encourage them to reflect on questions such as:

• How did the interview change the way you understand the photographer’s work?
• What life experiences, beliefs, or motivations shaped their photography?
• Which photograph now has deeper meaning for you? Why?
• What would you like to learn more about?

By connecting each photographer’s life to their images, students gain a richer understanding of how personal experiences, values, and historical events shaped some of America’s most enduring documentary photographs.

• Jack Delano oral history interview, June 12, 1965
• Walker Evans oral history interview, Oct. 13, 1971
• Dorothea Lange oral history interview, May 22, 1964
• Russell Lee oral history interview, June 2, 1964
• Gordon Parks oral history interview, Dec. 30, 1964
• Ben Shahn oral history interview, April 14, 1964
• Marion Post Wolcott oral history interview, Jan. 18, 1965

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Great art, like any craft, is defined as much by process as by outcome. This interactive timeline traces the evolution of George Inness’s style, revealing how his spiritual journey shaped his work. With a click, learners can watch his technique, themes, and visual vocabulary develop phase by phase.

George Inness’s artistic journey traces a remarkable arc from early, finely detailed realism to increasingly abstract, spiritually charged landscapes. As his style evolved, so did his vision: nature became not just a subject, but a vehicle for exploring emotion and metaphysical truth. Blending Hudson River School ideals with Barbizon naturalism and Swedenborgian theology, Inness forged a singular path in nineteenth-century American art.

His softened forms and richly saturated color helped define Tonalism, securing his place as one of its founders. Misty, poetic, and introspective, his landscapes are infused with profound spiritual depth, works that continue to resonate because they speak to something timeless in the human search for meaning.

Art Styles and Movements to Know

Hudson River School was a mid-nineteenth-century American art movement known for its grand, detailed landscapes that celebrated the nation’s wilderness. Influenced by Romanticism, its artists portrayed sweeping vistas, dramatic light, and awe-inspiring natural scenes as expressions of national identity and divine presence. Their paintings often combined careful observation with idealized compositions, presenting the American landscape as both majestic and morally uplifting.

Tonalism was a late nineteenth-century American art movement characterized by muted color palettes, soft edges, and an emphasis on mood and atmosphere over detailed realism. Often depicting twilight, dawn, or mist-filled landscapes, Tonalist painters used subtle gradations of light and shadow to create a sense of quiet harmony and spiritual reflection. Rather than celebrating dramatic wilderness vistas, Tonalism invites contemplation, suggesting an intimate, almost mystical unity between nature and the inner life.

Barbizon style refers to a mid-nineteenth-century French approach to landscape painting associated with artists who worked in and around the village of Barbizon near the Forest of Fontainebleau. Rejecting academic idealization, Barbizon painters favored direct observation of nature, earthy palettes, and loose, expressive brushwork. Their scenes often depict rural life, forests, and fields with an emphasis on mood, atmosphere, and the quiet dignity of the natural world.

Swedenborgian influence in nineteenth-century art stems from the mystical theology of Emanuel Swedenborg, who taught that the visible world reflects deeper spiritual realities. Artists inspired by his ideas sought to reveal the divine presence within nature rather than merely depict its outward form. Landscapes and symbolic imagery became vehicles for expressing correspondences between the material and spiritual realms, emphasizing inner vision, harmony, and the unity of the natural world with the sacred.

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Use this game to teach foundational art vocabulary through friendly competition, turning learning into a lively, interactive experience. By making vocabulary practice active, fun, and social, the game boosts motivation, strengthens retention, and empowers learners to confidently apply art terms in real life.

The National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum preserve, showcase, and celebrate the cultural and artistic heritage of the United States. Partially funded by taxpayers, both museums provide public access to masterpieces that educate, inspire, and foster a deeper understanding of American life and values. By safeguarding these artworks and making them available to people nationwide, these museums play a crucial role in preserving national memory and promoting cultural enrichment. This game will introduce you to their collection and link you to their online galleries.

The elements of art are the basic building blocks artists use to craft a work of art. Understanding how an artist uses this foundational visual vocabulary will help you analyze, discuss, and make art. The seven elements of art are:

1. Line can range from a simple mark to a complex alignment between two points. It’s especially versatile. For example, lines can simulate textures, suggest movement, and highlight key figures.
2. Color is especially effective in expressing mood and builds on hue (the name of the color), value (lightness or darkness), and intensity (brightness or dullness).
3. Shape is the enclosed outline of an object, which can be flat or appear to have volume. Artists use shapes to create the foundational structure of a composition and to draw the viewer’s attention to key areas within the artwork.
4. Form refers to the portrayal of three-dimensional objects, adding depth to a subject’s height and width, making shapes appear solid and lifelike. Artists use light and shadow to create the illusion of volume and space.
5. Texture is how things feel, or how they appear to feel. It brings paintings to life by creating the illusion of three-dimensional, tactile surfaces.
6. Value also known as tone, harnesses the power of light and shadow to create depth, mood, and focus. Artists use the subtle gradation from dark to light to direct attention and amplify the sense of drama.
7. Space refers to the area occupied by or surrounding a subject. In painting, it’s also about creating the illusion of depth on a flat surface through the skillful manipulation of perspective, overlapping elements, and scale.

Grow your art vocabulary with the Art Talk series

• Genres to Know
• Elements of Art
• Principles of Design
• Elements of Art Game Show Edition

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Ornithological art blends science and beauty, helping us see and feel our connection to nature in these four ways.

1. Inspires Conservation and Care – It reinforces facts with feelings.
2. Sharpens Our Attention – It trains us to spot details we might miss outside.
3. Boosts Well-being – It can fill us with wonder about the world around us.
4. Keeps History Alive – It can help us remember and learn from the past.

Why this Art Is for the Birds!

Step into these galleries and meet the birds of Cape Cod and the artists and scientists who brought their stories to light. As you look around, notice the dates on each artwork. Think about how new tools and changing styles have shaped bird art over time.

Early naturalists, like John Abbot and Mark Catesby, blended adventure and science by documenting birds when America was just a patchwork of colonies. Later, Alexander Wilson and John James Audubon set new standards for studying and illustrating birds. Though their “shotgun ornithology” would be shunned today, their work laid the foundation for modern bird study and conservation.

By the 20th century, inventions like binoculars and cameras helped artists like Louis Agassiz Fuertes and Allan Brooks show birds more accurately, even capturing their behavior. Through books, magazines, and other mass media they made birdwatching popular to a wider audience. Today, ornithologist Richard Crossley’s unique photo collages demonstrate how ornithological art continues to evolve.

Don’t miss the work of artists like Fidelia Bridges, Ohara Koson, and Theodorus van Hoytema. They mixed careful observation with creativity, blending science with storytelling and poetry. Their artwork reminds us that watching nature closely can build both knowledge and a sense of wonder.

As you explore, you’ll see how art has long celebrated our curiosity about the natural world while also helping scientists and the public learn. Why not try it yourself? Follow the step-by-step drawing guides to pick up new skills, and let your own eyes and imagination take flight.

The 24 bird-specific galleries display over 125 works by:

These ornithologists with artistic talents
John Abbot • John James Audubon •  John Bigland • Charles Lucian Bonaparte • Allan Brooks • Mark Catesby •  Richard Crossley • Louis Agassiz Fuertes •  John Gould • Genevieve Estelle Jones • James Ellsworth De Kay • John Gerrard Keulemans  • Anne Lee  • C.J. Maynard • Robert Ridgeway • Joseph Steppan • Archibald Thorburn •  Alexander Wilson

These artists with natural science inclinations
Frank Weston Benson • Fidelia Bridges  • Charles Emile Heil • John Henry Hill • Sakai Hōitsu  • Winslow Homer • Theodorus van Hoytema • Ohara Koson •  Pierre Lackerbauer • François Nicolas Martinet • Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita • Kano Minenobu  • Tosa Mitsuoki  • Gustav Mützel • Willem Hendrik Wilhelmus van Royen • August Friedrich Albrecht Schenck • Okuhara Seiko • Louis Testelin • Carroll Sargent Tyson, Jr.  • Charles Woodbury • Ferdinand von Wright • Tsukioka Yoshitoshi • Kamashiro Yuhi

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Great art, like any craft, is defined as much by process as by outcome. This interactive timeline traces the evolution of Eastman Johnson’s style, revealing how historical change shaped his work. With a click, learners can watch his technique, themes, and visual vocabulary develop phase by phase.

Historical moments and movements reflected in Johnson’s art

Johnson’s work offers a vivid lens into the forces shaping nineteenth-century America, including:

• The influence of European artistic traditions on the development of American art
• The impact of westward expansion on the lives and cultures of the Ojibwe people
• Abolitionist ideas and the social upheaval of the Civil War and Reconstruction
• Seasonal labor and community rituals in post–Civil War America
• The Victorian values that defined the Gilded Age

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In the early 1900s, a group of artists led by Robert Henri advocated for an expressive realism focused on modern life and populist values. Because they used dark tones and rough brushstrokes to depict the harsher aspects of urban life, they were dubbed the Ashcan School. They adopted this derisive moniker as a badge of honor.

As Mark Twain observed, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Ashcan artists still speak powerfully to contemporary issues. They chronicled the widening divide between the ultra-rich and organized labor and captured the struggles of immigration. Through scenes of prizefighters, they revealed the rise of professional sports and the perils of gambling. They portrayed the spectacle of vaudeville and the allure of uptown nightlife, setting the stage for celebrity culture and commercial entertainment. They reflected shifting social norms and the culture wars that followed. They documented the dizzying pace of urbanization and the technological innovations reshaping modern life. Above all, their brand of social realism conveyed deeply held democratic values and American ideals.

Stories and art make learning sticky. To that end, this interactive learning module brings history to life with:

• 63 historic newspaper articles that uncover the real-life stories that inspired these artists
• 185 works of art linked directly to their home museums
• Insights into how each artist’s compositional strategies build visual literacy skills

This learning module was inspired by chaotic museum tours with my young family. The hopes of a shared learning experience were quickly dashed the moment my three competitive children spotted the first interactive button. The rest of the visit was a free for all as they ran pell-mell through the galleries, trying to be the first to mash the next button. The light or sound it triggered crowned the victor. My attempts to explain the displays went entirely unheard as the three terrors dashed off to their next conquest. The best I could do was slow them down with “truth bombs”—the more scandalous, the better.

• “The newspapers said that artist died painting a sunrise, but he was actually killed in a barroom brawl the night before.”
• “This artist, who was bald, hid a sneaky self-portrait in that painting—maybe two. Can you find him?”
• “That painting is basically a group selfie—and the artist is teasing his friend, a notorious playboy, and a lady who made headlines with her own affairs.”

Please share this with anyone who enjoys the same button-pushing curiosity.

Related resources for exploring Ashcan artists

• This interdisciplinary teacher’s resource offers teaching moves and language for analyzing Stag at Sharkey’s.
• This fast-paced game explores George Bellows’ art and how his paintings and illustrations provide an unflinching view of early 20th century America.
• This matching game explores the characteristic traits of Ashcan School artists.
• This interactive puzzle explores George Bellows’ motivations and inclinations in painting Stag at Sharkey’s.
• This game-based art survey explores the motivations and inspirations of Ashcan School artists.
• This interactive gallery walk explores the times and traditions that shaped George Bellows’ Stag at Sharkey’s.
• This art-based writing lesson uses Stag at Sharkey’s as mentor art for teaching word choice and sentence structure.
• This inquiry study uses Stag at Sharkey’s as a springboard to explore the morality of sports fans and male identity.  

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The Gallery of Religious Art has been plunged into darkness! To restore the light, follow the visual clues and uncover thirteen saint paintings hidden in the shadows.

Saints in Paints: Symbolism, Storytelling, and Spiritual Illumination
A “saint” can refer to any holy figure, whether human, like Joan of Arc, or angelic, like Michael the Archangel. Artists depicted the stories of saints to inspire devotion and teach religious beliefs across cultures. Over time, religious art developed a rich visual language of symbols and attributes to convey these narratives. Studying these symbols enhances visual literacy, revealing the deeper spiritual and historical significance of religious art.

Though the stories of saints have endured for centuries, their artistic reinterpretations have evolved, shaped by changing styles, religious perspectives, and cultural influences. For example, Gothic depictions of Saint Peter’s crucifixion often highlight his sanctity and resignation, while Baroque artists emphasize the drama and agony of his execution. A docent in each gallery will highlight the meaning of key symbols and reveal how each artist’s era and creative vision shaped their work.

Why is John the Baptist shown taunting a cat with a bird? Did Caravaggio really create some of his greatest paintings of saints while on the run for murder? Is The Calling of Saint Matthew a meaningful reference in the boxing movie Rocky? Amusing and bizarre stories like these make the study of art even more intriguing. The “What? That’s Funny” button shares funny stories about the artists and their works. Remember, “funny” can mean humorous, like a clever joke, or strange and unexpected, like “Taste this, it smells funny.”

The saints you will meet are (in order of appearance)
Madonna  •  St. Joseph • St. Elizabeth  • John the Baptist  •  St. Michael  •  St. Anthony  •  St. Paul  •  St. Peter  •  St. Luke  •  St. Matthew  •  St. Sebastian  •  Saint Irene  •  Joan of Arc  •  St. Thomas  •  St. Daniel  •  St. Catherine of Alexandria  •  St. Jerome

The 13 religious art galleries display 100+ works of art by these artists
Juan de la Abadia •  Spinello Aretino •  Federico Barocci  •  Jules Bastian-Lepage. •  Marco Antonio Bassetti. •  Neri Di Bicci  •  Karl von Blaas •  Dieric Bouts  •  Hendrick ter Brugghen  •  Giuliano Bugiardini  •  Caravaggio  •  Petro de Cortona  •  Lucas Cranach the Elder  •  Gyula Derkovits •  Gustave Doré  •  Cornelis Engebrechtsz  •  John Fastolf  •  Frans Floris  •  J. William Fosdick  •  Cenni di Francesco  •  Artemisia Gentileschi  •  Jean-Léon Gérôme  •  Luca Giordano •  Palma il Giovane  •  Stefano di Giovanni  •  Jan Gossaert  •  El Greco  •  Guercino  •  Maarten van Heemskerck  •  Jan Sanders van Hemessen  •  Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres  •  Luis Juárez  •  Juan de Juanes  •  Josse Lieferinxe   •  Stefan Lochner  •  Mariano Salvador Maella  •  Andrea Mantegna  •  Quinten Massys  •  Wilhelm Marstrand  •  Hans Memling  •  John Everett Millais  •  Andrei Mironov  •  Lorenzo Monaco  •  Louis Maurice Boutet de Monvel  •  Francois-Joseph Navez  •  Ugolino di Nerito  •  James Northcote  •  Jacob van Oost   •  Johann Friedrich Overbeck  •  Pietro Perugino  •  Glyn Philpot  •  Theodore Poulakis  •  Nicolas Poussin  •  Raphaël  •  Guido Reni  •  Briton Rivière  •  Peter Paul Rubens  •  Martin Schongauer  •  Luca Signorelli  •  Don Silvestro  •  Il Sodoma  •  Hans Spekaert  •  Eduard von Steinle  •  Hermann Stenne   •  Hermann Stilke  •  Matthias Stomer  •  John Storrs  •  Henry Ossawa Tanner  •  David Teniers the Younger  •  Benvenuto Tisi  •  James Tissot  •  Cosima Tura  •  Fritz von Uhde  •  Tanzio da Varallo  •  Giorgio Vasari  •  Francois Verdier  •  Leonardo da Vinci  •  Maerten de Vos  •  Charles Wautier  •  Michaelina Wautier  •  Robert Edward Weaver  •  Benjamin West  •  Anton Woensam  •  Ángel Zárraga   •  Francisco de Zurbarán

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Käthe Kollwitz is renowned for her evocative depictions of human suffering, particularly the tragic impact of poverty. disease, and war on women and children. A masterful draftsman, she embraced the graphic arts—prints, illustrations, and posters—as powerful vehicles for social activism. Kollwitz excelled at creating compelling images that protested social injustice and oppression in all its forms. Her art consistently reflected deep empathy and social awareness. Over the course of her career, Kollwitz’s six stages of artistic development trace her evolution from a realist chronicler of working-class life to a profoundly symbolic and universal voice for humanity, using her work to illuminate both personal and societal struggles.

Historical events and trends reflected in Kollwitz’s art

• The 1844 uprising of destitute Silesian weavers, embodying the struggle for workers’ rights
• The profound societal impact of World War I on Germany
• Postwar Germany’s crippling inflation and mass unemployment
• The grim realities of urban poverty, with a focus on the hardships endured by women and children
• The rise of Nazism and the National Socialist Workers’ Party (NSDAP)
• The outbreak of World War II