I just found out about an awesome new website from Google. It's called the Art Project and it's amazing. It's like Google Maps but instead of streets and buildings, you can digitally wander around some of the best art museums in the world. I'm really excited about this! Not only can you "walk" through the galleries, you can click on art works to see more detail, zooming in to see individual brush strokes on paintings.
You can search by museum or for a particular piece of art. You can also create your own collections of favorite art pieces that you can then share with others. And you can save close up views as well, if there's a particular part of a work you like or want to show someone else. It's a nice way to set up a lesson plan for your students or browse a museum's collection you might not otherwise be able to see. And please do take advantage of this resource -- some of the most famous works of art in the world are now easily viewable in high resolution for your viewing pleasure.
I found the site extremely easy to use. After watching the intro video and a few minutes playing around, I easily got the hang of browsing through the Art Project. You have to hand it to Google, they know how to design good websites. They've found another good use for their street view technology! The Art Project links to all the museums, so you can easily view more works and find further info on each institution's website as well.
Over 15 museums are currently on board, sharing their art and galleries, and information about the works; more museums will hopefully be added as time goes by. You can read more about the project and see instructional videos here. The Art Project also has a YouTube account that has more videos and links to the museums' videos as well.
Way to go, Google, way to go.
