
Ensemble & The Art Wall
Episode 112 | 28m 46sVideo has Closed Captions
Freddie’s worried she will hang a gallery wall wrong but learns art has no ‘right’ way.
Grandma Tilly asks Freddie to hang a gallery wall in her studio, but she’s at a loss on how to begin. She visits a museum to learn the ‘right’ way but discovers there is no one way - each person gets to bring their own unique perspective to art and ensembles can follow many themes and patterns. Back at the studio, Freddie does things her way and Grandma Tilly is thrilled with the result.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
The Infinite Art Hunt is a local public television program presented by WHYY
Distributed nationally by American Public Television

Ensemble & The Art Wall
Episode 112 | 28m 46sVideo has Closed Captions
Grandma Tilly asks Freddie to hang a gallery wall in her studio, but she’s at a loss on how to begin. She visits a museum to learn the ‘right’ way but discovers there is no one way - each person gets to bring their own unique perspective to art and ensembles can follow many themes and patterns. Back at the studio, Freddie does things her way and Grandma Tilly is thrilled with the result.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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(upbeat music) (graphics whooshing) - I'll teach you how to ollie in one second, Moose.
- [Both] Hi, Grandma Tilly!
- Hey, babies.
Freddie, I heard you're heading to the Barnes today.
That should be a real treat.
Speaking of treats, I can't wait to see what you come up with for the gallery wall in my studio.
Just listen to your inner artist and let your creativity be your guide.
My friends at the Barnes can explain the unique way their collection is arranged, maybe that'll inspire you.
(graphics warbling) - Hey Freddie, I'm Matt.
- And I'm Ni and we're so excited to have you visit us at the Barnes Foundation.
The Barnes Foundation is located in Philadelphia.
All the art that you'll see here today was collected by one man, Albert Barnes.
- We're both educators here at the Barnes Foundation.
We work with young visitors to establish connections to the art.
- See you soon.
(graphics warbling) - Have a great time at the Barnes today, sweetheart.
And send me a picture of the finished wall when everything is hung up.
Oh, it's gonna be just terrific.
I already know it.
Bye, baby.
(lips smack) (funky music) - No pressure or anything.
- Is Hildegard taking you to the Barnes?
I know that's her favorite spot.
- No, she's at a conference presenting her latest paper, Famous Cats in Art.
Uncle Mars is supposed to grab me right about now.
(car horn honks) Gotta run.
And, you know, if you're bored you could always- - I'm not going to help you hang up your art, Freddie.
And besides I told you, I'm in my pencil-sharpening zone.
- It was worth a shot.
Bye, Ty, bye, Schuylkill.
(funky music continues) (pencil sharpener scratches) (graphics whooshing) (graphics whooshing) We're here at the Barnes waiting to meet up with Grandma Tilly's friends.
- Lot of ground to cover here, Freddie.
(sighs) - My mission is clear.
Find the right way to hang art so I can successfully complete Grandma Tilly's gallery wall.
- Don't let the mission get too in the way.
You know, art is more of an experience than a mission.
- He's right.
(Freddie and Uncle Mars shriek) - Are you Grandma Tilly's friend Matt?
- I am.
Grandma Tilly and I met at the flea market.
She bought the most beautiful duck-shaped lamp.
(graphics whooshing) (lamp quacks) - That sounds like Grandma Tilly.
It's my first time here and- - Uh-oh, a message from Hildegard.
- Isn't she at a conference presenting Famous Cats in Art?
- She is, but apparently her presentation was too short.
She needs to fill some time.
- Well, she's always trying to get us to play cat charades.
Maybe she could try that.
- Why not send her videos of all the cats at the Barnes?
There's plenty.
That'll fill her time.
- Perfect.
I'm messaging her now.
And I'm off to find some cats.
Thanks, Matt.
I'll be back, Freddie.
- Good luck.
Well, as I was saying, it's my first time here and I was hoping to do a segment I like to call Too Many Questions with Freddie.
- That's intimidating.
(upbeat funky music) - What's your name?
- My name is Matt.
- What is the Barnes Foundation?
- The Barnes Foundation is an institution for art education.
- What is your favorite piece of art in the whole museum?
- My favorite piece of art would be all of the Horace Pippins.
- What do you do at the Barnes?
- I give tours.
- Do you have any fun facts about yourself to share?
- What was my fun fact before?
Ambidextrous.
I'm ambidextrous.
- What does that mean?
- I can do things with both my left and my right hand.
- Oh, that's so cool.
- Thank you.
- Do you have any fun facts about the Barnes to share?
- Yes, there's a bunch of hidden birds in almost all the rooms.
(birds chirping) - Of all the portraits on the wall who do you think would be the best to take on a rollercoaster?
- I think the bearded gentleman behind me.
(rollercoaster creaking) (rider moaning) - What was your favorite art to make growing up?
- My favorite art to make growing up was action figures out of pipe cleaners.
- That's so cool.
What's your favorite music to listen to while making art?
- That would have to be R & B.
- Show us your favorite and best dance move.
(funky music) - That's all I got.
- Nice.
What would you do if you got locked in the museum overnight?
(wolf howling) - I'd have conversations with all the art that's bound to come alive.
- True or false, this museum is named after a dude named Barney Barnford.
- [Barney] Hello?
- [Matt] That would be false, but it is named after Dr. Albert Barnes.
(graphics whooshing) - What do you think kids should know before they come visit the Barnes?
- How to have fun.
- How many cats is too many cats?
- I'd say about 20.
(cat yowling) - Your thoughts on hermit crabs?
- A little mysterious.
What's going on inside the shell?
- I have a pet hermit crab named Schuylkill.
- That's cool.
- Do you organize your cereals alphabetically or by what time you eat them?
- I organize 'em based on how they taste.
- Hmm.
What is your favorite hotdog topping?
- It would have to be mustard.
- Yum.
My Grandma Tilly wants me to hang up this gallery wall in her studio, but do you wanna do it instead?
Say huh if you agree.
- If Grandma Tilly wants you to arrange the gallery wall, I think you should do it.
- I know, but how?
What's the right way?
- So there's no right or wrong way to hang up art.
Some museums arrange things based on who painted it, where it was painted, and what it's made out of.
Here at the Barnes we organize things based on the method that Dr. Albert Barnes came up with.
Everything's usually arranged based on perspective or relationship.
- Cool.
Do you like plants?
- I love plants.
- How much?
- I spend most of my time reading encyclopedias about plants just to get useful facts.
- Awesome.
(lively music) (pencil scratches) - [Matt] So an ensemble's basically how all this art's arranged on the wall.
- [Freddie] So what are the qualities of an ensemble that make it be the way it is?
- So when you're looking at an ensemble, you want to think symmetry, light line, color, space, even subject.
- What's symmetry?
- So symmetry, imagine I drew a line down the middle of this wall and folded everything in.
You see we have this large painting here and on the sides we have paintings of similar size.
And then we have other paintings that are horizontal, similar size as well.
And it repeats all the way to the end.
- So like that painting and that painting with like, are like the same and those and those?
- [Matt] Yeah.
- Nice.
And what's saturation?
- Saturation is just how dull or how rich a color is.
- So like that painting over there that has like the white and the lighter blue has less saturation than that painting over there that has darker blue and orange.
- [Matt] Perfect.
You're getting it.
So what do you see when you look at this ensemble?
- [Freddie] I notice all the birds.
There's so many of them.
- [Matt] There are a lot of birds in this wall.
(laughs) When I look at it, I notice all the different subjects.
- [Freddie] What are the subjects in the paintings?
- Subjects, those are the things that are inside of the paintings.
- [Freddie] Okay.
So like that tiger would be a subject.
- Yes.
Even those birds there would be a subject.
Think about how those subjects are seeing each other.
This guy's in here by himself.
Those two people are having a conversation.
This person here is looking at this bird who looks almost like her with that eye and the earring.
These two guys all the way at the ends as well are looking in at each other.
Even the food has friends.
- Maybe the subjects are also part of what ties in an ensemble.
- Yes.
- Cool.
Those top metal pieces over there and those wooden pieces down here, are they also part of the ensemble?
- [Matt] Yes, everything that you see on the wall is a part of the ensemble.
- [Freddie] So that means that the person that made this ensemble thinks that even those pieces are art.
And that's really cool.
- [Matt] Yeah, everything is art.
- [Freddie] Yeah, everything is art.
- So there's no right or wrong way to arrange art.
- It's just a Freddie way.
- And a Matt way.
And the way that Dr. Barnes did it.
So just do it the way that feels right for you when you're arranging Grandma Tilly's wall.
- I will.
Thanks, Matt.
(graphics crackling) So are you also one of Grandma Tilly's friends?
- Of course.
We're old blueberry-picking buddies.
So Matt told you about ensembles.
- Yeah, he said that the groupings of art here at the Barnes are called ensembles.
And when you look at them you can notice a bunch of different connections like color or size.
- Yep.
You're absolutely right.
And there's no right way to look at ensembles or art really.
You always get to bring your own unique perspective to it.
So I have an art challenge for you.
You are gonna make your own ensembles.
I have these two boxes full of random objects and we get the same objects.
And what we're gonna do is we're gonna turn around back to back, so we can't peek at each other's stuff.
And we're gonna lay out the objects to make our own ensemble.
But remember, there's no right way to do this.
Any way you do it will be right.
- [Freddie] Awesome.
(sprightly music) - Here you go.
- Thank you.
- Of course.
(objects rattling) (sprightly music continues) (pencil scratching) - Cats, where are you?
Where are the cats?
Where are the cats?
Where are the cats?
Ooh, and here we got a little black cat.
Little black cat.
Little black cat.
Hey, little black cat.
(cat meows) Ooh, now, now check this one out.
This is another cat.
And this cat is playing with a puppet, with a little marionette, it is so cute.
Fluffy, fluffy, fluffy, fluffy, fluffy.
Cats, cats, cats, cats.
Where can I find some cats?
I need some cats.
Cats, cats, cats, cats, cats, cats.
Cats, cats, cats.
(laughs) (cat meows) All right, now is this a dog or is it another cat?
I think it's another cat.
All right, you see that one?
Ooh, that's a, that's a tiger.
Look at those eyes.
Those are real mean tiger eyes, means business, and it's totally not eating anyone.
I mean they're, they're totally playing.
I think there might be some yarn in there somewhere.
But yeah, another cat, yes!
All right, that's everything I got.
Hope the presentation goes well.
Good luck.
(pencil scratching) (graphics whooshing) (upbeat funky music) - Hi, everyone, it's Freddie's best friend Jose.
My mom says I have five minutes before my little sister's dance class.
So let's see how many people we can get to draw a cat.
Let's go.
- So one of my favorite things is that cats come in all shapes and sizes.
So the first cat I like to draw can be just a little, you know, regular, skinny cat.
Give him some tuft of hair, give him some polka dot eyes, give him a cute little cat nose, cat mouth.
And you know, cats also got whiskers, 'cause that's how they feel around.
They say that cats can always fit in any space that's as wide as their whiskers.
So there's his whiskers.
And then I like to give him a little cat body.
So what is this cat doing?
Is he being a loaf or is he sitting down?
- Mm, I'd say sitting down.
- Okay, so if he's sitting down, we're going to draw his like little cat neck.
And if he, you know, has a family.
Well, most cats have a family.
He has a collar.
And then I'll just draw his like leg sitting down.
Since he's a thin cat, there's his back leg, there's his front paw, a front paw, and then his body, that's actually his knee now.
And then I'm gonna erase this and draw it like that.
And he has a short tail or does he have a long tail?
- Hmm, how about a short tail?
- All right, if he got a little short tail just like that.
There you go, and then, you know, cats, you know, have really big ears.
I like to fill their ears in.
But, like I said, there's more one way to draw a cat.
You can also draw a nice big, chunky cat.
You know, I like chunky cats.
Give him big cheeks.
And then I give him a ear here and a ear there.
And I give him, like, let's say he cool, he a cool little cat, you know, draw his other leg.
And then, since he's so big, I like to give him a little hand or a little cat paw.
And that makes him seem even bigger.
Just like that.
That's another cat for you.
- Thank you.
(upbeat music continues) Hey sir, what's your cat's name?
- This is Paco.
- [Jose] Ooh, hi, Paco.
What do you like most about cats?
- Certain cats are very friendly.
Other cats are aloof.
This one happens to be extremely friendly.
Paco is six years old, the other one is seven months old.
And we were gonna call the other one Bell so we'd have Paco Bell, but my wife said no.
- Look like there's more than one way to draw a cat, folks.
(car horn honking) Oh, that's my mom.
She doesn't like to honk more than once.
This is Jose signing off.
Back to you, Freddie.
(pencil scratching) - [Ni] Well, are you finished?
- I think so.
- All right, let's take a look.
So for mine, I was really inspired by the Barnes Collection so I tried to find twos or fours of everything and make it equal on either side.
- That's so cool.
- And I really liked all the metal.
- I was inspired because, since we're at the Barnes, I wanted to make something kind of like a barn or a farm.
So I made, they're like outdoors and scenery.
So this is a tree that I made with the pompoms and the pencils.
This is like oranges that you might see outside.
- [Ni] I love oranges.
- This is a horse in its barn.
This is like a little pool or like a pond.
And I put blue in the center to make it look like water.
And then this is just like outdoors like a mountain.
And then this is a little squiggly road.
- Awesome.
I love how we had the same objects.
We made two completely different works of art.
- Yeah.
And I really like both of them.
I think that knowing that there's not a right way or a wrong way to do it definitely takes the pressure off.
- Absolutely, well, hopefully this helps you with the gallery wall in Grandma Tilly's studio.
- Thanks so much, Ni


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