The Hoosier Group
Grades 3 – 8

Discover Indiana's popular "Hoosier Group," five painters including T.C. Steele, who specialized in Impressionist art at the turn of the 20th century. By playing a unique board game, hosting an art show and completing other exciting, hands-on activities, your students will have fun learning about these important artists.

About the Hoosier Group
In the early 1880s, several Indiana artists sought training abroad. Art schools were available in Indiana, but many artists studied in New York. However, true success required European training. Although Paris was the center of the art world in the 19th century, it was very expensive. Munich, on the other hand, offered a less expensive education. That, and the state’s Germanic roots, led most of Indiana’s young painters there.

Following their studies abroad, John Ottis Adams, William Forsyth, Otto Stark and Theodore Clement Steele returned to Indiana and transformed Indiana art. Skilled in modern techniques of the era, these artists specialized in the idea of painting en plein air, or out in the open. Joined by Richard Gruelle, the artists — collectively known as the Hoosier Group — became significant proponents of this new style of painting in the Midwest and were widely considered the most noteworthy regional school in the country.

Meets Indiana Academic Standards:
English/Language Arts: 3.1.3, 3.7.3, 4.1.1, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 5.1.1, 5.7.1, 5.7.3, 5.7.4, 6.1.1, 7.7.1, 8.7.1
Social Studies: 3.1.4, 3.1.6, 4.1.18
Visual Arts: 3.3.1, 3.2.1, 3.5.1, 3.7.1, 3.8.1, 3.9.1, 3.9.2, 3.10.1, 4.1.1, 4.2.1, 4.3.1, 4.4.1, 4.4.2, 4.5.1, 4.7.1, 4.8.1, 4.9.1, 4.10.1, 5.1.1, 5.2.2, 5.3.1, 5.4.1, 5.7.1, 5.8.1, 5.9.1, 5.10.1, 6.1.1, 6.2.2, 6.3.1, 6.4.2, 6.7.1, 6.8.1, 6.9.1, 6.10.1, 7.1.1, 7.2.1, 7.3.1, 7.3.2, 7.4.2, 7.7.1, 7.8.1, 7.9.1, 7.10.1, 8.1.1, 8.2.1, 8.3.1, 8.4.2, 8.7.1, 8.8.1, 8.9.1, 8.10.1