Focus on Integrated Teaching-A Supplement to Picturing America for Rhode Island Educators-1

8/2/2019 Focus on Integrated Teaching-A Supplement to Picturing America for Rhode Island Educators-1

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Focus on Integrated Teaching in the Arts and Humanities:

A Supplement to Picturing America for Rhode Island Educators

By Harmony Thompson and Danielle Pottberg

2009

Made possible by:The National Endowment for the Humanities

The Rhode Island Council for the Humanities

Picturing America


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Focus on Integrated Teaching in the Arts and Humanities: A Supplement to Picturing America forRhode Island Educators. By Harmony Thompson and Danielle Pottberg, 2009Made possible by the NEH, RICH, and Picturing America.

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Table of Contents

Introduction p. 3

Art Criticism Guide pp. 4-5

Lesson Unit Elementary and middle -Artists Under Rule pp. 6-12

Lesson Unit Middle -American Craft: American People pp. 13-20

Lesson Unit Secondary - Honoring People and Events pp. 21-30


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Introduction

Picturing America is a valuable resource for an integrated curriculum and teachingpractice. The premise here is that visual images will help students access and understandAmerican history, people, stories, places, and experiences. This premise lends itself tointegrated teaching, as does our supplement. This supplemental document can broadenthe scope ofPicturing America while building on its rich visual and historical content. Weprovide general units of study and specific activity suggestions that can be used bymultiple educators across disciplines. It is our hope that the sharing of these ideas andresources will enrich students learning experiences.

This supplement is intended to be used as a springboard for further investigation for those

Rhode Island teachers, librarians and community members who have received thePicturing America images and teacher resource guide. Enclosed you will find a guide to artcriticism, which may be helpful as you introduce images to students and encourage themto evaluate what they see and to search for meaning. You will also find a series of threelesson units, each based on a sampling of images from Picturing America. These lessonunits contain themes and enduring ideas, names of additional artists and works of art,connections to literature and web based resources, connections to RI standards in the Artsand Humanities, connections to Rhode Island as a learning site, and specific activitysuggestions. We realize that as educators, you are adept at building curriculum for yourown classes and grade levels, and it is not our intention to dictate how to use Picturing

America as a learning resource. Rather we hope that you will find these ideas, links,

connections and resources helpful in enriching your curriculum.

Harmony Thompson Danielle Pottberg


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Art Criticism A Guide for Educators

The purpose of a preliminary art criticism in the classroom is to allow students to interpretand analyze artwork; to see and understand as much as they can before being told the

artists intention or the historical background. Using these guiding questions, studentsmay also find personal meaning and contemporary relevance in a work of art. Art critiqueallows for different interpretations, based on close observation and personal meaningmaking. Understanding the artists intention or the historical background is important andcan be revealed after students have had the opportunity to interpret, so that studentsunderstand that artists do create with specific intention, and that many also welcomediverse interpretation.

Terry Barrett: Educator, author and artist who has written numerous texts on methods ofart criticism and interpretation.

Art Interpretation

What do you see?

Based on the visual information presented in the work, what does it mean?

How do you relate to it personally?

Is it successful? Why or why not?

Edmund Feldman: Art educator, author, and theorist who developed a popular and widelyused method of art criticism.

Stages of Art Criticism

Describe: What do you actually see? Take inventory.

Analyze: How do things relate to each other visually? How are things organized? How isthe space used?

Interpret: What do you think the work is all about? Are there any themes that emerge? Inwhat ways do the things identified under analyses communicate ideas, feelings or values?What, if anything, does this remind you of or relate to in your life?

Evaluate: How successful do you think this piece is? Compare it to another piece of artfrom the same or another time period. Encourage students to make judgments about thepiece based on their previous knowledge about art, history and culture.


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When we look at artwork, we have an opportunity to connect to it personally, visually,culturally, and historically. After an initial interpretation following Feldman or Barrettsmethods, students and teachers can ask further questions to delve deeper into the cultural

and historical meaning of a piece. The following are examples of questions that can beused to frame further investigation of a piece of art and how it relates to culture andhistory. A work of art tells the story of a time, a place and a person/people. We can usethe works of art in Picturing America as entry points into the times, places and people theypresent.

Inquiry Based Observation and Analyses

Who made the work?

Where did the artist live?

When was the piece made?

What else was occurring at that historical time and region of the world?

What does the piece of art say about the time period in which it was made?

What materials did the artist use to create the work?

Where and how were those materials acquired?

How was the artist trained?

Who was/is the intended audience of the piece of art?

Did a client commission the work or did the artist make the work for his/her ownpurposes?

Who saw the artwork and why? Was it public, private, shown in galleries and museums,in a private home, in an outdoor public space?

Was the artist trying to communicate something in particular or to make a pointpolitically, morally, etc? If so, what was that point or message?

What social, cultural, ethnic, or religious groups did the artist belong to? How does thataffect the meaning of the work?

Sources

The Getty Center, www.getty.edu

Terry Barrett, http://www.terrybarrettosu.com


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Unit Title: Artists Under Rule

Unit Goal:Artists and designers work within the realm of their culture and time. Artwork

is shaped not only by artist aesthetic but also political and societal norms, as well as theeconomic market, buyers needs and preferences.

Picturing America Visual References

2a

3b

8b

14a

17a

Suggested Grade Levels

Grades K-8

Subject Areas and Rhode Island Standards (Specific Standards are given after eachlesson activity)

VA Visual Art

SSCG- Social Studies Civics and Government

SSE- Social Studies Economics

SSG- Social Studies Geography

ELA- English Language Arts

Themes

Commissioned work

Identity

Self IdentificationGroup Identification

Marketing and Advertisement

Social Stereotypes

Culture and Norms


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Objectives: as a result of Instruction, students will:

Identify artists as byproducts of the environment and culture in which they learn, growand work.

Use descriptive language, both verbal and written, to communicate process ofrepresentation.

Recognize the role of an artist in shaping visual history.

Create work with purposeful decisions about those viewing the work, as well astheir own artistic intent.

View and respond to artwork created by various artists across time and cultural spaces.

Decipher artist intent, and speculate as to how visual representations directlycorrespond to social and political norms.

Acknowledge artists as part of an economic system, in which artists may have torespond to and create work with a separate partys wishes in mind.

Describe portraits as depictions of people and identify the differences between a self-portrait and one done by someone else.

Observe and discuss stereotypes of people.

Critical Questions

How do artists make a living?

How can an artist show strength of character through portraiture?

Who owns a portrait?

What technological advances are used in portraiture work of today?

What visual clues convey honesty, wealth, power, leadership, etc?

Why do we make portraits?Where do portraits come from?

Why should the person being portrayed have a say in what the portrait looks like?

In what ways have portraiture helped or harmed people?

Where can portraits be seen?


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Activities

Lesson Goal: Social and cultural norms change as time changes, therefore, portraitsof iconic persons change throughout time to reflect idealized notions of fame.

ICON REPRESENTATION: In Copleys oilpainting, likeness in representation,along with picturesque setting andpurposeful emphasis forms anidealized version of Paul Revere.Compare and contrast the effort placedon perfection of image in Copleyswork, with that of the mass produced,high contrast depictions of MarilynMonroe produced by Andy Warhol.

ArtistsJohn Singleton Copley Picturing America2d

Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroehttp://www.warholprints.com/portfolio/Marilyn.Monroe.html

Literature ConnectionShetterly, Robert Illus. by: Shetterly,

RobertAmericans Who Tell the Truth (2005)

RI Standards: C & G 1-1, HP 1 -2, 2-1, 2, -3, 3-2,ELA 1, VA 4, 5

Lesson Goal: Portraits offer a visual simulacrum and sometimes becomes morewidely recognized than the actual person or likeness of the person portrayed.

ArtistsGilbert Stuart Picturing America 3b

Shepard Fairey, Barack Hussein Obamahttp://obeygiant.com/headlines/obama

Literature ConnectionHopkins, Lee Bennett Illus. by: Staub,Leslie Lives: Poems About Famous

Americans (1999)

RI Standards: C&G 1-2, 4-1, HP 2-1, 2-3, 3-2,ELA 1, 7, VA 4, 5 6

ICON REPRESENTATION: Gilbert Stuartsportrait of George Washington is sowidely reproduced and distributed, thatit has become an iconic image of thepresident himself. Compare this likenessto Shepard Faireys HOPE poster, andInauguration poster of President BarackObama. Discuss with students,copyright laws, appropriation laws, andpublic image lawsuits.


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Lesson Goal:Artists use objects, color and sculpture as a visual portrait ofthemselves and others.

REPRESENTATION THROUGH OBJECTS:Students represent themselves andclassmates through wordlists of objects,traits and identifiable factors. Studentscreate Surrealist collage using theseobjects, still life work using the objectsas well as a free form self-portrait poeminspired by The Bat-Poet.

ArtistsJudy Chicago, The Dinner Partyhttp://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/dinner_party/

Literature ConnectionJarrell, Randall Illus. by: Sendak,MauriceThe Bat-Poet (1964)

RI Standards: ELA 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, VA 1, 3, 6

Lesson Goal: When artists work in a medium such as drawing or paint, they arefree to make specific choices about composition, color, mood, editing.

Artists

Mary Cassatt, The Boating PartyPicturing America 14a

Literature ConnectionTodd Parr The Family Book(2003)

RI Standards: HP 1-1, 2-1, 3-2, C&G 3-2, 5-1,VA 5, 6

REPRESENTATION OFFAMILY: Mary

Cassatts painting The Boating Party(Picturing America 14a) depicts onespecific type of family. Cassatt was ableto edit and emphasis parts of herpainting in order to elevate the womanin the painting. Students talk aboutfamily portraits and different kinds offamilies. Key Questions:Why do artistsmake family portraits? Why do familiessometimes get photograph portraitstaken? What are the different types of

families, and why might have Cassattwanted to emphasis the woman in thiswork?


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Lesson Goal: Different cultures and climates call for a variety of apparel designs, indifferent patterns, shapes, sizes and colors.

WHO DO YOU DRESS FOR: Black Hawks

ledger book enlightens people of today,to the traditions and apparel of theLakota people. What parts of the garbtell you about them as a tribe? Whatthings do you wear that could paint aportrait of who you are? Students createa fashion of the times time capsule toreveal information about their culture tofuture generations. What differences/similarities are there between yourclothing and the clothing of acorrespondent in another country? Why?

Artists

Black Hawk, Sans Arc Lakota: LedgerBook (plate no. 18) 1880-1881Picturing America 8b

Literature Connection:Author(s) and Illustrators: Eleanor Estes,Louis Slobodkin The Hundred DressesSheth, Kashmira Illus. by: Jaeggi,Yoshiko My Dadima Wears a Sari (2007)

RI Standards: ELA 4, 7, HP 1-1, C&G 5-1, VA 2,3, 5

Lesson Goal: Who owns the portrait? The artist, the person who commissioned thework? The museum? What is ownership in art?

ArtistsRomaine Brooks, Self Portraithttp://jssgallery.org/Other_Artists/Romaine_Brooks/Self-Portrait_1923.htm

Literature ConnectionHans Christian AndersonThe Emperors New Clothes

RI Standards: ELA 1, 3, 4, VA 1, 2, 3, 5

WHO DO YOUARTISTS WORKFOR:Artists and photographers are oftencommissioned to do portraiturework. Sometimes the person beingportrayed has specific requests asto how they want others to viewthem. Make a list of the positivetraits that would be included inyour portrait. Key Questions:Would you be portrayed as:

Powerful? Studious? Loving? Kind?Charismatic? Creative? How doyou want others to view you? Isthis portrayal different than howyou view yourself?


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Lesson Goal:Artists, photographers and designers shape the visual representationof Americas past, present and future.

WHATDOES YOURAMERICA LOOKLIKE:

First, students compare and contrastKehinde Whileys portraiture work withDuane Hansons work (emphasis ontraditions in art, media and scale). Nextstudents dissect the cultural norms andstereotypes prevalent in these pieceswith portraits in the Picturing Americaartist selection. How do artists use theirown personal voice in the portrayal ofAmerican people? Students illustratethrough drawing, collage, and writtenword, an idealized or ironic version oftheir America.

ArtistsDuane Hansonhttp://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/duane_hanson.htm

Kehinde Whileyhttp://www.kehindewiley.com/

RI Standards: ELA 1, 3, 4, VA 1, 2, 4, 5, 6

Lesson Goal: The depiction of women through art changes in accordance withculture, societal norms, and timeframe.

GENDER ROLES INART:Discuss the representations ofwomen throughout cultureusing Jacob Lawrences piece(Picturing America 17a) as wellas the self-portrait done byRomaine Brooks. What otherwomen have been representedthrough art? What do thesedepictions say about womensrole in society and culturalnorms? Is the artist responsible

for conveying stereotypes?

ArtistsJacob Lawrence Picturing America 17a

Romaine Brooks, Self Portraithttp://jssgallery.org/Other_Artists/Romaine_Brooks/Self-Portrait_1923.htm

Literature ConnectionsWelden, Amelie. Girls Who Rocked the World:Heroines from Sacagawea to Sheryl SwoopesColman, Penny. Rosie the Riveter: WomenWorking on the Home Front in WWIIRaczka, Bob Here's Looking at Me: How

Artists See Themselves (2006)

RI Standards: ELA 1, 3, 4, VA 1, 2, 4, 5, 6


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Additional Resources

ASOPAhttp://www.asopa.com/American Society of Portrait Artists website.

National Portrait Galleryhttp://www.npg.si.edu/A museum within the Smithsonian Gallery dedicated to portraiture work fromvarious artists.

National Museum of Women in the Artshttp://www.nmwa.org/The only museum in the world dedicated exclusively to recognizing the

contributions of women artists, located in Washington, D.C.

Judy Chicagohttp://www.judychicago.comArtist website. Included Interviews, works, lectures, etc.

Kehinde Whileyhttp://www.kehindewhiley.comArtist website. Included news, gallery, exhibitions, bio, etc.

Shepard Fairey

http://www.obeygiant.comInteractive website celebrating Shepard Faireys work.

The Warhol Museumhttp://www.warhol.orgLocated in Pittsburg Pennsylvania, this museum houses a permanent collective ofWarhols work.


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Unit Title: American Craft: American People

Unit Goal: The story of American crafts can also be the story of American people, ascraftwork often contains cultural history, knowledge and symbol, and suggests identity.

American people use materials to make functional objects, which provide an importantoutlet for understanding Americas rich, culturally diverse past.


1a

5b

8b


Grades 5 - 8


VA Visual Art

SSCG- Social Studies Civics and Government

SSE- Social Studies Economics

SSG- Social Studies Geography

ELA- English Language Arts

Themes

Community and Familial Traditions

Identity

MappingNatural Resources

Process of Craftwork

American Indian People Today


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Objectives: as a result of Instruction, students will:

Identify various American Indian* and African American* artists as distinct groups ofpeople living in specific regions of the United States. Map the U.S. at different historicalmoments in connection to the time periods of pieces of art.

Use descriptive language, both verbal and written, to communicate the process ofmaking crafts.

Recognize the elements of a story and place events in order.

Write a poem based on an artists poetry about a traditional craft.

View and respond to videos about the Gullah people who create woven baskets.Connect this craft tradition to one they are more familiar with and use written and verballanguage skills to conduct an interview.

Identify geometric designs on pottery and basketry as symbol and create and describe

their own symbolic designs.Acknowledge American Indians as diverse, contemporary individuals with connectionsto cultural traditions. Research and write about one contemporary American Indianartist.

Describe portraits as depictions of people and identify the differences between a self-portrait and one done by someone else.

Observe and discuss stereotypes of people.

* It is important to note that people identify with these and various other terms to describe their ethnic andcultural backgrounds. Throughout this document I will use the terms African American and American

Indian to refer to these two groups of American people.

Critical Questions

What do you think is the difference between art and craft?

How is the knowledge of craftwork communicated and passed down to others?

Where do the materials to make crafts come from?

What could you make out of materials you see in your environment?

Is it important that artists sign their work?

How much money is art worth? To whom?How do American Indians represent themselves? How do other Americans representthem? How do you represent yourself? How do others see and represent you?

What is a stereotype? How can it be harmful to individuals and groups? Where do wesee visual examples of stereotypes?


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Activities

Lesson Goal:Artists use geometric and organic designs in their work as symbol. Oftenthese symbols reference specific places, events, people, ideas or objects.

MAP THE US: In small groups, create maps ofthe United States based on the time periodsof each piece from Picturing America 1a,shown below. For example: what did theUnited States look like geographically in1100 when the Anasazi made these vessels?Mark the location of each piece andidentify their geographic distinctions.

ArtistsAll artists and images from Picturing

America 1a

Literature Connection: Ortiz, Simon J., ThePeople Shall Continue, Sharol Graves,Illustrator, Childrens Book Press, 1988.

Animated atlas video of formation of USfrom 1789.http://www.animatedatlas.com/movie.html

RI Standards: SSG 1 VA 3

ArtistsAll artists and images from Picturing

America 1aSol LeWitt: http://www.massmoca.org/

Literature Connection: Swentzell, Rina,

Children of Clay, A Family of PuebloPotters. Lerner Publications, 1992.

RI Standards: VA 1,5 ELA 1

GEOMETRIC DESIGNS: Observe and analyzethe pottery and basketry in poster 1a,paying close attention to the geometricdesigns on the forms. The sources of someof these designs are known, while othersare unknown. Students create a series of

geometric designs, each based on adifferent set of criteria. For example, theycan identify family or village, landscape, ananimal they feel close to, or a personallymeaningful object. Students draw out eachdesign on graph paper and write downdirections to communicate how to recreatethe design. A companion piece could alsobe written about the symbolism andpersonal meaning behind each design.


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Lesson Goal: The story of a crafted object is also the story of a people. Craft are passeddown orally and visually through generations and sustained by family members andcommunities collective memory.

CIRCLE UNBROKEN: This book about thehistory of Gullah weavers can be used todiscuss the elements of a story and learnmore about a people. Students can identifycharacters, setting and story line orally andbe challenged to remember one event inthe story. As the class remembers the story,they can place themselves in a spiral in theorder the events took place, andcollectively retell the story verbally.

ArtistsCaesar Johnson, Gullah basket,Picturing America 1a

Literature Connection: Raven, MargotTheis. Circle Unbroken: The Story of aBasket and Its People. Illustrated by E.B.Lewis. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux,2004.

RI Standards: ELA 1,2 VA 3

Artists:All artists from Picturing America 1aand 10b

John Dahlsenhttp://www.johndahlsen.com/Michelle Predhttp://michelepred.com/

RI Standards: ELA 1,4 VA 1

DESCRIBE YOUR PROCESS: Explore traditional craftartists as well as contemporary artists who makework out of found materials. Students think ofsomething handmade and write down each step ofthe process as if they were teaching it to anotherperson who had never done it. Students practiceusing descriptive language to articulate a step-by-step process to their classmates. If possible, students

can try to actually recreate the object as they listento the directions.

COMMUNITY INTERVIEW: Read an interviewwith a Gullah weaver and watch a shortvideo about Gullah basket weavers.Students identify a craft or tradition such assewing, cooking, farming, writing,storytelling, or pottery that they see in theirfamily or community, and interview anindividual about it. The interviews can bepresented orally, and accompanied byvisual images, photographs or drawings.

ArtistsCaesar Johnson, Gullah basket fromPicturing America 1aMary Jane Bennet, Digital TraditionsInterviewwww.digitaltraditions.net/

Binyah Films, documentary film aboutGullah weavershttp://binyahfilm.org/

RI Standards: ELA 1,2,3,8 VA 3,4


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Lesson Goal: Artists use their skills to represent people, including themselves. SomeAmericans and Europeans have represented American Indian people in ways that do notalways reflect their identities accurately. Art can be used as a way of reclaiming anddefining ones identity.

ARTIST PROFILE: Explorecontemporary AmericanIndian artists. What AmericanIndian Nation(s) do theybelong to and how do theydraw upon their culturaltraditions to enrich theirartwork? Write a profile of an

artist that would accompany agallery show of their work.Sherman Alexies book can beused to further discusscontemporary AmericanIndian identity from a youngpersons perspective.

ArtistsJuane Quick-to- See Smith (Red Man)

www.nmwa.org

Duane Slick (Various Paintings)http://www.brandonu.ca/library/cjns/14.1/abbott.pdf

Nora Naranjo- Morse (Mud Woman With Pot)http://www.cla.purdue.edu/waaw/peterson/Naranjo.html

Fritz Scholder (Various Paintings)http://www.scholder.com/

Virgil Ortiz (Pottery)www.virgilortiz.com

Literature Connection: Alexie, Sherman, TheAbsolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. NY: LittleBrown, 2007.

RI Standards: ELA 1,2,3 VA 3

IDENTITY AND PRESENTATION: Students compare

the depiction of an American Indian man fromtwo artists work: Cover Illustration for Last ofthe Mohicans, by N.C. Wyeth,Picturing

America 5b, and Fritz Scholders, Indian in TheSnow. Describe and analyze the two imagesand talk about self-portrait vs. portrait byanother. Discuss who made each work of art.Students write two different descriptions ofthemselves, one is autobiographical and theother is in the voice of someone who does notknow them well. Create a self-portrait book

cover for their writing.

Artists

N.C. Wyeth, Art for The Last of theMohicans, Picturing America 5bFritz Scholder, Indian in the Snowhttp://www.scholder.com/

Literature Connection: Allen, PaulaGunn.As Long As the Rivers Flow: TheStories of Nine Native Americans.Scholastic Trade, 2001.

RI Standards: ELA 1,2,4,7 VA 1,3,5


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ArtistNora Naranjo-Morsehttp://www.nativewiki.org/Nora_Naranjo-Morse

Provides links to her poetry, books, film andvisual art.

Literature connection: Naranjo-Morse,Nora, Theres Nothing Like and Idea, fromher book, Mud Woman: Poems from theClay. University of Arizona Press, 1992.

RI Standards: ELA 1,2,3,4,7 VA 1,3

POETRY AND ART: Nora Naranjo-Morse is acontemporary American Indian artist andpoet from Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico.Students view her small clay sculptures andread her poem, Theres Nothing Like anIdea. They then write their own poems

about an idea they feel connected to,focusing on the language she uses inconnection to one act: making pottery andclay sculpture. Students can create smallfigure sculptures to accompany theirpoems.

Lesson goal: The way that art is valued depends on the time period, the audience, populartrends and power structures. How do we understand and place value on thingsmonetarily and personally?

THE VALUE OF ART, AN ECONOMIC EXERCISE:Black Hawk earned fifty cents for eachimage of his people that he drew in 1880-1881. His book of drawings was auctionedoff for $400,000 in 1994. Discuss the

image, Picturing America 8b, using some ofthe questions outlined in the TeacherResource Guide. Students each bring in apiece of art, personal item or piece ofmemorabilia from home and have a mockauction in class. Discuss how and whysome things have high monetary value andsome things have high personal value.

ArtistBlack Hawk, Sans Arc Lakota, Ledger BookPicturing America, 8b

Literature Connection:

Erdrich, Louise, The Birchbark House andThe Game of Silence.

RI Standards: SSE 1,2 VA 3


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American Indians In Childrens Literaturehttp://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/

Oyate

http://www.oyate.org/A resource for American Indian Childrens Literature and History, including lists of booksby age, media and topic as well as order forms and links to news, books to avoid, andother media.

Slavery in Americahttp://www.slaveryinamerica.org/amliterature/amlit_booklist.htmList of literature on slavery to be used at various levels of elementary and secondaryeducation.

Museum of Natural History and Planetariumhttp://www.providenceri.com/museum/

The Gullah: Race, Slavery and the Sierra Leone-American Connectionhttp://www.yale.edu/glc/gullah/index.htm

Sierra Leone Gullah Heritage Associationhttp://slgha.org/

Rhode Island Black Storytellershttp://www.ribsfest.com/

Rhode Island Black Heritage Societyhttp://www.providenceri.com/RI_BlackHeritage/

State of Rhode Island, Office of the Secretary of Statehttp://www.sec.state.ri.us/library/riinfo/riinfo/knowrhodeIncludes a plethora of information about RI history and facts.

Gullah Net- Explore Gullah Culture in South Carolinahttp://www.knowitall.org/Gullahnet/Including on line activities and resources, lesson plan ideas, and links designed to helpincorporate Gullah culture and language into the K- 8 classroom.

Animated Atlashttp://www.animatedatlas.com/movie.htmlIncludes a video of the formation of US from 1789.


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Tomaquag Museumhttp://www.tomaquagmuseum.com/index.cfmRhode Islands only American Indian Museum.

American Indian Artist Inc.http://amerinda.org/main.html

Rhode Island School of Designs Museum for teachershttp://www.risdmuseum.org/education.aspx?id=15216Book a tour, a workshop for students or just a teacher. This program supports RhodeIsland state standards for historical perspectives, social studies, English language arts,and visual arts.

Digital Traditions: A Public Access Initiative for Folklife and Material Culturewww.digitaltraditions.net

Rice Coast Filmshttp://www.ricecoastfilms.org/A documentary film organization telling the story of Precillas homecoming, a seventhgeneration descendent of an enslaved girl from Sierra Leone goes there to visit. She wassold to a slave owner in Newport, RI.

Images of Indians (Lucas & Hagoplan, 1979) The five 30-minute videos detail the historyof movie stereotypes of American Indians, and provide provocative visuals fordiscussion. These fantasy images can be contrasted with the real presence ofcontemporary Native Americans.


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Unit Title: Honoring People and Events

Unit Goal:Artists and authors commemorate people and events through their work.This act of honoring is an important part of the way people have learned to remember thepast and pay tribute to our histories.


10a

19b

20b


Grades 9-12


VA Visual Arts

C&G Civics and Government (History)

HP Historical Perspectives (History)

ELA English Language Arts

Themes

Public Art and Sculpture

Heroes

Honoring, Remembering, Commemorating

Naming and Identity

Civil War

Civil Rights

African American Historical Perspectives


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Objectives: as a result of instruction, students will:

Respond to images of public monuments and recognize them as an art ofcommemoration.

Observe and speculate how people interact with various public commemorative

sculptures.Name critical events and people in the struggle for African American civil rights in thiscountry. Read and interpret texts about community organizing during this civil rightsmovement.

Identify local civil war monuments, and discover their stories and uses today.

Recognize symbols used in the work ofMartin Puryear and David Hammons andchoose symbols that communicate their own goals and hopes.

Respond to the poem Mother to Son by Langston Hughes and make connections

between the message in that poem to the Civil Rights Movement and Picturing Americaimage 19b.

Write about an everyday hero and present a speech to a group of peers.

Distinguish different historical perspectives and retell history through a narrative usingKara Walkers Installation piece as a visual reference.

Critical Questions

What is the primary purpose of a public monument or sculpture dedicated to one figureor historical event?

How does the public interact with public monuments?

Who do public monuments usually commemorate? Why?

What makes a hero?

Who are your contemporary heroes?

What would you be willing to fight for?

When and where has slavery been discussed in your life experience?

What civil rights movements do you know about other than the African American civilrights movement?

How do people commemorate and celebrate heroes and historical events differently?


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Activities

Lesson Goal:Artists design and build monuments for the public to view and interact with.Historical monuments commemorate and often celebrate a particular event or person inhistory.

ArtistsAugustus Saint-Gaudens, Robert Gould Shaw andthe 54th Regiment Memorial, 1884-1897 PicturingAmerica 10aWilla Shalit, sculptor, Life Cast: Behind the Maskhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willa_Shalit

Adelaide Paul, ceramic artisthttp://www.theclaystudio.org/exhibitions/past/paul.php http://www.inliquid.com/features/adelaidepaul/30days.shtml

Jana Napoli, installation artist commemorating

victims of Hurricane Katrina, www.floodwall.org

Literature ConnectionsRobert Lowell, For the Union Deadhttp://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15280 W.H.Auden, In Memory of W.B. Yeatshttp://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15544

RI Standards: VA 1,3,5 ELA 1,2,3,7

WHATMAKES A MEMORIAL? Brainstormwith the class about what identifies amemorial. Students map out thememorials in their environment,whether traditional or morecontemporary, and present thesemaps to the class. Use an example ofan elegy as a connection to howpeople memorialize in writing. Keyquestions: Is a memorial always a

statue? What forms can memorialstake? What does a memorial do?What do modern and historicalmemorials have in common?Howdoes an elegy memorialize a person?What elements of an elegy also existin a physical memorial?

MEMORIAL COMPARISON: Compare andcontrast these two well-known warmemorials. Work in pairs or small groups toanswer the following questions and presentyour thoughts to the class. Key questions:Where are they located? Describe themvisually. What is their primary function?What do people see when they look atthem closely? How do people interact withthem? What historical event does eachreference?

ArtistsAugustus Saint-Gaudens, Robert GouldShaw and the 54th Regiment Memorial,1884-1897, Picturing America 10aMaya Lin, Vietnam MemorialandCivilRights Memorial

RI Standards: VA 3, ELA 1


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ArtistsLaunt Thompson, Burnside Memorial, 1887Henri Schoenhard, Scott Monument,erected in memory of Maj. Henry H.Young, 1911Randolph Rogers, Soldiers and Sailors

Monument, 1866-71

Literature ConnectionPaulsen, Gary, The Monument

RI Standards: VA 2,3 ELA 1,2,3,8 HP 1-1,2-1

Local Civil War Memorials: Three memorialsin Burnside Park and Kennedy Plaza,Providence, RI, commemorate two CivilWar heroes and soldiers. Compare thesememorials to the RGS and 54th RegimentMemorial using key questions from the

previous Memorial Comparison Activity. Ifpossible, have students observe the actualmemorials (or others in the area) anddocument the publics interaction withthem. Photograph or videotape the publicinteraction. Students read documents oneach person and write a short informationalplaque that would accompany the statues,including information they think peoplewould be interested in. The purpose of thewritten information would be to get passersby and young people interested in learningmore about the statues and the historicalfigures.

COMMEMORATION: It is common in America to see large-scale bronze and stone sculptures in public placesdepicting soldiers or other historical figures. Artists andcommunity members around the world use many othermeans of visual expression to commemorate, celebrate

and memorialize. Explore these traditions and compareand contrast them. Students identify an historicalmoment or person to celebrate and create acommemorative sculpture/event using meaningfulelements from the cultural examples. Key questions: Howare people and events commemorated differently? Whatdo people commemorate? What elements ofcommemorative celebration are common across cultures?

Examples: Day of the Dead Mexico, Diwali India,Chinese New Year China,Purim Israel / Jewish

holiday, Roadside Altars United States.

RI Standards: VA 2,3 ELA 7,8 G-1HP 3-2 C&G 5-1, 5-2


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Lesson Goal:Artists often memorialize a struggle through documentation of events andpeople. What do people fight for and what compels us?

WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING FOR?: Use theLangston Hughes poem, Mother to Son, andthe James Karales photo, March to Selma, to

illustrate the power of people struggling andfighting for something. This can connect toany other contemporary civil rights strugglesuch as marriage equality, educationequality, immigrant rights, and workersrights. Students can be prompted to identifycivil rights and explore how ourgovernment protects them. Key questions:What are civil rights? To whom do theyapply? How have people been legallyprotected by civil rights laws? When in thehistory of America have people had to fightfor their civil rights? Does every Americanhave the same civil rights?

ArtistsJames Karales, Selma to Montgomery Marchfor Voting Rights, 1965 Picturing America

19bDorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, 1936Picturing America 18bNan Goldin, Gilles Dusein and Gotscho,1992-1993http://sexualityinart.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/nan-goldin

Literature connectionsHughes, Langston, Mother to SonLevine, Ellen S., Freedoms Children: Young

Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories

RI Standards: C&G 2-1,2-2,3-2,4-1 HP 2-1,2-2 ELA1,2,7

CIVIL WAR TO CIVIL RIGHTS: Although the Civil Warended legalized slavery in 1865 with the 13 thamendment, it wouldnt be until 1870 that the 15thamendment gave formerly enslaved people the right tovote, and until 1965 with the Voting Rights Act that

African Americans could fully participate in thedemocratic process. The struggle and determination ofmany Americans made these important events areality. Use web and library resources to search forphotos and articles about an African American CivilRights Activist (i.e.: Ella Baker, Martin Luther King Jr.,Bayard Rustin, W.E.B Dubois) and create aneducational display about the individual includingtheir major accomplishments, admirable qualities theypossess, and photos of them in action. Place thepanel in a public space at the school for others to

view.

ArtistsAugustus Saint-Gaudens, RobertGould Shaw and the 54 thRegiment Memorial, 1884-1897Picturing America 10a

James Karales, Selma toMontgomery March for VotingRights, 1965 Picturing America19b

Literature connectionStill I Rise: A Graphic History ofAfrican-Americans, by RolandLaird with Taneshia Nash Laird.Illustrated by Elihu Adofo Bay.

RI Standards: ELA 1,2,6,8 C&G 1-2,3-2,4-3 HP 1-1,2-2


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ArtistsMartin Puryear, Ladder forBooker T. Washington,1996Picturing America 20bDavid Hammons, High Falutinand Higher Goals

Literature connectionsWashington, Booker T., Up FromSlavery: And AutobiographyDubois, W.E.B. The Souls ofBlack FolkHughes, Langston,

RI Standards: VA 2,3 ELA 1,4,7 HP 2-1

SYMBOLISM: Use in-class discussion or small groupwork to analyze and investigate the works of MartinPuryear and David Hammons. Key questions: Whatdo you see? What does it mean? How do you relate toit personally? How do the titles of the works indicatemeaning? What do the objects represent? What ideas

of Washingtons do you think Puryear is critiquing?These two artists both use symbol and metaphor tocommunicate ideas about reaching for something,attaining something or being held away fromsomething. Students identify life goals or hopes.Write a list of objects or ideas that could symbolizeyour hopes and dreams that feel out of reach. Create atitle for a piece of art and/or autobiography about theirgoals. Students design a book cover incorporatingtheir title and based on these themes.

Lesson Goal:Although public displays frequently focus on single, prominent individuals,artists and authors also commemorate other, lesser known, and unrecognized people andstruggles. How do we recognize ordinary people who do extraordinary things?

Ordinary Heroes: War Memorials and manyother statues commemorate our nations

heroes. Look at the artwork of Do-Ho Suhand speculate what his work is about. Keyquestions: Whom do his figures represent?Why are they small? Why are there so manyof them? We each have individual heroes.Who are your heroes today? Write aspeech to commemorate someoneimportant to you and deliver it to your classor community. Describe their qualities andthe honorable things they do.

ArtistDo-Ho Suh, Public Figures and

Some/Onehttp://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/suh/

Literature ConnectionMejia, Camilo, Road from Ar Ramadi: theprivate rebellion of staff sergeant CamiloMeja: an Iraq war memoir.http://www.ivaw.org/store Cormier, Robert, Heroes

RI Standards: VA 2,3 ELA 1,4,8


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Literature connectionsEllison, Ralph. The Invisible Man.Rampersad, Arnold,A Biography of Ralph

Ellison.

RI Standards: ELA 1,2,7 HP 2-1,3-2

Ralph Ellison:I am not ashamed of mygrandparents for having been slaves.I am only ashamed of myself forhaving at one time been ashamed. -Ralph Ellison, 1952

Read this quote by Ralph Ellison to the classand ask students to write personal reactionsin a journal. Read Ralph Ellisons Biographyand use the guide listed below fordiscussion. Key questions: Whom can youidentify who might be invisible today? In100 years, what do you think people willsay about our society today in terms of civilrights and equality?

Lesson Goal:Recognition of the past happens in a variety of ways. Artists and writersinvite discussion about people and history by naming, reclaiming, and rewriting thathistory.

Whats in a Name?: Rhode Island, likemany States, has a unique and complicatedhistory around slavery. Rhode Island wasthe most active Northern colony in

importing enslaved people, and this legacycontributed greatly to the foundation ofBrown University amongst other localinstitutions and families. There is a debatehappening presently (2009) on Capitol Hillabout changing the official name of RhodeIsland from The State of Rhode Island andProvidence Plantations, to The State ofRhode Island. Discover the politicalprocess and organizing efforts that areinvolved with this effort. Examine the

current debate and hold an in-class debateover the issue.

Current Newshttp://current.com/topics/86776881_rhode-island/

Rhode Island Secretary of Statehttp://www.sec.state.ri.us/library/riinfo/riinfo/knowrhode

Includes historical information from thestate about its naming.

RI Standards: C&G 2-1,4-1 HP 2-1,2-2 ELA 1,2


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ArtistKara Walker, Slavery! SlaverySlavery!Slavery! presenting a GRAND and LIFELIKEPanoramic Journey into Picturesque

Southern Slavery or "Life at 'Ol' Virginny'sHole' (sketches from Plantation Life)" Seethe Peculiar Institutions as never before! Allcut from black paper by the able hand ofKara Elizabeth Walker, an EmancipatedNegress and leader in her Cause, 1997

RI Standards: VA 2,3 ELA 1,4 C&G 3-1,3-2HP 1-2,2-2

Slavery! Slavery!: Kara Walker is acontemporary artist who visually retellshistory with humor, wit, and cuttingcriticism. Use Walkers title and visual

reference to help students understandslavery in a different way. After learningabout enslaved people and the laws thatheld people in slavery, students retell thishistory through her installation. Studentsdescribe the scenes depicted in the pieceand find multiple points of view from whichto tell the story. Students can also imaginethe scenes before and after this particularscene in the historical narrative.


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PBS: Art21http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/lin/index.htmlMaya Lin Bio, images, video clips and essays about her work.

PBShttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/visualarts/thewall.htmlThis site includes additional information about Maya Lin and the Vietnam Memorial.

Rhode Island Monthlyhttp://www.quahog.org/factsfolklore/index.php?id=65The Story of Colonel Henry Young, a spy from Pawtucket.

PBS: Art21http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/suh/index.html#Do-Ho Suh Bio, images, video clips and essays.

The Academy of American Poetswww.poets.org/lhugh

Rhode Island Black Storytellershttp://www.ribsfest.com/

Rhode Island Black Heritage Societyhttp://www.providenceri.com/RI_BlackHeritage/

NAACPhttp://www.naacp.org/about/history/dubois/Contains a lengthy bio of W.E.B. Dubois.

Slavery in the Northhttp://www.slavenorth.com/rhodeisland.htmA broad historical account of slavery and emancipation in RI.

Yahoo Newshttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090626/ap_on_re_us/us_providence_plantationsAssociated Press article about the debate over changing Rhode Islands name.

Random House, Inc.http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780679732761&view=rgA readers guide for Ralph Ellisons Biography including discussion questions.


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Focus on Integrated Teaching in the Arts and Humanities: A Supplement to Picturing America forRhode Island Educators. By Harmony Thompson and Danielle Pottberg, 2009

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WRNI, Rhode Islands NPR Stationhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95465836

An audio file of a panel discussion on the importance of discussing slavery today, theslave trades connections to Rhode Island and Brown University.

Museum of Contemporary Art, Contemporary Art Starthttp://www.moca.org/cas/?id=23Contains links to more information about David Hammons.

Rhode Island Office of the Secretary of Statehttp://www.sec.state.ri.us/library/riinfo/riinfo/knowrhodeIncludes a plethora of information about RI history and facts.

Marriage Equality Rhode Islandhttp://www.marriageequalityri.org/

Focus on Integrated Teaching-A Supplement to Picturing America for Rhode Island Educators-1

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