Focus On Integrated Teaching-A Supplement To Picturing America For Rhode Island Educators-1

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
Table of Contents
Introduction Art Criticism Guide Lesson Unit Elementary and middle - Artists Under Rule Lesson Unit Middle - American Craft: American People Lesson Unit Secondary - Honoring People and Events
p. 3 pp. 4-5 pp. 6-12 pp. 13-20 pp. 21-30
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 NEH, RICH, and Picturing America.
Introduction
Picturing America is a valuable resource for an integrated curriculum and teaching practice. The premise here is that visual images will help students access and understand American history, people, stories, places, and experiences. This premise lends itself to integrated teaching, as does our supplement. This supplemental document can broaden the scope of Picturing America while building on its rich visual and historical content. We provide general units of study and specific activity suggestions that can be used by multiple educators across disciplines. It is our hope that the sharing of these ideas and resources 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 the Picturing America images and teacher resource guide. Enclosed you will find a guide to art criticism, which may be helpful as you introduce images to students and encourage them to evaluate what they see and to search for meaning. You will also find a series of three lesson units, each based on a sampling of images from Picturing America. These lesson units 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 Arts and Humanities, connections to Rhode Island as a learning site, and specific activity suggestions. We realize that as educators, you are adept at building curriculum for your own 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
Art Criticism A Guide for Educators

The purpose of a preliminary art criticism in the classroom is to allow students to interpret and 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, students may also find personal meaning and contemporary relevance in a work of art. Art critique allows for different interpretations, based on close observation and personal meaning making. Understanding the artists intention or the historical background is important and can be revealed after students have had the opportunity to interpret, so that students understand that artists do create with specific intention, and that many also welcome diverse interpretation. Terry Barrett: Educator, author and artist who has written numerous texts on methods of art 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 widely used 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 is the space used? Interpret: What do you think the work is all about? Are there any themes that emerge? In what 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 art from the same or another time period. Encourage students to make judgments about the piece based on their previous knowledge about art, history and culture.
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 Barretts methods, 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 be used to frame further investigation of a piece of art and how it relates to culture and history. A work of art tells the story of a time, a place and a person/people. We can use the works of art in Picturing America as entry points into the times, places and people they present. 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 own purposes? 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 point politically, morally, etc? If so, what was that point or message? What social, cultural, ethnic, or religious groups did the artist belong to? How does that affect the meaning of the work?
Sources The Getty Center, www.getty.edu Terry Barrett, http://www.terrybarrettosu.com
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 the economic 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 each
lesson 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 Identification Group Identification Marketing and Advertisement Social Stereotypes Culture and Norms
Objectives: as a result of Instruction, students will:

Identify artists as byproducts of the environment and culture in which they learn, grow and work. Use descriptive language, both verbal and written, to communicate process of representation. Recognize the role of an artist in shaping visual history. Create work with purposeful decisions about those viewing the work, as well as their 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 directly correspond to social and political norms. Acknowledge artists as part of an economic system, in which artists may have to respond to and create work with a separate partys wishes in mind. Describe portraits as depictions of people and identify the differences between a selfportrait 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?
Activities
Lesson Goal: Social and cultural norms change as time changes, therefore, portraits of iconic persons change throughout time to reflect idealized notions of fame. ICON REPRESENTATION: In Copleys oil painting, likeness in representation, along with picturesque setting and purposeful emphasis forms an idealized version of Paul Revere. Compare and contrast the effort placed on perfection of image in Copleys work, with that of the mass produced, high contrast depictions of Marilyn Monroe produced by Andy Warhol. Artists John Singleton Copley Picturing America 2d Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe
http://www.warholprints.com/portfolio/Marilyn.M onroe.html
Literature Connection Shetterly, Robert Illus. by: Shetterly, Robert Americans 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 more widely recognized than the actual person or likeness of the person portrayed. Artists Gilbert Stuart Picturing America 3b Shepard Fairey, Barack Hussein Obama
http://obeygiant.com/headlines/obama
Literature Connection Hopkins, 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 Stuarts portrait of George Washington is so widely reproduced and distributed, that it has become an iconic image of the president himself. Compare this likeness to Shepard Faireys HOPE poster, and Inauguration poster of President Barack Obama. Discuss with students, copyright laws, appropriation laws, and public image lawsuits.
Lesson Goal: Artists use objects, color and sculpture as a visual portrait of themselves and others. REPRESENTATION THROUGH OBJECTS: Students represent themselves and classmates through wordlists of objects, traits and identifiable factors. Students create Surrealist collage using these objects, still life work using the objects as well as a free form self-portrait poem inspired by The Bat-Poet. Artists Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/e xhibitions/dinner_party/
Literature Connection Jarrell, Randall Illus. by: Sendak, Maurice The 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 are free to make specific choices about composition, color, mood, editing. Artists Mary Cassatt, The Boating Party Picturing America 14a Literature Connection Todd Parr The Family Book (2003)
RI Standards: HP 1-1, 2-1, 3-2, C&G 3-2, 5-1, VA 5, 6
REPRESENTATION OF FAMILY: Mary Cassatts painting The Boating Party (Picturing America 14a) depicts one specific type of family. Cassatt was able to edit and emphasis parts of her painting in order to elevate the woman in the painting. Students talk about family portraits and different kinds of families. Key Questions: Why do artists make family portraits? Why do families sometimes get photograph portraits taken? What are the different types of families, and why might have Cassatt wanted to emphasis the woman in this work?
Lesson Goal: Different cultures and climates call for a variety of apparel designs, in different patterns, shapes, sizes and colors. WHO DO YOU DRESS FOR: Black Hawks ledger book enlightens people of today, to the traditions and apparel of the Lakota people. What parts of the garb tell you about them as a tribe? What things do you wear that could paint a portrait of who you are? Students create a fashion of the times time capsule to reveal information about their culture to future generations. What differences/ similarities are there between your clothing and the clothing of a correspondent in another country? Why? Artists Black Hawk, Sans Arc Lakota: Ledger Book (plate no. 18) 1880-1881 Picturing America 8b Literature Connection: Author(s) and Illustrators: Eleanor Estes, Louis Slobodkin The Hundred Dresses Sheth, 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 the work? The museum? What is ownership in art? WHO DO YOU ARTISTS WORK FOR: Artists and photographers are often http://jssgallery.org/Other_Artists/Romaine_Brooks/Self- commissioned to do portraiture Portrait_1923.htm work. Sometimes the person being portrayed has specific requests as to how they want others to view Literature Connection them. Make a list of the positive Hans Christian Anderson traits that would be included in The Emperors New Clothes your portrait. Key Questions: Would you be portrayed as: Powerful? Studious? Loving? Kind? RI Standards: ELA 1, 3, 4, VA 1, 2, 3, 5 Charismatic? Creative? How do you want others to view you? Is this portrayal different than how you view yourself? Artists Romaine Brooks, Self Portrait
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Lesson Goal: Artists, photographers and designers shape the visual representation of Americas past, present and future. WHAT DOES YOUR AMERICA LOOK LIKE: First, students compare and contrast Kehinde Whileys portraiture work with Duane Hansons work (emphasis on traditions in art, media and scale). Next students dissect the cultural norms and stereotypes prevalent in these pieces with portraits in the Picturing America artist selection. How do artists use their own personal voice in the portrayal of American people? Students illustrate through drawing, collage, and written word, an idealized or ironic version of their America.
Artists Duane Hanson

http://www.saatchigallery.co.uk/artists/duane_hanson.htm
Kehinde Whiley
http://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 with culture, societal norms, and timeframe. GENDER ROLES IN ART: Discuss the representations of women throughout culture using Jacob Lawrences piece (Picturing America 17a) as well as the self-portrait done by Romaine Brooks. What other women have been represented through art? What do these depictions say about womens role in society and cultural norms? Is the artist responsible for conveying stereotypes? Artists Jacob Lawrence Picturing America 17a Romaine Brooks, Self Portrait
http://jssgallery.org/Other_Artists/Romaine_Brooks/SelfPortrait_1923.htm
Literature Connections Welden, Amelie. Girls Who Rocked the World: Heroines from Sacagawea to Sheryl Swoopes Colman, Penny. Rosie the Riveter: Women Working on the Home Front in WWII Raczka, 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
ASOPA http://www.asopa.com/ American Society of Portrait Artists website. National Portrait Gallery http://www.npg.si.edu/ A museum within the Smithsonian Gallery dedicated to portraiture work from various artists. National Museum of Women in the Arts http://www.nmwa.org/ The only museum in the world dedicated exclusively to recognizing the contributions of women artists, located in Washington, D.C. Judy Chicago http://www.judychicago.com Artist website. Included Interviews, works, lectures, etc. Kehinde Whiley http://www.kehindewhiley.com Artist website. Included news, gallery, exhibitions, bio, etc. Shepard Fairey http://www.obeygiant.com Interactive website celebrating Shepard Faireys work. The Warhol Museum http://www.warhol.org Located in Pittsburg Pennsylvania, this museum houses a permanent collective of Warhols 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, as
craftwork often contains cultural history, knowledge and symbol, and suggests identity. American people use materials to make functional objects, which provide an important outlet for understanding Americas rich, culturally diverse past.

1a 5b 8b

Grades 5 - 8
lesson activity) 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 Mapping Natural 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 of people living in specific regions of the United States. Map the U.S. at different historical moments in connection to the time periods of pieces of art. Use descriptive language, both verbal and written, to communicate the process of making 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 verbal language 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 connections to cultural traditions. Research and write about one contemporary American Indian artist. Describe portraits as depictions of people and identify the differences between a selfportrait 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 and cultural 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 represent them? 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 we see visual examples of stereotypes?
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Activities
Lesson Goal: Artists use geometric and organic designs in their work as symbol. Often these symbols reference specific places, events, people, ideas or objects. MAP THE US: In small groups, create maps of the United States based on the time periods of each piece from Picturing America 1a, shown below. For example: what did the United States look like geographically in 1100 when the Anasazi made these vessels? Mark the location of each piece and identify their geographic distinctions. Artists All artists and images from Picturing America 1a Literature Connection: Ortiz, Simon J., The People Shall Continue, Sharol Graves, Illustrator, Childrens Book Press, 1988. Animated atlas video of formation of US from 1789.
http://www.animatedatlas.com/movie.html RI Standards: SSG 1 VA 3
Artists All artists and images from Picturing America 1a Sol LeWitt: http://www.massmoca.org/ Literature Connection: Swentzell, Rina, Children of Clay, A Family of Pueblo Potters. Lerner Publications, 1992.
RI Standards: VA 1,5 ELA 1
GEOMETRIC DESIGNS: Observe and analyze the pottery and basketry in poster 1a, paying close attention to the geometric designs on the forms. The sources of some of these designs are known, while others are unknown. Students create a series of geometric designs, each based on a different set of criteria. For example, they can identify family or village, landscape, an animal they feel close to, or a personally meaningful object. Students draw out each design on graph paper and write down directions to communicate how to recreate the design. A companion piece could also be written about the symbolism and personal 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 passed down orally and visually through generations and sustained by family members and communities collective memory.
CIRCLE UNBROKEN: This book about the history of Gullah weavers can be used to discuss the elements of a story and learn more about a people. Students can identify characters, setting and story line orally and be challenged to remember one event in the story. As the class remembers the story, they can place themselves in a spiral in the order the events took place, and collectively retell the story verbally.
Artists Caesar Johnson, Gullah basket, Picturing America 1a Literature Connection: Raven, Margot Theis. Circle Unbroken: The Story of a Basket 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 1a and 10b John Dahlsen
http://www.johndahlsen.com/
Michelle Pred
http://michelepred.com/
RI Standards: ELA 1,4 VA 1
DESCRIBE YOUR PROCESS: Explore traditional craft artists as well as contemporary artists who make work out of found materials. Students think of something handmade and write down each step of the process as if they were teaching it to another person who had never done it. Students practice using descriptive language to articulate a step-bystep process to their classmates. If possible, students can try to actually recreate the object as they listen to the directions. Artists Caesar Johnson, Gullah basket from Picturing America 1a Mary Jane Bennet, Digital Traditions Interview
www.digitaltraditions.net/
COMMUNITY INTERVIEW: Read an interview with a Gullah weaver and watch a short video about Gullah basket weavers. Students identify a craft or tradition such as sewing, cooking, farming, writing, storytelling, or pottery that they see in their family or community, and interview an individual about it. The interviews can be presented orally, and accompanied by visual images, photographs or drawings.
Binyah Films, documentary film about Gullah weavers

http://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. Some Americans and Europeans have represented American Indian people in ways that do not always reflect their identities accurately. Art can be used as a way of reclaiming and defining ones identity. ARTIST PROFILE: Explore contemporary American Indian artists. What American Indian Nation(s) do they belong to and how do they draw upon their cultural traditions to enrich their artwork? Write a profile of an artist that would accompany a gallery show of their work. Sherman Alexies book can be used to further discuss contemporary American Indian identity from a young persons perspective. Artists Juane 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, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. NY: Little Brown, 2007.
RI Standards: ELA 1,2,3 VA 3
IDENTITY AND PRESENTATION: Students compare the depiction of an American Indian man from two artists work: Cover Illustration for Last of the Mohicans, by N.C. Wyeth, Picturing America 5b, and Fritz Scholders, Indian in The Snow. Describe and analyze the two images and talk about self-portrait vs. portrait by another. Discuss who made each work of art. Students write two different descriptions of themselves, one is autobiographical and the other is in the voice of someone who does not know them well. Create a self-portrait book cover for their writing.
Artists N.C. Wyeth, Art for The Last of the Mohicans, Picturing America 5b Fritz Scholder, Indian in the Snow
http://www.scholder.com/
Literature Connection: Allen, Paula Gunn. As Long As the Rivers Flow: The Stories of Nine Native Americans. Scholastic Trade, 2001.
RI Standards: ELA 1,2,4,7 VA 1,3,5
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Artist Nora Naranjo-Morse

http://www.nativewiki.org/Nora_Naranjo-Morse
Provides links to her poetry, books, film and visual art. Literature connection: Naranjo-Morse, Nora, Theres Nothing Like and Idea, from her book, Mud Woman: Poems from the Clay. University of Arizona Press, 1992.
RI Standards: ELA 1,2,3,4,7 VA 1,3
POETRY AND ART: Nora Naranjo-Morse is a contemporary American Indian artist and poet from Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico. Students view her small clay sculptures and read her poem, Theres Nothing Like an Idea. They then write their own poems about an idea they feel connected to, focusing on the language she uses in connection to one act: making pottery and clay sculpture. Students can create small figure sculptures to accompany their poems.
Lesson goal: The way that art is valued depends on the time period, the audience, popular trends and power structures. How do we understand and place value on things monetarily and personally?
THE VALUE OF ART, AN ECONOMIC EXERCISE: Black Hawk earned fifty cents for each image of his people that he drew in 18801881. His book of drawings was auctioned off for $400,000 in 1994. Discuss the image, Picturing America 8b, using some of the questions outlined in the Teacher Resource Guide. Students each bring in a piece of art, personal item or piece of memorabilia from home and have a mock auction in class. Discuss how and why some things have high monetary value and some things have high personal value.
Artist Black Hawk, Sans Arc Lakota, Ledger Book Picturing America, 8b Literature Connection: Erdrich, Louise, The Birchbark House and The Game of Silence.
RI Standards: SSE 1,2 VA 3
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American Indians In Childrens Literature http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/ Oyate http://www.oyate.org/ A resource for American Indian Childrens Literature and History, including lists of books by age, media and topic as well as order forms and links to news, books to avoid, and other media. Slavery in America http://www.slaveryinamerica.org/amliterature/amlit_booklist.htm List of literature on slavery to be used at various levels of elementary and secondary education. Museum of Natural History and Planetarium http://www.providenceri.com/museum/ The Gullah: Race, Slavery and the Sierra Leone-American Connection http://www.yale.edu/glc/gullah/index.htm Sierra Leone Gullah Heritage Association http://slgha.org/ Rhode Island Black Storytellers http://www.ribsfest.com/ Rhode Island Black Heritage Society http://www.providenceri.com/RI_BlackHeritage/ State of Rhode Island, Office of the Secretary of State http://www.sec.state.ri.us/library/riinfo/riinfo/knowrhode Includes a plethora of information about RI history and facts. Gullah Net- Explore Gullah Culture in South Carolina http://www.knowitall.org/Gullahnet/ Including on line activities and resources, lesson plan ideas, and links designed to help incorporate Gullah culture and language into the K- 8 classroom. Animated Atlas http://www.animatedatlas.com/movie.html Includes a video of the formation of US from 1789.
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Tomaquag Museum http://www.tomaquagmuseum.com/index.cfm Rhode Islands only American Indian Museum. American Indian Artist Inc. http://amerinda.org/main.html Rhode Island School of Designs Museum for teachers http://www.risdmuseum.org/education.aspx?id=15216 Book a tour, a workshop for students or just a teacher. This program supports Rhode Island state standards for historical perspectives, social studies, English language arts, and visual arts. Digital Traditions: A Public Access Initiative for Folklife and Material Culture www.digitaltraditions.net Rice Coast Films http://www.ricecoastfilms.org/ A documentary film organization telling the story of Precillas homecoming, a seventh generation descendent of an enslaved girl from Sierra Leone goes there to visit. She was sold to a slave owner in Newport, RI. Images of Indians (Lucas & Hagoplan, 1979) The five 30-minute videos detail the history of movie stereotypes of American Indians, and provide provocative visuals for discussion. These fantasy images can be contrasted with the real presence of contemporary 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 the past and pay tribute to our histories.

10a 19b 20b

Grades 9-12
lesson activity) 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 of commemoration. 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 this country. Read and interpret texts about community organizing during this civil rights movement. Identify local civil war monuments, and discover their stories and uses today. Recognize symbols used in the work of Martin Puryear and David Hammons and choose 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 America image 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 using Kara Walkers Installation piece as a visual reference.
Critical Questions
What is the primary purpose of a public monument or sculpture dedicated to one figure or 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 civil rights 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 in history. WHAT MAKES A MEMORIAL? Brainstorm with the class about what identifies a memorial. Students map out the memorials in their environment, whether traditional or more http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willa_Shalit contemporary, and present these Adelaide Paul, ceramic artist maps to the class. Use an example of http://www.theclaystudio.org/exhibitions/past/paul.php an elegy as a connection to how http://www.inliquid.com/features/adelaidepaul/30days.shtml people memorialize in writing. Key Jana Napoli, installation artist commemorating questions: Is a memorial always a victims of Hurricane Katrina, www.floodwall.org statue? What forms can memorials take? What does a memorial do? Literature Connections What do modern and historical Robert Lowell, For the Union Dead memorials have in common? How http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15280 does an elegy memorialize a person? W.H. Auden, In Memory of W.B. Yeats What elements of an elegy also exist http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15544 in a physical memorial? Artists Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment Memorial, 1884-1897 Picturing America 10a Willa Shalit, sculptor, Life Cast: Behind the Mask
RI Standards: VA 1,3,5 ELA 1,2,3,7
MEMORIAL COMPARISON: Compare and contrast these two well-known war memorials. Work in pairs or small groups to answer the following questions and present your thoughts to the class. Key questions: Where are they located? Describe them visually. What is their primary function? What do people see when they look at them closely? How do people interact with them? What historical event does each reference?
Artists Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment Memorial, 1884-1897, Picturing America 10a Maya Lin, Vietnam Memorial and Civil Rights Memorial
RI Standards: VA 3, ELA 1
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Artists Launt Thompson, Burnside Memorial, 1887 Henri Schoenhard, Scott Monument, erected in memory of Maj. Henry H. Young, 1911 Randolph Rogers, Soldiers and Sailors Monument, 1866-71 Literature Connection Paulsen, Gary, The Monument
RI Standards: VA 2,3 ELA 1,2,3,8 HP 1-1,2-1
Local Civil War Memorials: Three memorials in Burnside Park and Kennedy Plaza, Providence, RI, commemorate two Civil War heroes and soldiers. Compare these memorials to the RGS and 54th Regiment Memorial using key questions from the previous Memorial Comparison Activity. If possible, have students observe the actual memorials (or others in the area) and document the publics interaction with them. Photograph or videotape the public interaction. Students read documents on each person and write a short informational plaque that would accompany the statues, including information they think people would be interested in. The purpose of the written information would be to get passers by and young people interested in learning more about the statues and the historical figures.
COMMEMORATION: It is common in America to see largescale bronze and stone sculptures in public places depicting soldiers or other historical figures. Artists and community members around the world use many other means of visual expression to commemorate, celebrate and memorialize. Explore these traditions and compare and contrast them. Students identify an historical moment or person to celebrate and create a commemorative sculpture/event using meaningful elements from the cultural examples. Key questions: How are people and events commemorated differently? What do people commemorate? What elements of commemorative 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-1 HP 3-2 C&G 5-1, 5-2
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Lesson Goal: Artists often memorialize a struggle through documentation of events and people. What do people fight for and what compels us? WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING FOR?: Use the Langston Hughes poem, Mother to Son, and the James Karales photo, March to Selma, to illustrate the power of people struggling and fighting for something. This can connect to any other contemporary civil rights struggle such as marriage equality, education equality, immigrant rights, and workers rights. Students can be prompted to identify civil rights and explore how our government protects them. Key questions: What are civil rights? To whom do they apply? How have people been legally protected by civil rights laws? When in the history of America have people had to fight for their civil rights? Does every American have the same civil rights? Artists James Karales, Selma to Montgomery March for Voting Rights, 1965 Picturing America 19b Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, 1936 Picturing America 18b Nan Goldin, Gilles Dusein and Gotscho, 1992-1993
http://sexualityinart.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/nangoldin
Literature connections Hughes, Langston, Mother to Son Levine, 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 ELA 1,2,7
CIVIL WAR TO CIVIL RIGHTS: Although the Civil War ended legalized slavery in 1865 with the 13th amendment, it wouldnt be until 1870 that the 15th amendment gave formerly enslaved people the right to vote, and until 1965 with the Voting Rights Act that African Americans could fully participate in the democratic process. The struggle and determination of many Americans made these important events a reality. Use web and library resources to search for photos and articles about an African American Civil Rights Activist (i.e.: Ella Baker, Martin Luther King Jr., Bayard Rustin, W.E.B Dubois) and create an educational display about the individual including their major accomplishments, admirable qualities they possess, and photos of them in action. Place the panel in a public space at the school for others to view.
Artists Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment Memorial, 1884-1897 Picturing America 10a James Karales, Selma to Montgomery March for Voting Rights, 1965 Picturing America 19b Literature connection Still I Rise: A Graphic History of African-Americans, by Roland Laird with Taneshia Nash Laird. Illustrated by Elihu Adofo Bay.
RI Standards: ELA 1,2,6,8 C&G 1-2,32,4-3 HP 1-1,2-2
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SYMBOLISM: Use in-class discussion or small group work to analyze and investigate the works of Martin Puryear and David Hammons. Key questions: What do you see? What does it mean? How do you relate to it personally? How do the titles of the works indicate meaning? What do the objects represent? What ideas of Washingtons do you think Puryear is critiquing? Literature connections These two artists both use symbol and metaphor to Washington, Booker T., Up From communicate ideas about reaching for something, Slavery: And Autobiography attaining something or being held away from something. Students identify life goals or hopes. Dubois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk Write a list of objects or ideas that could symbolize Hughes, Langston, your hopes and dreams that feel out of reach. Create a title for a piece of art and/or autobiography about their RI Standards: VA 2,3 ELA 1,4,7 HP 2-1 goals. Students design a book cover incorporating their title and based on these themes. Artists Martin Puryear, Ladder for Booker T. Washington,1996 Picturing America 20b David Hammons, High Falutin and Higher Goals
Lesson Goal: Although public displays frequently focus on single, prominent individuals, artists and authors also commemorate other, lesser known, and unrecognized people and struggles. How do we recognize ordinary people who do extraordinary things? Ordinary Heroes: War Memorials and many other statues commemorate our nations heroes. Look at the artwork of Do-Ho Suh and speculate what his work is about. Key questions: Whom do his figures represent? Why are they small? Why are there so many of them? We each have individual heroes. Who are your heroes today? Write a speech to commemorate someone important to you and deliver it to your class or community. Describe their qualities and the honorable things they do. Artist Do-Ho Suh, Public Figures and Some/One
http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/suh/
Literature Connection Mejia, Camilo, Road from Ar Ramadi: the private rebellion of staff sergeant Camilo Meja: 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 connections Ellison, 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 my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed of myself for having at one time been ashamed. Ralph Ellison, 1952 Read this quote by Ralph Ellison to the class and ask students to write personal reactions in a journal. Read Ralph Ellisons Biography and use the guide listed below for discussion. Key questions: Whom can you identify who might be invisible today? In 100 years, what do you think people will say about our society today in terms of civil rights and equality?
Lesson Goal: Recognition of the past happens in a variety of ways. Artists and writers invite discussion about people and history by naming, reclaiming, and rewriting that history. Whats in a Name?: Rhode Island, like many States, has a unique and complicated history around slavery. Rhode Island was the most active Northern colony in importing enslaved people, and this legacy contributed greatly to the foundation of Brown University amongst other local institutions and families. There is a debate happening presently (2009) on Capitol Hill about changing the official name of Rhode Island from The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, to The State of Rhode Island. Discover the political process and organizing efforts that are involved with this effort. Examine the current debate and hold an in-class debate over the issue.
Current News
http://current.com/topics/86776881_rhode-island/
Rhode Island Secretary of State

http://www.sec.state.ri.us/library/riinfo/riinfo/knowrh ode
Includes historical information from the state about its naming.
RI Standards: C&G 2-1,4-1 HP 2-1,2-2 ELA 1,2
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Artist Kara Walker, Slavery! Slavery Slavery! Slavery! presenting a GRAND and LIFELIKE Panoramic Journey into Picturesque Southern Slavery or "Life at 'Ol' Virginny's Hole' (sketches from Plantation Life)" See the Peculiar Institutions as never before! All cut from black paper by the able hand of Kara Elizabeth Walker, an Emancipated Negress and leader in her Cause, 1997
RI Standards: VA 2,3 ELA 1,4 C&G 3-1,3-2 HP 1-2,2-2
Slavery! Slavery!: Kara Walker is a contemporary artist who visually retells history with humor, wit, and cutting criticism. Use Walkers title and visual reference to help students understand slavery in a different way. After learning about enslaved people and the laws that held people in slavery, students retell this history through her installation. Students describe the scenes depicted in the piece and find multiple points of view from which to tell the story. Students can also imagine the scenes before and after this particular scene in the historical narrative.
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PBS: Art21 http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/lin/index.html Maya Lin Bio, images, video clips and essays about her work. PBS http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/visualarts/thewall.html This site includes additional information about Maya Lin and the Vietnam Memorial. Rhode Island Monthly http://www.quahog.org/factsfolklore/index.php?id=65 The Story of Colonel Henry Young, a spy from Pawtucket. PBS: Art21 http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/suh/index.html# Do-Ho Suh Bio, images, video clips and essays. The Academy of American Poets www.poets.org/lhugh Rhode Island Black Storytellers http://www.ribsfest.com/ Rhode Island Black Heritage Society http://www.providenceri.com/RI_BlackHeritage/ NAACP http://www.naacp.org/about/history/dubois/ Contains a lengthy bio of W.E.B. Dubois. Slavery in the North http://www.slavenorth.com/rhodeisland.htm A broad historical account of slavery and emancipation in RI. Yahoo News http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090626/ap_on_re_us/us_providence_plantations Associated Press article about the debate over changing Rhode Islands name. Random House, Inc. http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780679732761&view=rg A readers guide for Ralph Ellisons Biography including discussion questions.
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WRNI, Rhode Islands NPR Station http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95465836 An audio file of a panel discussion on the importance of discussing slavery today, the slave trades connections to Rhode Island and Brown University. Museum of Contemporary Art, Contemporary Art Start http://www.moca.org/cas/?id=23 Contains links to more information about David Hammons. Rhode Island Office of the Secretary of State http://www.sec.state.ri.us/library/riinfo/riinfo/knowrhode Includes a plethora of information about RI history and facts. Marriage Equality Rhode Island http://www.marriageequalityri.org/
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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

p. 3 pp. 4-5 pp. 6-12 pp. 13-20 pp. 21-30

Art Criticism A Guide for Educators

Sources The Getty Center, www.getty.edu Terry Barrett, http://www.terrybarrettosu.com

Unit Title: Artists Under Rule

Picturing America Visual References

Suggested Grade Levels

Objectives: as a result of Instruction, students will:

Artists Duane Hanson

Unit Title: American Craft: American People

Picturing America Visual References

Suggested Grade Levels

Objectives: as a result of Instruction, students will:

RI Standards: ELA 1,4 VA 1

Binyah Films, documentary film about Gullah weavers

Duane Slick (Various Paintings)

Nora Naranjo- Morse (Mud Woman With Pot)

Fritz Scholder (Various Paintings)

Virgil Ortiz (Pottery)

Artist Nora Naranjo-Morse

Unit Title: Honoring People and Events

Picturing America Visual References

Suggested Grade Levels

Objectives: as a result of instruction, students will:

Cormier, Robert, Heroes

Rhode Island Secretary of State

Includes historical information from the state about its naming.

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

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