Art Making Lesson Plans
Each of the following activities draws from different aspects of the exhibition, We Make the Road by Walking, as a source of inspiration.
Creating Icons
Objective- understanding the role of icons and personal iconography in visual art.
Have students work on creating their own iconography and developing an icon.
By looking at examples of usage in the dictionary and discussing as a class, come up with a class definition of the word ‘icon’. Students can then develop an icon that is personal and can be incorporated into their artwork. These individual icons can then be assembled as a collective piece of art.
Questions to ask:
What is an icon? (come up with a class definition)
How are icons different from symbols?
Make a list of ways to describe your character.
Make a list of the things that are most important to your life.
Make a list of the important elements of your home.
Make a list of ways to describe your culture/and or community.
For each list make corresponding pictures. Use these lists of pictures to create a final icon.
History of Location
Objective- Students learn to utilize the five characteristics of geography in order to describe geographical locations that are vital to their family history, and then work out ways to represent this information in an indirect, visual manner.
Sama Alshaibi and Beth Krensky explore their family history as it is tied to different geographical locations, and as it changes over time. Discuss with your class how they use this topic-how they include land and geography as content in their artwork.
Each student should first work independently and write a summary of what places are important to their family, and why.
Discuss the five themes of geography-
Location- Actual and relative location in the world, latitude and longitude and what other geographical features it borders
Place- Physical and human characteristics
Human/Environment interactions- How the people there provide for themselves in the environment, shelter themselves and feed themselves
Movement- Migration of people, products and ideas in and out of the community
Regions- Unifying characteristics- language, government, geographical, economic, or recreational
Then have students make a list of ways they could represent this importance of geography in the artwork. They should consider the tools that we use to understand and locate places, such as: directional signs, maps, topography diagrams, and other tools.
Documenting Homeland
Objective- To understand the importance of homeland and disputed land to historical and contemporary communities, and for students to identify their own connections to this concept.
Questions to ask:
What is a homeland?
How is this different than where someone happens to live?
Is your family or culture connected to a concept of homeland?
If not what, why do you think this is?
What things might happen to you or your family to create a strong tie to land or specific location?
Can you live anywhere you want in the United States? In the world?
Have you or your family crossed borders before?
Are there any borders that you would have difficulty crossing?
How do you think where you live, and where your family has lived shape you as a person?
Work on ways to represent the concept of homeland, either as a general concept, or a personal representation. Think of the role of photography, family history, maps and atlases.
Have students create a poster, divided in half, one side representing a place, and one side representing the same place as homeland.
Collaborative Spaces and Visual Conversations
Objective- For students to think of their artwork as operating in a larger conversational space and to experiment with developing a visual conversation with their classmates.
There are many different approaches to collaboration-
Have your class work together to collaborate on an exhibit by working as a group to determine the theme of the exhibit. Everyone in the class must be in agreement on the theme.
Another way to collaborate is on a group piece, presented as a single art object that everyone worked on, such as a collection of photographs, a mural, or a group sculpture.
Divide the class in half and assign making the artwork to half, and writing the accompanying text to the other half. Experiment with which group works first and provides their information to the other half.
Have students bring in short stories or current event newspaper articles and swap them. Then have each student create a visual representation of that article.
Have students write short stories and have their classmates illustrate them.
Choose a contemporary account of cultural conflict. Work as a class to investigate it and create an artwork that teaches about it or that envisions what could exist if the conflict was solved.
Have students create an artwork and then swap those pieces and let their classmates complete them.
Have students make artworks that represent a specific perspective in a cultural conflict, have other students represent the other half. Then have the teams work together to integrate their artworks into one piece.
Make sure that the class articulates what the collaboration looks like and how it is functioning throughout the project.
Mask Making Symbol Portraits (4th-6th Grade)
Life Skills:
Understanding Self
Appreciating Diversity
Summary:
Students will create plaster masks that incorporate symbols to represent ideas and multiple meanings about themselves. Students will also be shown masks from different cultures as a way to understand how masks are and have been used in various cultures in order to appreciate similarities and differences among and between individuals and cultures.
Career Connections:
Artist
Anthropologist
Time Frame: 3 50-minute class periods
Group Size: Maximum of 30 studentsMaterials:
Teaching About Masks
Various masks or books, prints or slides of various masks
Making Masks
Plastercraft plaster bandage
Scissors
Warm water and water containers (1 bowl or container for 2 students to share)
Petroleum jelly
Paper towels
Table and floor coverings (optional)
Plastic mask forms, clay or newspaper and tape (to make a form, if necessary)
smocks
Decorating Masks
Tempera or acrylic paints
Paintbrushes
Water containers
Palettes
Craft glue
Raffia
Feathers and other materials to decorate masks
Background for Teachers:
It is helpful for teachers to have a basic understanding of the various roles masks play in cultures throughout the world.
Student Prior Knowledge:
None.
Intended Learning Outcomes:
Students will 1) become aware of how symbols are used in art and cultural artifacts to represent ideas and multiple meanings; 2) explore how masks are and have been used in various cultures; 3) appreciate similarities and differences among and between individuals and cultures; 4) create a plaster mask that incorporates autobiographical symbols to communicate original meaning; 5) describe what is seen in a work of art; 6) choose subject matter, symbols and ideas that support the main idea of the work; 7) interpret the content of what is seen in a work of art; 8) utilize subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate meaning in their artwork; and 9) analyze the ideas, meanings, and the mood reflected in the artwork.
Instructional Procedures:
In small groups, show students examples of masks from various cultures and have students work together to describe the mask, guess where the mask is from and what the purpose of the mask is/was. Have the students consider questions such as: What does the mask symbolize and why?; What materials is the mask made out of?; Why were these specific materials used?; Which part of the world is this mask from?; What is/was this mask used for?
As a whole group, have each group share their findings and provide information about each of the masks. Discuss what masks are used for in different cultures. What are the ways that masks are used in similar or different ways? You may ask the following questions (from the National Endowment for the Humanities Edsitement.net “What Masks Reveal” lesson plan) to help students figure out the cultural significance of a mask:
What region is the mask from?
What society or community made this mask?
When is the mask worn?
Who wears it?
What is its social function?
What does it represent to those who use it?
Show some examples of contemporary plaster masks to introduce this lesson on symbolic masks. Ask students to think about symbols of things that are important to them or that describe their lives. Have a few students share ideas. Have the students sketch ideas for a symbol mask, considering the form of the mask as well as the surface treatment.
Have the students get into pairs and cut plaster gauze into strips approximately 1” x 4” long. Once the plaster gauze is cut, students can get a container of warm water. The plaster gauze must be moved out of the way of dripping water. If water drips on the plaster, it will harden before it is used as part of the mask.
Have one student from the pair apply a generous amount of petroleum jelly to her/his face. Use extra petroleum jelly around the hairline and eyebrows. Please make sure that long hair is pulled back. This person should lean back in a chair and wear a smock or put paper towel around his/her neck. (Please note that for students who do not want to make a cast of their own face for various reasons, plastic mask forms or newspaper and masking tape can be used instead.)
The other student in the pair should dip strips of the plaster gauze in water and gently apply them on the face of the other student. There should be 2-3 overlapping layers of plaster gauze. Either the mouth or end of nose should be left free of plaster gauze so that the student can breathe. It is important for the person having the mask made to be very still. Talking or laughing will prevent the mask from hardening correctly. It will take approximately 15 minutes for the plaster gauze to dry.
Once dry, the mask should be gently removed and the person should wash her/his face. The process should be repeated with the other student. The mask can be set upon wadded up newspaper to dry for 24 hours.
After the plaster mask is dry, students can add ears, snouts, horns, etc. by using toilet paper rolls, wadded up pieces of paper, sticks, etc. by using more plaster gauze, staples or hot glue. The masks can then be decorated using acrylic or tempera paint, raffia, feathers, elements from the natural world, magazine or newspaper images or print, etc. If creating a collage on the mask, you can use acrylic gel medium to attach the paper as well as to seal it in.
Assessment
Have students answer the following questions:
Write a short description of your mask with a symbol key.
Explain why you chose the symbols you did and what the symbols represent.
What does this mask mean to you?
What does this mask make you think about?
What mood does this mask create?
What is something you learned about yourself from making this mask?
What is something you learned about others from making masks?
Extensions:
Students can research the cultural significance of masks in various cultures. Students can be assigned a specific region of the world to research the different roles and functions that masks play.
Bibliography:
Adventures in Art (1997). Can You Spot the Leopard?: African Masks. Munich/New York: Prestel.
Doney, M. (2002). Masks Around the World. Franklin Watts.
Finley, C. (1999). The Arts of African Masks: Exploring Cultural Traditions. Lerner Publishing Group.
Lechuga, R. and Sayer, C. (1995). Mask Arts of Mexico. Chronicle Books.
Mack, J. (1994). Masks and the Art of Expression. Harry N. Abrams.
Mauldin, B. (1999). Masks of Mexico: Tigers, Devils, and the Dance of Life. New Mexico: Museum of New Mexico Press.
Sivin, C. (1986). Maskmaking. Massachusetts: Davis Publications.
Slattum, J. and Schraub, P. (2003). Balinese Masks: Spirits of an Ancient Drama. Periplus Editions.
Author:
Beth Krensky, Ph.D.