unit 3: stories popplet
Artists: Thomas Hart Benton & Diego River Studio
Group Murals: Drawing and/or collage
Background:
Artist Statement:
Artist Statement:
Artist: Faith Ringgold Studio
Story Quilts: Watercolor
Background:
Artist Statement:
Artist Statement:
Artist: Jean Shin Studio
Mini Sculptures from Found Objects
Background:
Artist Statement:
Artist Statement:
Unit 3: Stories Reflection
How did the studio lessons relate to the given Big Idea?
Thomas Hart Benton and Diego Rivera are two artists that both represented cultures and places through their murals but were also highly politically active. Both of these men created huge murals that told the stories of the people depicted in them. Their daily lives, struggles, sorrows, joys, lifestyles, etc. These men made art that told the story of the community around it. The art spoke the story of these peoples lives. According to Pink (2006) "Stories exist where high concept and high touch intersect. Story is high concept because it sharpens our understanding of one thing by showing it in the context of something else." For our artwork, we had to choose an issue that was important to us. Since we are teaching majors, most people chose to do their piece over an issue within the school system. Our artwork told the story of the issue that we chose from our perspective. Our cartoons each embody our opinions on the issue, whether intentional or not. Just like Thomas Hart Benton's and Diego Rivera's artwork, our own artwork incorporated stories into every brushstroke and decision.
The Faith Ringgold studio incorporated stories and art by having the artists create story quilts. Faith uses quilts to embody issues relating to history, visual arts, and literacy. Faith has also written books that aide in her storytelling. She tells the story of a time, place, or person by uniquely integrating her sewing skills and her fine arts skills. For this studio artists were challenged to think of a moment in time, that would tell a story of our life. A moment, big or small, that we could visually tell a story through. The images chosen ranged from favorite childhood memories of movies and books, to family pets, to personal moments that stood out in our life. All of these moments were depicted to tell a story, a story of a piece of our life.
The Jean Shin studio challenged us as artists to see the stories that we tell from a different perspective. Jean Shin's art tells the stories of our society. Her art really focuses on items that are seen as disposable to society at large. It is often an item that you use for a short time and then discard, often mass produced and seen as invaluable to most people. In NPR (2009) Shin states "As artists, we're thinking about these ideas that are meaningful to us and (we) hope that other viewers can also translate the viewing experience into a thinking process. For me, my meaning is (not just) looking, but feeling and thinking." In this studio we collected items that are discarded, things that we throw away often and do not think twice about them. We then created artwork from these items. Each artists piece was different and they all became about different things. Some issues within our society, some good things. Stories on issues like recycling, the standard of beauty, and our educational system were told through our artwork.
How might you utilize visual art integration utilizing the studio lessons in your own classroom?
The Thomas Hart Benton and Diego Rivera studio would be a great way to study political activism within the classroom. Both men incorporated many political messages in their artwork. Students could create classroom or even school murals. These murals could portray the community of the school. Its life, activities, diversity, and members. Students could also create political cartoons or comic strips. Your class could do a unit on political campaigns, different times in history, or issues in society that students feel very strongly about!
The Faith Ringgold studio could be used to discuss stories told through families. Quilts are often not made by hand anymore, and many old quilts are passed down through families. You could do a unit on ancestry and family origin. Also, quilts were used during the revolutionary war to tell slaves the way to freedom. Different symbols on a quilt gave directions and told the slaves the story to freedom. This would be an excellent unit to do also. Making story quilts would also work well paired with many literacy topics.
The Jean Shin studio would be great to use to talk about our consumerism society or recycling. Jean Shin uses many things that are often discarded in our society without a second thought. With upper grade levels this studio could be used to talk about consumerism, economics, supply and demand, etc. This studio would be excellent paired up with a recycling campaign. A unit over "Going Green" by reducing, reusing, and recycling would work excellent with the concept of this studio. Students could come up it their own campaigns about what they want to recycle. The could also use this studio to discuss issues in society that bother them or that need addressed and talked about. Depending on what items you brought in, the sky is the limit with this studio.
Resources:
Pink, D. H. (2006). A whole new mind: Why right-brainers will rule the future. New York, NY: Penguin.
Stamberg, S. (2009, April 30). Jean Shin, Turning Trash Into Artistic Treasure. NPR. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103674782
Thomas Hart Benton and Diego Rivera are two artists that both represented cultures and places through their murals but were also highly politically active. Both of these men created huge murals that told the stories of the people depicted in them. Their daily lives, struggles, sorrows, joys, lifestyles, etc. These men made art that told the story of the community around it. The art spoke the story of these peoples lives. According to Pink (2006) "Stories exist where high concept and high touch intersect. Story is high concept because it sharpens our understanding of one thing by showing it in the context of something else." For our artwork, we had to choose an issue that was important to us. Since we are teaching majors, most people chose to do their piece over an issue within the school system. Our artwork told the story of the issue that we chose from our perspective. Our cartoons each embody our opinions on the issue, whether intentional or not. Just like Thomas Hart Benton's and Diego Rivera's artwork, our own artwork incorporated stories into every brushstroke and decision.
The Faith Ringgold studio incorporated stories and art by having the artists create story quilts. Faith uses quilts to embody issues relating to history, visual arts, and literacy. Faith has also written books that aide in her storytelling. She tells the story of a time, place, or person by uniquely integrating her sewing skills and her fine arts skills. For this studio artists were challenged to think of a moment in time, that would tell a story of our life. A moment, big or small, that we could visually tell a story through. The images chosen ranged from favorite childhood memories of movies and books, to family pets, to personal moments that stood out in our life. All of these moments were depicted to tell a story, a story of a piece of our life.
The Jean Shin studio challenged us as artists to see the stories that we tell from a different perspective. Jean Shin's art tells the stories of our society. Her art really focuses on items that are seen as disposable to society at large. It is often an item that you use for a short time and then discard, often mass produced and seen as invaluable to most people. In NPR (2009) Shin states "As artists, we're thinking about these ideas that are meaningful to us and (we) hope that other viewers can also translate the viewing experience into a thinking process. For me, my meaning is (not just) looking, but feeling and thinking." In this studio we collected items that are discarded, things that we throw away often and do not think twice about them. We then created artwork from these items. Each artists piece was different and they all became about different things. Some issues within our society, some good things. Stories on issues like recycling, the standard of beauty, and our educational system were told through our artwork.
How might you utilize visual art integration utilizing the studio lessons in your own classroom?
The Thomas Hart Benton and Diego Rivera studio would be a great way to study political activism within the classroom. Both men incorporated many political messages in their artwork. Students could create classroom or even school murals. These murals could portray the community of the school. Its life, activities, diversity, and members. Students could also create political cartoons or comic strips. Your class could do a unit on political campaigns, different times in history, or issues in society that students feel very strongly about!
The Faith Ringgold studio could be used to discuss stories told through families. Quilts are often not made by hand anymore, and many old quilts are passed down through families. You could do a unit on ancestry and family origin. Also, quilts were used during the revolutionary war to tell slaves the way to freedom. Different symbols on a quilt gave directions and told the slaves the story to freedom. This would be an excellent unit to do also. Making story quilts would also work well paired with many literacy topics.
The Jean Shin studio would be great to use to talk about our consumerism society or recycling. Jean Shin uses many things that are often discarded in our society without a second thought. With upper grade levels this studio could be used to talk about consumerism, economics, supply and demand, etc. This studio would be excellent paired up with a recycling campaign. A unit over "Going Green" by reducing, reusing, and recycling would work excellent with the concept of this studio. Students could come up it their own campaigns about what they want to recycle. The could also use this studio to discuss issues in society that bother them or that need addressed and talked about. Depending on what items you brought in, the sky is the limit with this studio.
Resources:
Pink, D. H. (2006). A whole new mind: Why right-brainers will rule the future. New York, NY: Penguin.
Stamberg, S. (2009, April 30). Jean Shin, Turning Trash Into Artistic Treasure. NPR. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103674782