Phillips Collection
1600 21st Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20009
(202) 387-2151
Instructional Unit:
Jacob Lawrence - The Migration Series
Curriculum Unit:
Advanced Placement
Art
Objectives:
1.Students will identify the elements of art and factors of organization the artist has demonstrated in the body of works.
2.Students will identify the visual images the artists has used that convey the cyclic nature of the work and the symbols that represent the struggles, despair, hopes and dreams of a people in search of a new and better way of life.
3.Students will be exposed to the life and work of Jacob Lawrence and introduced to other African American artists of the Harlem Renaissance and the role they played in recording the emotional and spiritual feelings of an historical period.
Pre-Visit Activities:
Students will be given a copy of the educational material the Phillips Collection provides regarding the exhibit and will be required to read it. There will be a classroom discussion of it and of the elements of art and factors of organization the artist has used. We will brainstorm ways to look for and identify the above in the body of works.
On-Site Activities:
The exhibit is divided into two components: the first half is devoted to depictions of the South; the second half describes the life the migrants found when they reached the North. Five questions for both sections of the exhibit appear on the student worksheet.
Follow-Up Activities:
There will be a classroom discussion of the exhibit the following day in class and planning for a poster that the class will generate for African American History Week that will be happening at school. They will be asked to write a short paper on the topic of the importance of the artist in recording the emotional history of an era. Evaluation of the learning experience will be based on the nature of the student's sharing about the trip, the written work and the quality of their poster designs.
Appendices:
African American Art: Jacob Lawrence - The Migration Series
Bibliography:
None
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