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Plan #:001
Title/Lesson/Theme: To understand the role of the individual artist in African society. How does she or he work, what does she make, what materials does he use, to whom does she sell her work, how was he trained.
Designed by: Christopher Roy
Grade level/Discipline: High School/Art and Social Studies
Estimated Time: three class sessions
Objectives (what will be assessed?): The effectiveness of students' understanding and presentation of the techniques used by African artists to create their work. An understanding of why artists make art and to whom they sell it. An understanding that African artists are highly trained and skilled.
Description/Background: To study all of the material the program has to offer on one segment of African society—the individual African artist, and to arrange the material to demonstrate that both men and women are artists, and that they are highly skilled and trained.
Step by Step Procedure:
Begin with section of "Art of Everyday Endeavor" on the artist. Under the "tools" menu use " index and slide show. Under type select "artist". First search list for "text" then for "field photo". This will make the task of sorting the materials into text and images easier. Divide the images and text by medium or technique, that is, have a section on wood carving, another on metal working, and a third on pottery. Alternatively have a section on women’s art, another on men’s art.
Assignment in CD (essays, chapters): Essays by Ray Silverman (casting), Rachel Hoffman (weaving and dyeing), Patrick McNaughton (carving and forging), Lisa Aronson (weaving), Barbara Frank (pottery), Fred Smith (architecture).
Studio Materials Needed:
none
Vocabulary:
Craft, blacksmith, bellows, creativity, useful art, identity, status, prerogative, regalia, cowrie, warp, weft, temper, textile, loom, kiln, lost-wax.
Evaluation/Assessment tool (how will objectives be assessed?:
Ask students to select a work of art from the program and talk about the techniques that were used to make it. Was the artists male or female? Where was the artists studio? Who did the artist sell to? How was the artist trained. You must guide the students into selecting objects whose creation is discussed in the program, that is, textiles such as pelete bite (Aronson) and pottery (Frank), or cloth dyeing (Hoffman).
Bibliography/Alternative resources (Web sites?):
Search in the bibliography database for the last name of the authors who wrote essays on carving, casting, pottery, or textiles. Also, look up bibliography under "Arts of Everyday Endeavor" (111 sources). For Web sites, look up Chris Roy’s site on Africa pottery forming and firing, though University of Iowa International Programs. Although you cannot search for bibliography by subject such as pottery, you can search for bibliography associated with field essays, so if you search on Barbara Frank you will find 81 entries on the art of the Bamana people and on pottery.