As an art teacher in the New Haven Public Schools teaching at James Hillhouse High School, whose student population is approximately 93% African American, and 7% other cultures, I have noticed the lack of African American artists in my daily teaching curriculum. I have tried in the past to incorporate little information about these artists in my daily teaching routine but nothing that goes into depth. Along with being not familiar with African American artists, most of the students that I teach have no knowledge about the impact the Harlem Renaissance had on the arts in the form of writing, visual arts, and music.
Therefore, the purpose of this unit will be threefold. First, this unit is designed to introduce students who are in high school Advance Placement Studio Art courses to the art and visual culture of African American art. This unit will also teach students about the history of the Harlem Renaissance from the beginning of the 1900's to the fall of the Renaissance in the 1950's. Secondly, students will learn to analyze and critique the political statements that were represented in a visual form. They will also learn how these political statements are still prominent today in their own societies. Finally, students will focus primarily on the work of Aaron Douglas and his political statements on canvas.
The objectives for this unit will be to expose students to a range of artistic and cultural expressions produced by Aaron Douglas during the period of the Harlem Renaissance. Also, to help students develop an understanding of political and social statements in art, and compare and contrast these statements to the art that they are familiar with in their own culture. And finally, to promote the use of the Internet, and other art related web sites, books, paintings, slides, and galley visits. The Galleries that students will visit will be the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Art in New York City, the Yale Art Gallery, and the Wadsworth Athenaeum in Hartford, Connecticut.
The strategies that I plan to use in order to teach this unit effectively include class discussions, class critiques, and comparisons of artists themes. These activities will assist my students in exploring and understanding the visual heritage, cultural and political statements made by African Americans in general.
This unit will also address the following visual arts standards that are implemented through the New Haven Board of Education Visual Arts Program.