<p>In this activity, students will explore Mickalene Thomas's process, artistic influences, and art historical context. Students will examine Thomas's <em>Portrait of Mnonja </em>(2010, Smithsonian American Art Museum) in depth, and use three supporting resources to build context.</p> <p>1. Have students look at Mickalene Thomas's <em>Portrait of Mnonja</em>. Give them 2-3 minutes to do a quick sketch of the painting.</p> <p>2. Next, ask them to note the part of the painting their eye went to first on their sketch with a star.</p> <p>3. Next, ask students to draw a line through their sketch to show the path their eye used to travel through the painting. Use arrows to indicate direction.</p> <p>4. In pairs or as a class, ask students to share where their eye went first, and why they think it went there. Was it the color? Light? Lines? The placement in the composition?</p> <p>5. Next, students should write a list of 8-10 words and phrases describing the painting. Ask for volunteers to share out.</p> <p>6. As a group, discuss students' impressions of the painting. Ask for visual evidence to back up claims. (e.g. A student says, "she looks powerful." You ask, "what do you see that makes you say she's powerful?")</p> <p>7. To further the conversation, share some background information about the painting: the title, the date, and the artist. Explain a little about Mickalene Thomas's process: posing live models in sets with props and furniture, taking photographs, then painting from the photographs.</p> <p>8. Next, break students into small groups. Each group should receive a printout of ONE of the three supporting resources in this collection. Ask them to compare and contrast their image with <em>Portrait of Mnonja</em>.</p> <p>9. After 4-5 minutes, ask each group to share out the main idea from what they discussed. The teacher should add additional information as it is useful.</p> <p>a. Mickalene Thomas set photograph: Shows the artist's process, how she uses real models and sets. Note patterns and 1970s motifs.</p> <p>b. Romare Bearden collage: Thomas has cited Bearden as one of her artistic influences. Students should note similarities in color, pattern, and flatness.</p> <p>c. John Collier painting: An example from the early 1900s of the "reclining woman" in art history. Students should discuss the passiveness/agency of each of these women, and how a male artist's depiction of a woman differs from a female artist's in this case. Thomas was well versed in art history and was consciously making reference to precedents like this.</p> <p>10. Writing Activity: In small groups, have students write a dialogue between Mnonja and someone else. It could be the artist, the viewer, or someone from one of the supporting resources.</p> <p><em><br></em></p> <p><em>Optional:</em> Have students view one or both of the short videos of Mickalene Thomas discussing<em> Portrait of Mnonja</em>. </p> <p>#BecauseOfHerStory<br></p>

<p>George Washington is one of the most mythologized icons of American history, and one of the most frequently represented figures in American art. What can comparing and contrasting these varying representations tell us about our national understanding of this founding father and first American President? How does the historical context during which an artwork was made affect its subject matter? How does American art influence the way we think of Washington today? </p><p>Created for the National Council for History Education (NCHE) 2018 annual conference.</p>

<p>In <em>Hindsight is Always 20/20</em>, Luke DuBois took the State of the Union addresses from each presidency (up through George W. Bush) and sorted them according to word frequency. The artist then printed the most frequently appearing works as an eye chart for each president, with the more frequently used words in larger type at the top of the chart and the less frequently used words toward the bottom. The traditional eye chart includes sixty-six letters; Luke DuBois’s charts substitute sixty-six words. The lists contain words that are not only important for the issues addressed by each president but also give an impression of how language was used at the time. Each of the forty-one presidencies to have State of the Union addresses at the time DuBois created this series (William Henry Harrison and James Garfield died before they could submit a single message to Congress) has its own eye chart. </p> <p><em>Multiplicity</em>, 2011</p>

<p>Explore images of Washington, DC, using artworks in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Compare them to the present, learning about changing neighborhoods, people and daily life, natural resources, and arts &amp; culture. This collection can be adapted for students of different grade levels learning about DC history.</p>

<p>How have American artists used visuals to bring attention to the pressing issues of their time? Compare and contrast a 1930s painting about the Dust Bowl with one addressing climate change made seventy years later, interpreting them in context to discover continuity and change over time. </p> <p>Possible thinking questions for students to use with one or both paintings:</p> <p></p> <ul><li>Are these artworks primary sources? Does your answer depend on the context in which they are used?</li><li>What is "truthful" about these artworks? How might we use other sources to corroborate or check their truthfulness?</li><li>What do you think are the most effective media for making a compelling argument? Why? Student might consider speeches, photographs, newspaper op-eds, data visualizations like charts and graphs, videos/films, music, and visual art.</li></ul><p>Resources compiled for a March 2020 National Council for History Education (NCHE) conference session.<br /></p><p></p>

<p>Learn how American art and portraiture can bring diverse women’s stories into your classroom, connecting with themes you may already teach. Discover strategies for engaging your students in close looking and critical thinking across disciplines.  #SAAMTeach #NPGteach<br /></p> <p>RELATED WEBINAR SERIES (recordings available): <a href="https://americanart.si.edu/education/k-12/professional-development/webinars">https://americanart.si.edu/education/k-12/professional-development/webinars</a></p> <p>This project received support from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative. To learn more, visit the <a href="https://womenshistory.si.edu/">Smithsonian American Women History Initiative website</a>. #BecauseOfHerStory</p> <p><br /></p>

The early years of the twentieth-century saw a significant increase in economic inequality between the wealthiest Americans and the poorest. While the rich continued to bathe in their unregulated, post-industrial age economic success, the poor, largely represented by the overwhelming influx of new immigrants, remained trapped in an unrelenting cycle of poverty and adversity. Many struggled to find prosperity and acceptance in a country where some American citizens harbored foreign resentment and racism. Emblematic of the hardships they encountered is artist Everett Shinn’s chaotic scene of Lower East Side Jewish immigrants being evicted from their homes. This scene in downtown New York City is starkly contrasted with artist Childe Hassam’s romanticized view of an ethereal woman in her uptown home surrounded by beautiful objects likely acquired through European travel. She represents the prosperous post-industrial age, where wealthy patrons demonstrated their cultural sophistication through the acquisition and display of exotic, priceless objects in their homes.<br /><br /> The expanding urban population precipitated the introduction of new building materials in the development of high-rise buildings and tenements, revolutionizing urban living. Technological innovations like the electrified elevator and the Bessemer steel process replaced older building techniques and enabled the construction of high-rise buildings, the new symbols of American progress. However, overcrowding of the evolving urban landscape also gave rise to problems such as poverty, disease, and lawlessness. These issues ultimately led to crucial social reform and legislation, known collectively as Progressivism.<br /><br /><a href="http://americanexperience.si.edu/historical-eras/modern-united-states/pair-eviction-tanagra/">http://americanexperience.si.edu/historical-eras/modern-united-states/pair-eviction-tanagra/</a>

<p>The artworks in this collection were made by artists who identify as Native American. What can we learn from the diversity of media and subject matter? How might these works be used to counter stereotypical narratives about American Indians? </p><p>Created for a March 20, 2018 webinar with Montana teachers.</p>

<p>Resources from the P21 Exemplar Teacher Workshop held at SAAM and NPG February 28, 2017.</p>

<p>In preparing to paint his large-scale mural, <em>Manifest Destiny</em>, a commission for the Brooklyn Museum's re-opening in 2004, Alexis Rockman consulted with climate change experts to imagine what Brooklyn might look like several centuries in the future when the glaciers have melted and sea levels have risen. </p><p>Teachers can use this painting as a starting point to discussing the issue of climate change, understanding what's at risk, and exploring mitigation strategies coastal cities might take to prevent an outcome like the one Rockman predicts.</p>

<p>Resources compiled for the Smithsonian American Art Museum's <strong>Summer Institutes: Teaching the Humanities through Art </strong>for a session developed by Peg Koetsch.</p>

<p>How can American art be read as a historical text? How can it be used to explore the 2018 National History Day theme of "Conflict and Compromise in History"? This collection examines two works of American art closely, modeling the process of historical inquiry and analysis. It also shares several online resources on reading artwork in a historical context, and suggests additional artworks from SAAM's collection that might support the theme of Conflict and Compromise.</p> <p>#NHD2018 #NHD</p> <p>Keywords: Reconstruction, Civil War, John Rogers, Winslow Homer<br></p> <p><em>#historicalthinking</em></p> <p><br></p>