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Nicole Vance Nash

Museum Educator
Smithsonian Staff

Nicole Vance Nash's collections

 

Teaching American Democracy through Portraiture: A People with Contemporary Debates & Possibilities

<p>In this Learning Lab collection, portraits of Michelle Obama, Leonard Crow Dog, and Roger Shimomura are used as an entry point to teach about contemporary debates and possibilities. Using <a href="https://www.educatingforamericandemocracy.org/">Educating for American Democracy</a>'s roadmap as a guide, this lesson centers on the theme  <a href="https://www.educatingforamericandemocracy.org/7themes/contemporary-debates-possibilities/">A People with Contemporary Debates & Possibilities</a>. Students will examine not only the portrait subjects but will also gain insight into how their biography fits into American democracy.<br></p> <p>This collection contains three lessons that highlight activists: "Reading Portraiture: See – Feel - Wonder - Connectx2," "Engaging History: Perspectives on the American Indian Movement," and "Connections to the Present: Identity and Patriotism" with the last lesson containing an art \making prompt for Educating for American Democracy's Design Challenge: <a href="https://www.educatingforamericandemocracy.org/k-12-student-design-challenge-awards/#civic-honesty">Civic Honesty, Reflective Patriotism</a></p> <p>Review <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/reading-portraiture-101/6VeUfzDnKE87HIOP">Reading Portraiture 101 </a>before beginning the lessons.</p> <p>#NPGteach #EducatingForDemocracy<br></p>
Nicole Vance Nash
51
 

Teaching American Democracy through Portraiture: Civic Participation

<p>In this Learning Lab collection, portrait photography of twentieth-century activists<em> </em>is used as an entry point to teach about the civic participation. Using <a href="https://www.educatingforamericandemocracy.org/">Educating for American Democracy</a>'s roadmap as a guide, this lesson centers on the theme <a href="https://www.educatingforamericandemocracy.org/the-roadmap/7themes/">Civic Participation</a>. . Students will examine not only the portrait subjects--including Ona Kingbird, John Lewis, and Sal Castro--but will also gain insight into the larger historical time period in which the subjects lived and how they located agency, made change, and sustained ideals of American democracy.</p> <p>This collection contains three lessons that highlight activists: "Reading Portraiture: See – Think – Me - We," "Engaging History: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee," and "Connections to the Present: Students in Action" with the last lesson containing an artmaking prompt for Educating for American Democracy's Design Challenge: <a href="https://www.educatingforamericandemocracy.org/the-roadmap/5designchallenges/">Motivating Agency, Sustaining the Republic</a></p> <p>Review <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/reading-portraiture-101/6VeUfzDnKE87HIOP">Reading Portraiture 101 </a>before beginning the lessons.</p> <p>#NPGteach #EducatingForDemocracy</p> <p></p>
Nicole Vance Nash
53
 

Teaching American Democracy through Portraiture: A People in the World

<p>In this Learning Lab collection, portrait of individuals in the executive branch and armed forces are used as entry points to teach about the United States in a global context. Through close looking students will investigate key historical events in international affars and build and understanding of the principles, values, and laws at stake in debates about America’s role in the world.</p> <p>This collection contains three lessons: "Reading Portraiture: Exploring Civic Points of View with Art," "Engaging History: Debates on the Treaty of Versailles," and "Connections to the Present: Faces of the Armed Forces."<br></p> <p>Review Reading Portraiture 101 before beginning the lessons.</p> <p>#NPGteach #EducatingForDemocracy</p>
Nicole Vance Nash
47
 

Teaching American Democracy through Portraiture

<p>This Learning Lab complements, "Educating for American Democracy" a roadmap for excellence in history and civics featuring portraits from 1600 to today. The portraits are used as entry points to teach about the history of the United States and civic values. This collection serves as a home base, organizing the following components:  (1) Background Essay and Timeline; (1) About Educating for American Democracy; (2) Reading Portraiture 101; (3) Seven Themes: Lesson Plan; (4) Design Challenges: Artmaking Prompts.</p> <p>Throughout these Learning Lab collections, students will examine not only the portraits’ subjects and artists but will also gain insight into the larger historical time period in which the subjects lived. By studying the portraits, students will be able to understand how the sitters in these portraits exercised agency and explored civic themes. </p> <p>Educators will come to this Learning Lab collection from a wide range of disciplines and grade levels and can use the activities and resources as they see fit. The materials have been developed toward middle school social studies classes to allow teachers to scaffold lessons and add extension activities as needed. This Learning Lab collection was designed to be integrated with flexibility. It can be used in order, as single-time activities, or in various combinations to support existing topics in the curriculum.</p> <p>#NPGteach</p>
Nicole Vance Nash
19
 

PORTRAITS Podcast: The Woman Who Knocked Science Sideways

<p>In this lesson, students will use close-looking to learn more about Experimental Physicist, Dr. Chien-Shiung Wu and discuss the contributions of women to science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) fields. </p> <p>This lesson plan was written by NPG Gallery Educator, Erin Koester-Tussell.</p>
Nicole Vance Nash
24
 

PORTRAITS Podcast: Loving

<p>In this lesson, students will learn about historical taboos around relationships and race in the United States using a portrait of Richard and Mildred Loving. They will analyze contemporary societal norms around relationship diversity along ethnic, religious, and/or class lines.</p> <p>This lesson plan was written by NPG Teen Programs Specialist, Sahtiya H. Hammell.</p>
Nicole Vance Nash
19
 

Be the Curator

<p>This Learning Lab complements the National Portrait Gallery's student program, Be the Curator. <br></p> <p>Students will learn about the exhibition process, by touring and reviewing exhibitions, uncovering the roles of curators and exhibition designers, finding themes in exhibitions, and writing museum label text. The program culminates in a hands-on project where students will create their own thematic exhibition from objects in the National Portrait Gallery's collection.<br></p> <p><strong>Objectives:</strong></p> <ul><li>Understand the roles of the museum curator and the exhibition designer in a museum </li><li>Work to relate artworks to one another and find a common theme </li><li>Write museum labels that clearly communicate ideas to an audience </li><li>Estimate, measure, and calculate scale </li></ul> <p>#NPGteach</p>
Nicole Vance Nash
98
 

The Art of Portraiture

<p>This Learning Lab Collection complements the National Portrait Gallery student program, The Art of Portraiture.</p> <p>Students will take a close look at modern and contemporary portraiture through the lens of artists’ decisions, paying particular attention to the different approaches that artists take to their subject matter and the different processes that they use in making their art.<br></p> <p>#NPGteach<br></p> <p>Objectives:</p> <ul><li>Examine modern and contemporary portraiture and identify, compare, and contrast visual elements in the portrait.</li><li>Identify and analyze the contributions of modern and contemporary Americans to U.S. history and society.</li><li>Discuss the specific choices an artist has made in his or her portraits.</li><li>Discuss the relevancy of portraiture as a contemporary art form.</li></ul><p>Learn more about our <a href="https://npg.si.edu/teachers/school-groups">virtual 2020-2021 student programs</a> and explore more of the <a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/org/npg">National Portrait Gallery's Learning Lab collections</a>.</p> <p>Keywords: Portraiture, Painting, Sculpture, Photography, Mixed Media, Video Art, Engraving, Printmaking, Artist, Contemporary, Artistic Style, Symbols, Biography, Self-Portrait</p> <p></p>
Nicole Vance Nash
48
 

Portrait Conversations

<p>This Learning Lab Collection complements the National Portrait Gallery student program Portrait Conversations.</p> <p></p> <p>Through this discussion based program students will compare and contrast visual elements in portraits across different historical eras, paying particular attention to differences in style and media and to the variety of historical contributions represented. Students will read portraiture by identifying and analyzing the elements of portrayal to learn about the biography of the sitter.</p> <p></p> <p>#NPGteach</p>
Nicole Vance Nash
54
 

Legacies of Reconstruction: Tools for Conversation

<p>Why is Reconstruction relevant today? This collection engages learners with inquiry and object-based learning strategies to support conversations about our racial past and consider the relevance of Reconstruction's legacies. With a focus on drawing connections between past and present, this collection seeks to empower educators and students by introducing them to new ideas for integrating art into conversations about Reconstruction. </p> <p>This Smithsonian Education Summit workshop was facilitated by Elizabeth Dale-Deines (Smithsonian American Art Museum), Candra Flanagan (National Museum of African American History and Culture), and Briana Zavadil White (National Portrait Gallery).<br></p> <ul></ul> <p>#NationalEducationSummit #NPGteach<br></p>
Nicole Vance Nash
50
 

Teaching Difficult Histories with Primary Sources and Portraiture

<p>How do we teach a balanced, comprehensive, and complex history of the United States? In this collection, explore themes of civil rights, American imperialism, Native histories, the ethics of medicine, and more. Through document analysis and reading portraiture strategies, uncover previously unknown stories and consider the pressures and motivations that shaped historical controversies. <br></p> <p>This Learning Lab collection has been created in conjunction with the Teaching Difficult Histories Through Portraiture and Primary Sources professional development workshop, co-hosted by the National Portrait Gallery and the National Archives and Records Administration, in August 2023.<strong></strong><strong></strong></p> <p>#NPGteach</p>
Nicole Vance Nash
83
 

Traces of a Life in Bondage: Flora’s Silhouette

<p>This collection focuses on a life-size, hand-cut silhouette representing Flora (1777–1815), a woman who was enslaved in Connecticut, and the bill of sale that transferred her ownership on December 13, 1796, when she was nineteen years old. Her life story invites us to consider the period from the American Revolution to the close of the War of 1812 from a rarely considered perspective—that of an enslaved woman. Flora is emblematic of vast numbers of enslaved women whose likenesses and histories have gone unrecorded.</p> <p>Her silhouette was traced at life-size directly from her cast shadow, lending a tangible sense of human presence to her portrait. But who made it? And for what purpose? We will explore these questions through consideration of the few facts known about Flora's life; the regional differences that distinguished the experiences of enslaved women in the North and in the South; the social conventions of silhouette-making; and the history of representing African American women in late eighteenth and nineteenth-century American portraiture.</p> <p>This project received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.</p> <p>#NPGteach</p>
Nicole Vance Nash
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