<p>2025 marks the 40th anniversary of the opening of gay rights and HIV/AIDS activist Larry Kramer’s play, <em>The Normal Heart</em>. This collection takes a close look at portraits of Kramer and other significant figures during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980’s and considers how portraits can be used to share this history.</p> <p><em>“Portraits of Determination: Figures of the AIDS Epidemic” is part of the teacher workshop series Classroom Conversations which uses portraits to explore topics and themes related to history and heritage months throughout the school year.</em> </p>

<p>This collection takes a close look at significant figures from the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Consider how portraits can add depth to students’ understanding of this important event and honor the people who made it happen.</p> <p><em>“Portraits of Change: Faces of the 1963 March on Washington” is part of the teacher workshop series Classroom Conversations which uses portraits to explore topics and themes related to history and heritage months throughout the school year.</em> </p>

<p>This collection highlights portraits of religious women who have created community in the United States. Use close-looking strategies to delve into their biographies, learn about their life’s work, and consider how artists represent religion in portraiture. </p> <p><em>“Community Builders: Religious Women & Portraiture” is part of the teacher workshop series Classroom Conversations which uses portraits to explore topics and themes related to history and heritage months throughout the school year.</em> </p>

<p>In this lesson pack, students will learn how to research and document their communities through photographs and oral histories. Students will gain a deeper understanding of the social, cultural, political, and historical contexts of their own communities and develop important research, communication, and critical thinking skills. The goals of the project include: <br></p> <ul> <li>Students will build visual literacy, critical thinking, analyzation, interview, and discussion skills by working with primary sources. </li> <li>Students will use new skills to make connections with other students and their community, by creating portraits of their community through oral history, photography, and video. </li> <li>Students will be able to define what community is to them and have a greater awareness of their local community. </li> </ul> <p>Creating Portraits of Community, A Together We Thrive Initiative, was created by educators from the National Portrait Gallery (NPG), National Museum of American History (NMAH), Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM), and SI Affiliates. Project authors include: Elizabeth Dale-Deines, Orlando Serrano, Eden Cho, Briana Zavadil White, Jocelyn Kho, and Abbie Hitzemann. </p> <p><br></p>

<p>This Learning Lab complements the National Portrait Gallery's student program, Voices of Social Justice.<br></p> <p>Students will learn about some of the major figures who struggled to obtain civil rights for disenfranchised or marginalized groups. They will listen to stories of social justice and analyze portraits of individuals who broke barriers—from key nineteenth-century reformers to modern leaders—and will likely be encouraged to consider how they, too, can become civically engaged.</p> <p><a href="https://npg.si.edu/teachers/school-groups">Schedule</a> a virtual Voices of Social Justice student program with National Portrait Gallery educators.</p> <p>#NPGteach</p> <p>Keywords: Social Justice, Activists, Civil Rights, Reform, Change, Disenfranchised, Abolition, Suffrage, Labor Rights, Citizenship Rights, Japanese Incarceration, Boycotts, Protest, March, Justice, Black Lives Matter</p>

<p>This Learning Lab collection complements the National Portrait Gallery's student program, <em>Portraiture and Social Emotional Learning (SEL).</em></p> <p>The <em>Portraiture and Social Emotional Learning (SEL)</em> student program approaches portraiture with a social-emotional lens. Students will consider how reading portraiture can lend itself to exploring social-emotional qualities such as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.  This collection strives to provide opportunities to explore emotions and values in the context of portraiture.<br></p> <p><strong>Curriculum Connections: </strong>This lesson plan is suitable for students in grades 4-12 in multidisciplinary classes.<br></p> <p><strong>Objectives:</strong> After completing this lesson, students will be better able to: </p> <ul><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">Identify key components of a portrait and discuss what we can learn about the sitter through these components.</p></li><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">Investigate how these components reveal the viewpoints (of artist, sitter, and viewer) represented through the depiction of the sitters.</p></li><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">Identify social emotional qualities and analyze the connections that can be made to portraiture.</p></li><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">Utilize the museum’s collection and portraiture as a springboard to explore the range of social emotional qualities that include self-awareness, self- management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.</p></li></ul> <p></p> <p>#NPGteach<br></p> <p></p>

<p>This Learning Lab collection complements the National Portrait Gallery student program, America's Presidents.</p> <p></p> <p>The America’s Presidents student program focuses on the idea of what we can learn about presidents and their legacies from how they are portrayed in their portraits, on what it means to look “presidential” in a portrait, and on how the portrayal of presidents has changed over time.</p> <p>After completing the program, students will be better able to:</p> <p>● Identify key components of a portrait and analyze how these components fit into the way the sitter is defined/remembered.<br>● Compare and contrast what different portraits reflect about how each president is portrayed and remembered.<br>● Identify American presidents and analyze their contributions to U.S. History.<br></p>

<p>This collection explores portraits from photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders's <a href="https://npg.si.edu/portraits/collection-search?edan_local=1&edan_q=Latino%2BList&" title="https://npg.si.edu/portraits/collection-search?edan_local=1&edan_q=Latino%2BList&" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">The Latino List</a> using the following strategies: Strike a Pose; Same, Different, Connect, Engage; Seek to See; and Lenses.</p> <p>This collection is part of the the National Portrait Gallery's Classroom Conversations Series. Classroom Conversations is a virtual teacher workshop series that uses portraiture to explore topics and themes related to history and heritage months throughout the school year.<br></p>

<p>In this lesson, students will explore the artistic journey of Hugo Crosthwaite, focusing on how his work reflects experiences of border-crossing, migration, and the pursuit of the American Dream. Students will also analyze the power of storytelling through visual art, particularly in Crosthwaite’s stop-motion animation, <em>A Portrait of Berenice Sarmiento Chávez</em>. </p> <p>This lesson was written by Dahlia H. Constantine, Gallery Educator at the National Portrait Gallery.</p> <p>#NPGteach</p>

<p>Celebrate Earth Day with the National Portrait Gallery. In this collection you will find six lessons that use portraiture as an entry point for talking about the planet. Each lesson highlights close looking questions and a activity. Lessons include:</p> <ol><li>Learn About the Earth with Planetary Scientist Carl Sagan</li><li>Build a Bug with Biologist E.O. Wilson</li><li>Make a Self-Portrait with Marine Biologist Julie Packard</li><li>Create a Leaf Rubbing with Sociologist Dorceta Taylor</li><li>Design a Poster with Climate Activist Dolores Huerta</li><li>Write a Story with Botanist George Washington Carver</li></ol> <p>#NPGteach</p>

<p>Meet the Black Americans who shaped the history, development, and culture of the United States of America from 1700-present. Use this collection to celebrate Black History Month and embrace Black voices in your classroom year-round! </p> <p>This collection mirrors parts rather than the whole of African American history and culture. It also reflects the history of portraiture in the United States, we recognize that who is represented and how one is represented reflects the country's flaws as well as it's strengths<br></p> <p>#NPGteach</p>

<p>Explore portraiture through storytelling and creative writing! Writing Hour with the National Portrait Gallery is a space where writers can create, connect, and draw inspiration from the museums collection.  We recommend you spend some time reading your chosen portrait before writing. New to reading portraiture? Learn about interpreting portraiture through the elements of portrayal in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xU8wC7sQl8&list=PLoiUVJmnCbmCsHkQlMj1Lr4YOfEh27OML&index=6">this video</a>. </p> <p>This Learning Lab collection features writing prompts created by literary host, Willona Sloan. Discover new portraits through writing by joining us virtually every Tuesday from 5:00pm-6:00pm EST for Writing Hour with the National Portrait Gallery. Register <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-writing-hour-with-the-national-portrait-gallery-tickets-99411309904">here</a>.</p> <p>#NPGteach<br></p>