A colleague just passed on the Met’s website which has online AND downloadable art publications. It’s pretty amazing not only because of the high quality images, but also due to the historical, social and art making content that is also included. The educator resources are particularly valuable. Below is a page from the book The Art of Africa: A Resource for Educators.

 

The publication is over 200 pages long full of great information. My favorite part is that the Met takes 40 different pieces of art work and gives the a one page write up on background of the image with the cultural historical context as well as the processes used to create them.

I am currently working on changing my Creative Process unit for 3rd grade from a focus on Native Americans to a focus of Indigenous people all around the world. For some reason even though I teach at an international school in South Korea the curriculum of 3rd grade social studies still focuses on Native Americans vs native people across the globe. Since we are focusing on the creative process of artists, these publications by the Met will save me a lot of time researching the many facets that make up the creative process (The culture of the artist and their reasons for making the art of often skimmed over too much in elementary art).

It looks like I will have quite a bit of work downloading more of these wonderful publications and adapting the text to a 3rd grade level. I was thinking of having students get in small groups to read about the artwork, view it and then discuss the discussion questions. To further give the art a context I was going to search on Discovery Education streaming for videos related to the people/place or their artwork. The groups would then present what they have learned to each other (perhaps multimedia). My idea for the follow up individual artwork is still in progress, but the creative process over every student creating cookie cutter pieces based on a culture’s artwork is a must.

*I can already see this art piece being used for one group with the book: Anasi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti by Gerald McDermott.