BAE students at Rosalyn Yalow Charter School celebrated Black History Month by creating their own works of art. They were inspired by artists from the Harlem Renaissance period, including Jacob Lawrence, William H. Johnson, and Horace Pippin. Students also explored the idea of Afrofuturism through art.
3rd and 4th Grade – Students focused on creating city blocks based on Jacob Lawrence’s energetic painting THIS is Harlem. Jacob Lawrence’s art portrayed the everyday reality, struggles and successes of African American life. Students focused on their line, color, and space techniques. View slideshow above.
5th Grade – Students worked on creating still life art inspired by Harlem Renaissance artist, William H. Johnson. A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or man-made (drinking glasses, books, vases, jewelry, coins, pipes, etc.) For this project, students used oil pastels and focused on bold lines, contrast and color. View slideshow above.
2nd Grade – Students focused on recreating Horace Pippin’s The Getaway piece. Pippin began The Getaway as a daytime scene with a blue sky, red barns, and a fox standing still in the snow. His inspiration to transform the work into a nighttime setting may have come from seeing Winslow Homer’s Fox Hunt at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. In Pippin’s snowy portrayal, the fox has captured a bird and escapes in the moonlight. BAE students recreated the fox from this famous work and got creative by adding their own rendition of a background. View slideshow above.
2nd and 3rd Grade – Students discussed science fiction authors, filmmakers and artists associated with Afrofuturism. Afrofuturism is a cultural aesthetic, philosophy of science and history that explores the developing intersection of African diaspora culture with technology. Students created imaginary planet/science fiction collages, inspired by the Afrofuturism arts movement. View slideshow above.
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