LOIS MAILOU JONES 1905-1 998

"rhe wonderrur thins to creative expression' Br:ll,il illlil ft:i*Jtffi:::'r:ffill

rades 3-5 PowerPoint Lesson Pla

OBJECTIVES

*4ESTGRY: Places an artwork in its art historical context. Students will discuss the influence that discrimination practices had on the art and life of Lois Mailou Jones.

CRITICISM: Informed talk about art. Students will be able to identify warm and cool colors and discuss how warm colors advance and cool colors recede in a painting.

AESTHETIGS: Questions the nature, value and beauty of art. Students will discuss whether or not an artist should receive recognition for his/her work in fields such as textile design.

PRODUCTION: Creating art. Students will create a work, which illustrates the use of warm colors on one half of the work, and cool colors on the other half.

VOCABULARY

ote to volu The vocabulary words will be in bold italics throughout the /esson. They will be defined within the text of the /esson and do not need to be presented separately.

Warm colors: Because of learned association between color and object, colors like red, orange and yellow become identified as warm colors. On the color wheel these are the colors from yellow to red violet. Warm colors tend to advance visually.

1 | PowerPoint Presentation /'f-\ 4sao':- PIeA (+a) i- Coot colors: Colors such as blue, green and purple are identified as cool colors. On the color wheel these are the colors from yellow-green to violet. Cool colors tend to recede, or go back in space.

Textite artist- a person who creates designs that are printed on cloth. Textile is another name for fabric that may be woven or knitted.

INTRODUCTION .THE Read SNEECHES" by Dr. Suess. lt takes about 4-Trminules to read the story.

to vol Dr. Suess books can be enjoyed by people of all ages. You may preface the story with older students by acknowledging that they may have read this book a long time ago, but there are often deeper meanings to his sfon'es. Do a summary of the story if that better suits your needs, or ask a student who knows the story to do so.

Like the Sneeches, Lois Mailou Jones was an African American artist who was sometimes treated differently for two reasons. One was that the color of her skin was black and for a long time in this country black people were not treated the same as white Americans. Of course today, we understand that this is wrong. People are people no matter what the color of their skin is or whether or not they have stars on their bellies!

The other reason she was sometimes treated differently was because she was a woman. Most people thought being an artist was not a good job for a woman. Now, let's look at the art of this woman named Lois Mailou Jones. Say her name with me...

14E$T#RY

Proroeupn or Lots Mnlou Jotes 1925 Lois Mailou Jones grew up in Boston, Massachusetts where she was born a little more than one hundred years ago. Her father was one of the first African Americans to finish law school there and her mother worked in a beauty shop and designed hats. Her family was able to live a fairly privileged lifestyle in Boston as part of wealthy African American society. But for most of her life, Lois lived in a world where her choices of which school she could go to, what restaurant to eat at and where she could sit on a bus were limited because the color of her skin was black.

2 | PowerPoint Presentation Frsnlrc Sltlcxs. Menemsnl. Mnss. 1932, wATERcoLoR, 20-%x26-/o" During the summer, Lois, her older brother and mother spent their vacation on the island of Martha's Vineyard. Here is where she says her "life in art really began". Many of her early pictures were of the things she saw there like this watercolor painting of fishing boats. When she was 15, her mother hung Lois' artwork on the clothesline in their garden and invited the neighbors over for refreshments and Lois' first art show.

Gnocnerre 1928, cREToNNE TEXTILE DESlcN, 40-114 x 30" Lois went to art school in Boston and after graduating began a career as a textile artist. Say that with me. ...Textile is another word for cloth or fabrics. Her job was to create designs like this one that were printed on sheets, clothing and furniture. Her textile designs won prizes and awards. "lt was exciting", she wrote, "to be in New York and see a window display of couches and chairs covered in one of her fabrics." But she soon realized few people would know she designed it, since the artist's name is not printed onto fabric like it is on a painting where you sign your name. She decided to switch back to painting and drawing so she would be recognized for her work.

Let's look at the colors Lois used in this textile design. Colors are often described as being either warm or cool.The warm colors are red, orange and yellow. Where do you see a warm color in this design?

The cool colors are green, blue and violet. Where do you see some cool colors in this design?

AESTHETICS

to volun These questions are meant to be open'ended; there is no ight or wrong answer.

When a textite is printed usually only the manufacturer's name is shown on the edge. Do you think the artist's name should also be shown? Why or why not?

n

i. ffi€&€*ffiY {c*re€"}

Neeno Yourn 1929, cHARcoAL, 29 x 22" When she tried to get a job as a teaching assistant at a Boston art school, they turned her down. Not because she would not be a good teacher, but because she was a black woman. lt wasn't long before Lois heard about the need for young educated teachers to work with black students in the South. She decided to give it a try and got a job teaching art in a small college in North Carolina. That began what turned out to be a Sglyear career as an art teacher! She loved her students and teaching and started making time for her own art, like this charcoal drawing for which she won an award.

Fyl The information contained in a box in this lesson is added for the adult volunteer's enrichment (think of it as a giant parenthesis in the middle of the lesson). Generally, the information is not intended fbr inclusion in the classroom presentation. However, if appropriate, you may wish to present some of this information to the students.

ln the summer of 1928, at a lecture for young adults convened by Boston's black scholars, Lois Jones met Charlotte Hawkins Brown, founder and director of the Palmer Memorial lnstitute, a junior college in North Carolina. She mentioned the need for young educators to come to the South anJ teach. Her appeal was so moving after she finished, Jones told her she was interested in establishing an art department at Palmer if they didn't have one. Ms. Brown thought Jones was too young, at 23, and didn't think she'd be able to do it, but Jones convinced her otherwise. ln addition to her duties in the fledgling art department, she coached the basketball team' taught folk dancing and played piano for Sunday Cha_pel services. Jones rernained at Palmer untii t ggO when she was recruited by the chairman of the art department at Howard University in Washington, D.C. During her a7 year cireer as a professor of design and-waterco.lor painting, Jones instructed moreihan 250b students- young, old, amateur and professional and of many racial and ethnic.backgrounds. Her importance to their collective artistic development is evident in the numbdr and'caliber of her students who have distinguished themselves as professional designers, graphic artists, educators, painters and sculptors.

Tne Ascenr or Erntopll 1932, oll oN cANVAS, 23-112 x 17-114" When Lois was about 25 years old, she was inspired by something happening in New York called the Harlem Renaissance. lt was a time when many talented African Americans came to a mostly black neighborhood in New York City called Harlem. lt was here that an explosion of creativity was happening in art, music, dance and literature. These artists were celebrating their African heritage and Lois created this painting, which tells the story of these African Americans in the United States. Let's look at the story she tells. The face of an African king in the lower right corner guides our eyes to the sad figures in chains, which represent FYI The Harlem Renaissance was an era in which slavery. Harlem became an international capital of black As the figures climb past the culture. An intense period of artistic activity ensued pyramids (remember the pyramids as African-American painters and sculptors joined poets, novelists, musicians and dramatists in this were built in Northern Africa) they New York community. The artists of this era helped arrive at the top, triumphant African frame the context in which an important chapter American artists, writers and would be written in the chronicle of African- musicians of Harlem. American culture.

What color do you notice first when you look at this painting? (Yellow.) lf you are not sure, close your eyes and open them to see what color you notice first. ls it a warm ot cool colorl? (Warm.)

When both warm and cool corors are in a painting , the warm colors seem to come fonruard or stand out. You notice them first, especially if they are surrounded by coo/ colors like in this painting. Warm colors are said to "advance" or seem closer in space to us. The cool colors are said to "recede" or seem farther away. Which colors advance or seem closer to us, warm or cool? (Warm.)

JlRolr.r ou LuxeMeouno 1948, orl oN cANVAS, 24 x28-314" Lois took a break from teaching for a year and traveled to France where she learned to speak French and painted views of Paris and the surrounding landscapes. She enjoyed the freedom and lack of prejudice she experienced there; no one there seemed to care if FYI Jones was awarded a grant to study at the Academie she was a black artist, Julian in Paris for the 1937-38 school year. While there, unlike back in the United she adopted the plein air (open-air) method of painting States. She would return to outdoors on location, a practice she would continue France to paint and visit lifelong. While painting along the Seine she met Emile almost every year over the Bernard, a colleague of Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne good next 20 years. This and Paul Gauguin. She and her friend Celine Tabary became friends with Emile who encouraged Jones and painting of a garden is was impressed with her work. She completed more that 40 painted using mostly cool works during her nine months at the Academie painting colors. street scenes and still lifes executed in the lmpressionistic style. During her year of study abroad Jones underwent a Where has she used warm transition from teacher and designer exclusively, to a painter and artist of strength and accomplishment. colors? Thinking about how warm colors advance in a picture, why do you think she used them there? (To draw attention to the figures in the painting and they help move your eye around the painting.)

5 I PowerPoint Presentation t Jerrre 1943, otl oN cANVAS, 35-% x28-3/n" After she returned from France to the united states, Lois began to include more African Americans, like this young girl, in her art. At the same time, she found she could not put many of her paintings in art shows because of unfair rules that prevented brack artists from showing their work. Not only was she treated unfairly because she was black, but also because she was a woman. Almost all artists were men at the time and people didn't think it was proper for a woman to want to become an artist.

So she sent her paintings into art shows by mail or had a good friend take them who did not tell them a black woman had painted them. Her artwork was then easily accepted and she won many prizes, which were usually mailed to her. sometimes, if they found out she was actually a black artist, they took her awards back and gave them to another artist who was white. She wasn't angry or discouraged about it though. She decided instead to put her energy into herlrt and in helping other young artists in the classes she taught.

cRrTtctsM

MeRcxe. Hrul 1963, poLyMERoN BoARD, 33 x2g" Lois' painting took on a new direction after she married and began FYI At the beginning of her Haitian period, Jones's traveling with her husband to his European training was apparent in palette and homeland, the island of Haiti. (Her organization of her compositions. She gradually developed husband was also an artist.) Her a fresh energetic and highly individualized style more expressive of the exuberance and vigor of colors became much brighter and Haitian life. She now abandoned her traditional her paintings had more energy. This approach to painting in favor of an expressive, colorful, painting shows a scene from an hard edged style that fused abstraction, decorative outdoor market in Haiti. The markets patterns and naturalism. are like outdoor stores where people could buy all kinds of things they needed. Take a minute to look at it and find the warm and cool colors.

Sensory Properties: What do you see? 1. What are the warm colors in this painting and where are they located? (Red, orange and yellow are the warm colors. The border is red. Some of the clothing and items being canied are oranges and yeilows.) 2. What are the cool colors and where are they located? (Blue and green are the cool colors seen in this painting. The buildings are blue, some of the clothing and items carried are blue and green.)

6 | PowerPoint Presentation Formal Properties: How is it arranged? 1. What color do you notice when you first look at this paintin g? (The red border.) ls it a warm or cool colof? (Warm.) 2. Would you say the red advances or recedes? (Advances.) What does that mean? (lt is one of the colors you notice first.l 3. Why do you think the artist did that? (To frame the peopte inside the An artist can use color to draw our attention to parts of a painting or to move our eye around the painting. Our eyes will look for colors that are repeated in a painting. How does your eye move from color to color around this painting? (Your eye follows the red border around the outside of the picture and then moves to the figures inside the border. The warm colors stand out and your eye moves down the painting fottowing the warm golds, reds and oranges.)

Technical Properties: what media, tools and techniques were used? 1. What materials would you need to paint a picture like this? (Brusheg paints, something to paint on - canvas.)

Expressive Properties: What mood or idea does it express? 1. what sounds do you think you would be hearing if you were at this market? (Foofsfeps, people talking, music, a dog barking, doors opening and closing, etc.) 2. What kind of feeling do you think Lois Jones was trying to express about the market? (Excitement, fun, hurry, energy, noise, etc.) hAISTGRY {eor:t.}

Srneer Veroons 1978, AcRyLtc, 60 x 40" Lois and her husband visited Haiti each year to paint, teach and relax. Her art became bolder and simpler in color, using mostly reds, yellows and blues. re lNrrrnrroir. Lreenn 1983, AcRyLtc oN cANVAS, 35-% x23-Tz" When she was 63, Lois traveled to Africa for the first time, where she studied art in eleven countries. The people and art of Africa made a big impression on her and she immediately began including images and symbols she saw there in her own art. ffi This work is about the FYI ln the spring of '1970, Jones visited 11 ceremony of a young girls' African countries to research art. The project yielded an passage into womanhood. extensive slide collection, which Jones presented to Lois carefully recreated the Howard University. The culture and art of Africa made mask, neck chokers and hair- an indelible impression on her, which was immediately braiding that were part of the apparent in her work. ln this phase of her career she served as a bridge ceremony. She uses some from the Harlem Renaissance era to a new generation of artists from the 70's who fervenily textile like designs in the sought their ancestral legacy. artwork along the bottom edge of this painting as well.

Dlronaey 1971,AcRyLtc oN cANVAS ,54x40" For more than 75 years Lois Mailou Jones gave our country her talents as an artist and as a teacher of art. she passed away at the age of 92.

Eventually people realized discriminating against people who were different was unfair and it is now against the law. She became a famous artist with her paintings shown in museums all over the world.

Lois continued to grow and learn her entire life and gave us wonderful art to inspire us. This painting reminds us of her textile designs, a feeling of Africa and the bright colors of Haiti all rolled into one. PRODUCTION

Students will create a work, which uses a warm color palette on one half and a cool color palette on the other half.

Materials: 9" x 12" black construction paper with animal outline copied on it. The lines will show up when copied onto the black paper. Astrobright or regular construction paper - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet, cut into thirds or quarters. (You may wish to use small boxes or plates to keep all the cool colored papers together and all warm colored papers together.) Scissors Glue 9" x 12" variety of colored construction paper for backing

to You may wish to use smallboxes, plates or other containers to keep all the cool colors together and all the warm colors together. Pre- cutting some shapes for students is helpful if time is limited. Paper punches (available at craft sfores) work wellfor cutting shapes in advance of the production time.

lnstructions: 1. Use a color wheel to identify and review the warm and cool colors. 2. Students are to cut out the animal copied onto the black paper. 3. Suggest some geometric shapes that are easy to cut from strips of paper i.e., triangles, squares, long rectangles, diamonds, and mountain shapes. lnclude circles, and a crescent moon shape as well. 4. Students are to visually divide their animal shape in half, either horizontally or vertically. 5. On one half of the animal, use warm colors to cut shapes and create a design. On the other half, use cool colors. 6. Look at the way Jones repeated shapes and colors in her work and encourage students to repeat them in their designs. 7. Glue all the shapes onto the animal. 8. Choose a warm or cool colorfor the background and glue the animal to the 9" x 12" paper. 9. Students sign their work.

Jill Bogle, 2006 3,:1Y"'J:?ll,l1i':i3:X;K"""", -.Ht 9 | PowerPoint Presentation