Vernacularfrom the Gadsden Arts Center Permanent Art Collection
Teacher’s Guide
Vernacular Art from the Gadsden Arts Center Permanent Collection
Ta b l e o f Co n t e n t s
Letter to Educators 3 Introduction to Vernacular Art 4 Meet the Artists 7 Thornton Dial Jr. 7 Thornton Dial Sr. 8 Arthur Dial 10 O.L. Samuels 11 Lesson Plans 12 Symbolism in Vernacular Art (K-5) 13 Vernacular Art & Sense of Place (K-5) 14 Vernacular Art & Sense of Place (6-12) 15 Pattern in Vernacular Art (K-5) 16 Vernacular Art & Found Materials (K-12) 17 Symmetry in Vernacular Art (K-8) 18 Vernacular Art & Texture (K-12) 19 References & Useful Resources 20 Vocabulary 22 Lesson Plan Evaluation 23
1 Teacher’s Guide
2 Vernacular Art from the Gadsden Arts Center Permanent Collection
Le tt e r t o Ed u c a t o r s Dear Florida Teachers,
This packet was created by the Gadsden Arts Center as a tool to help you teach students about key Vernacular artists featured in the Gadsden Arts Center’s Permanent Collection. The packet includes informational articles on Vernacular Art, featured artists in the collection, and lesson plans for classroom or museum use. Lesson plans are designed to be adapted to any classroom and fit a variety of curriculum goals, but primarily address Sunshine State Standards in Visual Arts for the creation of art, development of skills in art, and understanding of the organizational structure of art forms. Additional content areas also addressed include history, language arts, writing, and reading. Please consider returning the lesson plan evaluation form on the last page of this guide for continued growth and improvement in lesson plans.
The Gadsden Arts Center’s Permanent Collection is available to browse on our website at http://www.gadsdenarts.org/collection. aspx and Gadsden Arts will gladly send educators digital images for educational purposes. For more information on the collection please contact Education Director Anissa Ford at anissa.ford@ gadsdenarts.org or Curator of Exhibitions and Collections, Angie Barry at [email protected]. O.L. Samuels, Godzilla, n.d., paint & wood, 2009.1.6
Thank you, Anissa Ford Education Director Gadsden Arts Center (850) 627-5023 [email protected] www.gadsdenarts.org
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In t r o d u cti o n t o Ve r n a c u l a r Ar t ernacular Art is a genre of art with a rich work of Vernacular and complex history. This history begins artists was rejected in private homes and yards, as intimate, by art historians and reflectionsV on each artist’s life and surroundings. critics. These artists collected discarded materials, house paint, and other non-traditional materials to create The art these artists assemblages, paintings, and unique sculptures with produced was so themes relating to their history and their community. deeply personal, Many Vernacular artists grew up in poverty, with so expressive, and limited resources or access to art, or even education. yet it has not been With varying circumstances, each of the artists in categorized as this collection was driven to produce art–often a contemporary art lot of art–each with powerful symbols and personal until very recently. art-making methods. Overall, Vernacular Art refers One of the first art to the expressive power of their work to capture the collectors to discover language, community, and culture of the area in which Vernacular Art was it was created–primarily in the southern states of William Arnett, a Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and South native of Georgia O.L. Samuels, Godzilla, Carolina. who had traveled n.d., paint & wood, 2009.1.6 extensively to build Vernacular Art dates back to the 1930’s, but has been his collection and slow to receive recognition by art historians and curated exhibitions for museums in the South. He collectors, often marginalized as “folk” or “outsider” became first interested in African American Art in art because many of the genre’s artists were self- 1972 during a visit to Gainesville when Professor taught and/or African-American artists living in Roy Craven–who was curating an exhibition of his segregated rural areas of the Deep South. Although collection for the High Museum of Art in Atlanta– much of the work is non-objective or abstract–popular introduced him to the work of Jesse Aaron. Later, modern and contemporary art genres–originally the in 1986, Arnett met Lonnie Holley in Birmingham, where Holley’s environment incorporated “literally hundreds of assemblages and sandstone sculptures.”1 Acknowledging the importance of this dynamic African American visual art tradition, and its lack of recognition, Arnett began collecting these works in earnest, and working with the artists. He encouraged them to “do their best work” and that “the art world needed to be overwhelmed… because it was not going to accept the idea that important art was coming from the black uneducated South unless the evidence was irrefutable.”2 The extensive number of works Thornton Dial, Sr., Everything is Under the that has been produced by southern Vernacular artists Black Tree, n.d., paint & wood, 2009.1.2 is a testament to these artists’ drive and creativity.
4 Vernacular Art from the Gadsden Arts Center Permanent Collection
In t r o d u cti o n t o Ve r n a c u l a r Ar t A major step in preserving Vernacular Art is the associated with recent acquisition of 80 works of art from the Souls shaping a person’s Grown Deep Foundation to the Metropolitan Museum character and of Art in New York City (Met), including artwork personality. An by Thornton Dial and Lonnie Holley (artists also artist expressing represented in the Gadsden Arts Center’s Permanent a sense of place Collection). Of the collection, Met Director and in their work is CEO says, “It embodies the profoundly deep incorporating an and textured expression of the African American aspect of themselves experience during a complex time in this country’s within their art.” Joe Louis Light, Baby Shoe, history and a landmark moment in the evolution n.d., mixed media, 2010.1.7 of the Met.”3 “This extraordinary group of works Inspired by their contributes immeasurably to the Museum’s sense of place, representation of works by contemporary American Vernacular artists also used their art to adorn their artists and augments on a historic scale its holdings homes. Vernacular Art could be found hanging inside of contemporary art,” and outside the artists’ homes, made into quilts, says the Met’s Chairman painted on barns and fences, and displayed proudly in of the Department of yards. From found materials such as discarded chairs Modern and Contemporary and tires, to unfinished wood, to reclaimed windows, Art.4 Vernacular Art is and to objects from nature, these artists are driven to also represented in the create art that preserves their own story and history. collections and exhibitions across the United States, “In the African American South there is a including the Smithsonian sophisticated and esoteric visual system of Museum in Washington, communication, built around materials and D.C., the Philadelphia found objects with consistent symbolism and Museum of Fine Art, the concealed meanings, that came into being Whitney Museum of Art for the purposes of recording, preserving, in New York, and the High and disseminating ideas and information. Museum of Art in Atlanta. That art-making process transformed over centuries into a widespread tradition that Much of the art produced by in the twentieth century spawned some of Vernacular artists is inspired the greatest visual arts produced by any by and a response to each culture.”5 artist’s life, upbringing, and home. Of their sense of place, Gadsden Arts Jimmy Lee Sudduth, Center Curator Angie Untitled, n.d., earth Barry says, “A sense of pigments/wood, place and its influence on 2009.1.7 one’s upbringing are often
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In t r o d u cti o n t o Ve r n a c u l a r Ar t
The Gadsden Arts Center’s Vernacular Art Collection represents 21 artists and 37 works of art. Although many of these Vernacular Artists did not have any formal training, their works communicate in the same manner as the works of the formally trained contemporary artists with expressive brushwork, powerful compositions, and innovative use of color and materials. These artworks are very personal and offer a power of expression that is unmatched. Many of these works have a creative purity with references to isolation that may even be credited to the longstanding segregation between their creative genius and that of the contemporary art community. And like all of the greatest contemporary artists, these prolific artists created art because they were compelled to express their life experiences in a visual form – driven by a creative spirit to celebrate life, and often, struggle and tragedy.
Purvis Young, Untitled, n.d., collage/paint, wood, 2009.1.9
1 Souls Grown Deep Foundation, “William Arnett Formative Role Patron & Collector.”
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Me e t t h e Ar ti s t s
Th o r n t o n Di a l Jr.
Thornton Dial Jr., called “Little Buck” by his family, was born in 1953 in Bessemer, Alabama1. He attended school through the 11th grade, after which he worked doing construction in Birmingham, Alabama, for around seven years. Dial then returned to Bessemer to work for the Pullman Standard Company operating punch-and- shear machines. It was at this time that he learned to bend and shape iron, a skill that he would later use to create his sculpture. Dial married his first wife in 1972 and had two children before they divorced in 1981. In 1986 he married Angela Jackson and fathered two more children, as well as becoming the stepfather of Jackson’s daughter from a previous marriage. That same year Dial, inspired by his Thornton Dial, Jr., Untitled, n.d., father’s art, began creating artwork of his own. paint, tin, fiber, & wood, 2009.1.5 Thornton Dial Jr. works in several mediums, including painting, sculpture, and assemblage. He prefers to paint with oil-based enamel house paint, which he considers to be a basic material, as opposed to using “artist’s paint,” or more traditional materials.2 His assemblages are made from found and purchased materials, and his sculptures are made from cut and molded sheet metal and iron. Dial’s paintings are characterized by the use of strong colors, bold lines, and often repetition to emphasize his message. He uses animals and nature in his work to symbolize social conditions within modern society. Much of his work focuses on the relationships between blacks and whites, as well as humans’ relationship to nature.
Over the years, Thornton Dial Jr. has gained much recognition for his art and has exhibited around the country at museums like the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia. His work is also included in the permanent collection of the Museum of American Folk Art in New York City. Dial is proudly continuing the artistic traditions started by his father, Thornton Dial Sr.
1 Barrett, Didi. “Little Buck.” in Souls Grown Deep: African American Vernacular Art. Vol. 2. Eds. William Arnett and Paul Arnett. Atlanta: Tinwood Books, 2001. 470. 2 Conwill, Kinshasha, et al. Testimony: Vernacular Art of the African-American: The Ronald and June Shelp Collection. New York: Harry A. Abrams, Inc., 2001. 100.
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Me e t t h e Ar ti s t s
Th o r n t o n Di a l Sr.
Thornton Dial, Sr. was born in 1928 in Emelle, Alabama. He was one of twelve children and never knew his father. His family made their living sharecropping, and he grew up helping out on the farm. Dial went to school on and off for a few years, but dropped out completely after he was ridiculed for being 13 years old in the 2nd grade. Instead of going to school, Dial snuck off to work different odd jobs, including carpenter, house painter, cement mixer, and ironworker.
From 1952 to 1980, he worked for the Pullman Standard Company, a railroad car factory in Bessemer, Alabama. Dial says he learned about drawing from his job at the Pullman factory, studying designs for the steel machines. After his retirement, he concentrated on his artwork, as well as raising turkeys and making wrought-iron lawn furniture with his sons.
Dial says he was always making art and expressing his ideas; however, he didn’t know it was art until he met William Arnett in 19871. Arnett is an art dealer and collector from Atlanta, Georgia, who travels throughout the Southeast meeting and discovering artists like Thornton Dial. This type of art, known as “self-taught,” “folk,” “outsider,” or “vernacular” art was unknown to the larger art community and was not truly considered “fine” art until artists like Dial exhibited at museums like the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Whitney Museum of Art in New York.
Dial says he likes to create his artwork with materials others have thrown away2. With most of his sculptural pieces, Dial collects all of the components of the work, such as old carpet, rope, fence, or clothes and “builds” the art first. After the art is built Dial paints the entire sculpture to “fit” the work. These large sculptural paintings are often huge, creating imposing art that is literally coming into the viewer’s space.
Dial confirms that his representation of the tiger in a majority of his paintings is symbolic of “struggle,” however, Dial’s tiger is widely regarded by art critics and historians as the African- American man’s struggle for freedom in America. Dial says most of his work is about freedom and power, and the tiger is a reoccurring image3.
In 1990, Dial exhibited a collection of his work called Ladies of the United States, at Kennesaw State College in Marietta, Georgia. Soon after this show, Dial started drawing on paper, primarily images of women, in response to an art critic who stated that Dial couldn’t draw and made women look ugly. This was particularly hurtful to Dial, as he has a huge respect for the female gender. He was raised by women, and believes women carry strength, power, and love. Dial says that man would lose his “struggle” without women’s strength and love4.
In 2011, the Indianapolis Museum of Art revealed a new traveling retrospective of Dial’s work: Hard Truths: The Art of Thornton Dial, which traveled throughout the southeast. The popularity
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Me e t t h e Ar ti s t s of this exhibition and the buzz surrounding Dial led Time magazine to publish an article noting the artist’s elevation into the art world: “What he does can be discussed as art, just art, no surplus notions of outsiderness required”5.
Thornton Dial, Sr., The Tiger Knocks the Lady Down and the Midget Runs Away, 1988, assemblage, 2010.1.3
Since that exhibition Thornton Dial has had many health problems, and although he is in his 80s, he still consistently creates large sculptural paintings. Much of his work now is almost totally nonobjective- large high-relief paintings in monochromatic colors of black, white, and brown. It is as though his work is quieting down; he is not making his message so apparent anymore, but allowing the viewer to add more to the conversation.
Dial is an artist who has created art his entire life, from a deep-rooted need to “make things,” and who did not know that he was making “art” until the late 1980s. Thornton Dial, Sr. is now considered one of the creative geniuses of his time, and the most famous vernacular artist from the Southeast, whose work has shattered the art world’s notion of “folk” and “outsider” art. Although Dial has never had any education or art training and is from a rural town in the Deep South, his work touches on themes of racial inequality, struggles in a modern world, and relationships between men and women, themes that resonate with audiences around the world.
1 Mr. Dial Has Something to Say. Dir. Celia Carey. Alabama Pubic Television, 2007. DVD. 2 As told by Thornton Dial. “Mr. Dial is a Man Looking for Something” in Souls Grown Deep: African American Vernacular Art. Vol. 2. Eds. William Arnett and Paul Arnett. Atlanta: Tinwood Books, 2001. 201-202. 3 Arnett, William. “A Network of Ideas” in Souls Grown Deep: African American Vernacular Art. Vol. 1. Eds. Paul Arnett and William Arnett. Atlanta: Tinwood Books, 2000, 187. 4 As told by Thornton Dial. “Mr. Dial is a Man Looking for Something.” 208. 5 Lacayo, Richard. “Outside the Lines.” Time 14 Mar. 2011: 54-57.
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Me e t t h e Ar ti s t s
Ar t h u r Di a l
Mixed media artist Arthur Dial is known for his assemblages depicting regional folklore and biblical passages. Born and raised in rural Alabama, Dial developed an interest in the arts from his well-known artist half-brother, Thornton Dial, Sr. Just as many vernacular southern artists, he pulls much of his inspiration from his surroundings, both in material and concept.1 He held a job with a company called U.S. Pipe, what the locals termed the “Pipe Shop,” for thirty-seven years until the extended chemical exposure eventually degraded his health. Throughout his long career, the constant Arthur Dial, Untitled, n.d., paint, fiber, wood, interaction with piping materials began to 2014.1 infiltrate his artwork, as he “made other stuff, little peoples, animals, and crucifixions and stuff like that out of scrap pipe and steel and leftover supplies around the shop.”2 Dial frequently uses materials such as burlap, spray paint, and industrial sealing compound in the fabrication of his works, offering high-relief texture to his paintings.
Dial’s neighborhood, also known as “Pipe Shop,” offered a great deal of support for his artistic practice, often serving as inspiration for his pieces. He frequently represented the people in his community that he related to, such as the “working man,” in addition to biblical characters, such as Adam and Eve.
Dial’s process is organic and unique, serving as an artistic extension of him. He states, “I take ideas from my own head. I got one or two ideas from the news but most of it comes from what I see and the opinions I got inside me. My art is a record of what went by.”3 His concepts are not meant to encompass archetypal ideas or overarching philosophies, but rather his personal identity as an artist, what’s important to him, and his societal context.
1 Sellen, Betty-Carol. “Artists: Arthur Dial” in Self Taught Outsider, and Folk Art: A Guide to American Artists, Locations, and Resources, 160. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2003. 2 “Arthur Dial.” Souls Grown Deep Foundation. As told by Arthur Dial to William Arnett, 1997. http://soulsgrowndeep.org/artist/ arthur-dial 3 Dial, Arthur. “A Record of What Went By” in Souls Grown Deep: African American Vernacular Art of the South, Eds. Paul and William Arnett, 368-74. Atlanta: Tinwood Books, 2000.
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Me e t t h e Ar ti s t s
O.L. Sa m u e l s
O.L. Samuels was born in Wilcox County, Georgia, on November 18, 1931. Samuels left home when he was eight years old and worked various odd jobs around the country, including working as a farmer, professional boxer, musician, and tree surgeon. While working as a tree surgeon in 1982, Samuels was seriously injured and had to spend his lengthy recovery in a wheelchair. The accident sent him into a deep depression, until he remembered his grandmother’s advice to carve wood whenever he was down. This was the beginning of Samuels’s artistic career.
Samuels works mainly with found wood objects such Firefly as tree trunks, roots, and old wood furniture, which he O.L. Samuels, , 2009, wood/fiber, will carve for months at a time. The artist paints his paint, 2010.2 sculptures with a secret concoction of paint, glitter, sawdust, and glue that he warms on the stove, and uses as a “skin” for his sculptures.1 Although color-blind, Samuels paints several layers of wild, expressive colors, “using every color so he doesn’t leave any out.”2 Samuels is known for his imaginary images, dreamlike figures, and mythical creatures, each of whom comes with a story about its existence. Samuels’s obvious preference is to carve images of horses, which he says are “the most prideful of all the animals.”3 Samuels became a lay minister later in life, and his work often has a spiritual message.
O.L. Samuels lives in Tallahassee with his wife, using his living room as a workshop. He is still actively creating and exhibiting his artwork. Samuels has been considered one of the most talented self-taught artists in America by museums across the country. His work is included in several permanent collections, including the White House, the Arkansas Arts Center, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the National Museum of African Art.
1 Monroe, Gary. “O.L. Samuels” in Extraordinary Interpretations: Florida’s Self-Taught Artists. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2003. 131. 2 “O.L. Samuels.” Orange Hill Art. Orange Hill Art, Inc., 2005. http://www.orangehillart.com/artistinfo.asp?ArtistID=1235. 3 Abrams, Michael. “O.L. Samuels and his imaginative universe of animals, people and goblins: ‘I make things with the help of the spirit.’” in Florida Wildflowers. Michael E. Abrams, 2008. http://www.flwildflowers.com/olsamuels/.
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Le s s o n Pl a n s
12 Vernacular Art from the Gadsden Arts Center Permanent Collection Symbolism in Vernacular Art Grades K-5 Objectives: Students will create personal works of art, with imagery and symbols, and explain their choices. Time Needed: Two 1-hour class periods (one for younger students) Standards: VA.K-5.S.1 & VA.K-5.C.1 Materials: paper, pencils, crayons/markers/paint (adapt for skill/grade level) Featured artwork: Thornton Dial, Jr. – Untitled Directions: 1. Introduce students to the concept of Vernacular Art. Show students examples of the work and explain that each artist is creating art in response to their environment and often with objects found in their environment. Review if previously discussed. 2. Show students Thornton Dial, Jr.’s Untitled. Discuss the various objects in the assem- blage (butterfly, flower, sun, moth). What could these mean as symbols? a. Butterfly/moth – change, freedom b. Sun – warmth, light, happiness c. Flower – growth 3. Discuss other popular symbols with which students might be familiar. Provide example images that students may view during discussion. 4. Ask students to pick an image or symbol that they like. Using the sample images, stu- dents will draw an outline for their artwork. 5. Have students select colors they like and draw or paint their artworks with those colors. Note how Thornton Dial, Jr. does not necessarily use true-to-life colors, so students may make their own decisions on how they’d like to finish their artworks. 6. When students have finished their works, have each student present their finished artwork to the class and describe why they decided on their image and what it symbolizes to them.
13 Teacher’s Guide Vernacular Art & Sense of Place Grades K-5 Objectives: Students will create personal works of art, with colors that represent their favorite places, and explain their choices. Time Needed: 1 class period Standards: VA.K-5.S.1 & VA.K-5.C.1 Materials: markers/crayons/paint (adapt for skill/grade level), paper Featured artwork: Thornton Dial, Jr. Untitled. Directions: 1. Introduce (or review) Vernacular Art, including examples of work. Explain that vernacular art- ists created art in response to their environment–their home and places special to them. 2. Ask students to write down their favorite places. For example, grandparent’s houses, play- ground, or any place important to them. 3. Explain to students that colors typically have a meaning associated with them. Use these ex- amples: • Blue – calm • Yellow – cheerful/happy • Green – energetic/life • Red – excited • Purple – peaceful 4. Ask students to write down 3 emotions they feel when they are at their favorite place, and then choose a color to go with it. They may use the examples or select their own colors. 5. Using the colors selected, students will draw the place they chose. 6. When students have finished their works, have each student present their finished artwork to the class and describe why they their colors and what they like about their favorite place.
14 Vernacular Art from the Gadsden Arts Center Permanent Collection Vernacular Art & Sense of Place Grades 6-12 Objectives: Students will create personal works of art, reflecting on their choices, with inspira- tion from the Vernacular Art exhibition. Time Needed: 1 class period Standards: VA.68.S.1.3, VA.68.S.1.4, VA.912.S.1.3, VA.912.C.1.8, VA.912.O.3.1 Additional content areas: Language Arts/Writing Materials: paper, markers, crayons, paint, pencils Featured artworks: Selected by student from exhibition Directions: 1. Introduce students to the concept of Vernacular Art. Show students examples of the work and explain that each artist is creating art in response to their environment and often with objects found in their environment. Review if previously discussed. 2. After reviewing the exhibition, ask students to write down the title of their favorite piece. What colors are in it? How do the colors influence the emotion of the piece?Then, ask students to write down what they think the artwork means. What is the artist telling the viewer? 3. In the studio, ask students to write down their favorite place to visit. Then, students will pick 3 descriptive words for the emotions they feel about that place, and assign a color for each of the words. They may use these examples or come up with their own: • Blue – calm • Yellow – cheerful/happy • Green – energetic/life • Red – excited • Purple – peaceful Using the 3 colors selected, students will draw or paint the place they chose. 4. Finally, students will write a paragraph about their piece. They may describe the place with detail, write a narrative story about an experience at the place, or write a poem expressing their emotions about their place.
15 Teacher’s Guide Pattern in Vernacular Art Grades K-5 Objectives: Students will understand pattern as a principle of design by arranging elements of art such as line, shape, form, and color. Students will create a work of art that includes pattern. Time Needed: 1 class period Standards: VA.K-5.O.1 Materials: paper, pencils, crayons/markers/colored pencils Featured artwork: Thornton Dial Jr. Untitled Directions: 1. Introduce students to the concept of Vernacular Art. Show students examples of the work and explain that each artist is creating art in response to their environment and often with objects found in their environment. Review if previously discussed. Thornton Dial Jr. uses a variety of patterns in his artwork. Ask students to identify patterns they see in his work, and then draw examples of them. 2. Have students demonstrate patterns by finishing shape, line, and color patterns, then create their own patterns. 3. Many vernacular artists depict animals in their work. Ask students to pick an animal they see often, or just their favorite animal, and draw it. Then, using patterns have students fill in the ani- mal. Students may use different patterns on different parts of the animal, and also add different patterns to the background.
16 Vernacular Art from the Gadsden Arts Center Permanent Collection Vernacular Art & Found Materials Grades K-12 Objectives: Students will learn about vernacular art and using unique materials in the creation of art. Students will create their own art assemblage. Time Needed: 2-3 class periods Standards: VA.K-912.S.1 Additional content areas: Language Arts/Writing Materials: found materials, paint, glue, cardboard or foam-core or thick paper Featured artwork: Thornton Dial Sr. Big Black Bear Trying to Survive and The Tiger Knocks the Lady Down and the Midget Runs Away. Directions: 1. Introduce students to the concept of Vernacular Art. Show students examples of the work and explain that each artist is creating art in response to their environment and often with objects found in their environment. Review if previously discussed. Thornton Dial Sr. is known for painting over found materials in his works. Look closely at the examples. Discuss the types of materials uses and how the artist uses them for adding texture to his work. 2. Discuss with students the types of materials they might use that are unconventional. What are they? What might the texture be used for? 3. For younger students, provide samples of drawings that imply texture (see list below). Allow them to color these objects individually, and then cut them and collage them into an image. For older students, instruct students to ask their parents and then collect a few “found objects” from home. Each student should try to bring 5-10 small objects. Teachers should provide options to add to the assemblages. Students will then arrange and glue their pieces to their surface. Textures can be arranged for a particular image, or can be random. Then, the entire assemblage should be painted a solid color (white or black may be best). Students will then use color to paint their scene. “Found objects” to consider: yarn, CDs, hair curlers, tiles, pom-poms, corks, cardboard pieces, puzzle pieces, lids, buttons, fabric flowers, beads/jewelry, wood pieces, carpet sample squares, etc. 4. When students have finished their works, have each student present their finished artwork to the class and describe their artwork and the decisions they made, and why they made them. 5. Write a paragraph about your art. Does it tell a story? What would you want viewers of this artwork to know? How did the process of creating this work of art contribute to its final product and meaning?
17 Teacher’s Guide Symmetry in Vernacular Art Grades K-8 Objectives: Students will learn about vernacular art, balance, and symmetry and create a per- sonal work of art inspired by vernacular art. Students will also discuss their works using accurate art vocabulary. Time Needed: 1 class period Standards: VA.K-68.S.1, VA.K-68.S.2 Materials: paper, crayons, markers, paint, craft sticks Featured artwork: Arthur Dial, Untitled, mixed media assemblage Directions: 1. Introduce (or review) Vernacular Art, including examples of work. Explain that vernacular art- ists created art in response to their environment–their home and places special to them. 2. Review Arthur Dial’s Untitled work. What is happening? How did the artist present the im- age? He painted on found materials (rug/carpet) with bold colors. This work is also an excellent example to use to discuss balance, one of the principles of design. 3. Discuss balance, and the types (symmetry, asymmetry, radial symmetry). Ask students what type this work displays? Why? Why do you think it isn’t perfectly symmetrical? 3. For the project, take a sheet of paper and fold it in half. On one half, draw half of your desired image using a dark crayon. For example, draw half of a face or house. Be sure that the half is aligned with the fold of the paper and not the edge. Then, fold the paper so that the drawing is on the inside. Using a craft stick, rub the paper from the outside, occasionally checking that the im- age is transferring. Using paint, markers, or more crayons, add designs and color to the artwork. Students may decide to make the work purely symmetrical, or to add variety to the work. 4. When students have finished their works, have each student present their finished artwork to the class and describe their artwork and the decisions they made, and why they made them.
18 Vernacular Art from the Gadsden Arts Center Permanent Collection Vernacular Art & Texture Grades K-12 Objectives: Students will learn about art elements in O.L. Samuel’s artwork and create their own three-dimensional pieces inspired by his artwork, incorporating those same elements. Time Needed: 2-3 class periods Standards: VA.K-912.O.1 & VA.K-912.S.1 Materials: toilet paper rolls, toothpicks, sequins, buttons, beads, glitter, googly eyes, glue gun, hot glue, model magic/clay Featured artwork: O.L. Samuels Godzilla & Firefly Directions: 1. Review the elements of art and principles of design. For students new to these concepts, we suggest using this lesson plan later in the year when they have already been familiarized with each of the terms in some capacity. 2. Introduce students to the concept of Vernacular Art. Show students examples of the work and explain that each artist is creating art in response to their environment and often with objects found in their environment. Review if previously discussed. Discuss O.L Samuels’ artwork, the materials he uses, and how he creates his art from reclaimed wood. Ask students to discuss the ways the artist uses the elements of art and principles of design in his artwork. 3. For younger students, show images of various animals (horse, sheep, fish, and more).Ask students what they think they each would feel like–explain that that is texture. Ask students how they would draw a texture like that of the animal’s skin/fur, and then have them draw the textures as a review of this concept. 4. Instruct students to ask their parents and then collect a few “found objects” from home. Each student should try to bring 5-10 small objects. Teachers should provide options to add to the assemblages. “Found objects” to consider: yarn, CDs, hair curlers, tiles, pom-poms, corks, cardboard pieces, puzzle pieces, lids, buttons, fabric flowers, beads/jewelry, wood pieces, carpet sample squares, etc. 5. With a teacher’s help, use glue or a hot glue gun to add the found objects to a toilet paper or paper towel roll to being to build the shape of an animal. Students will then adorn their found ob- ject animals with paint and other objects. Older students may use clay or model magic to sculpt their animal first, and then adorn it with the found objects, or incorporate that into the work. 6. Students will then write a paragraph about their finished work of art.What art elements were used in the creation of this work of art? What would you want viewers of this artwork to know? Is there a story behind the animal–if so, write it!
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Re f e r e n c e s & Us e f u l Re s o u r c e s
BOOKS American Self-Taught: Paintings and Drawings by Outsider Artists by Frank Maresca and Roger Ricco with Lyle Rexer. New York, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993.
Creation Story: Gee’s Bend Quilts and the Art of Thornton Dial by Mark Scala. Nash- ville, Tennessee: The Frist Center for the Visual Arts, 2012.
Hard Truths: The Art of Thornton Dial by Joanne Cubbs and Eugene W. Metcalf. India- napolis: Indiana: Delmonico Books/Prestel, 2011.
History Refused to Die: The Enduring Legacy of African American Art in Alabama by Horace Randall Williams, Karen Wilkin, and Sharon Holland with Introduction by Wil- liam S. Arnett. Atlanta, Georgia: Tinwood Books, 2015.
I am Ruby by Sylvia McCardel Thomasson with paintings by Ruby C. Williams; Atlanta, Georgia, Cardel Press, 2004.
Self-Taught Art: The Culture and Aesthetics of American Vernacular Art, ed. Charles Russell. University Press of Mississippi, 2001.
Thornton Dial in the 21st Century by William Arnett, John Beardsley, Alvia J. Wardlaw, and Jane Livingston. Atlanta, Georgia: Tinwood Books in association with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2006.
Thornton Dial: Image of the Tiger, New York, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., in asso- ciation with the Museum of American Folk Art, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, and The American Center, 1993.
Thornton Dial: Thoughts on Paper by Bernard L. Herman. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press in association with the Ackland Art Museum, 2011.
Souls Grown Deep: African-American Vernacular Art: The Tree Gave the Dove a Leaf, Volume One, eds. William Arnett and William S. Arnett. Atlanta, Georgia: Tinwood Books, 2000.
Souls Grown Deep: African-American Vernacular Art, Volume Two, eds. William Arnett and Paul Arnett. Atlanta, Georgia: Tinwood Books, 2001.
Self Taught Outsider, and Folk Art: A Guide to American Artists, Locations, and Resourc- es, 160. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2003.
20 Vernacular Art from the Gadsden Arts Center Permanent Collection
Re f e r e n c e s & Us e f u l Re s o u r c e s
FILMS Mr. Dial Has Something to Say; an Art Original Film, Alabama Public Television, 2007.
Purvis of Overtown; a film by David Raccuglia and Shaun Conrad, Tinwood Media in Associa- tion with 77 Films, 2006.
WEB RESOURCES Gadsden Arts Center: http://www.gadsdenarts.org/
George Jacobs: Self-Taught Art: http://www.self-taughtart.com/
The American Folk Art Museum: http://www.folkart-museum.org/
The Foundation for Self-Taught American Artist: http://www.foundationstaart.org
The High Museum of Art Atlanta: http://www.high.org
The New Museum of Contemporary Art: http://www.newmuseum.org/
The Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery: http://americanart.si.edu
The Souls Grown Deep Foundation: http://soulsgrowndeep.org/
21 Teacher’s Guide
Vo c a b u l a r y aesthetic – pertaining to a sense of the beautiful; concerned with pure emotion and sensation as opposed to intellectuality assemblages – three-dimensional collages (often reliefs); art that transforms found objects and non-art materials into sculpture through combining or constructing techniques such as gluing or welding expressionistic – painting in a style that expresses the emotions of the artist folk art – art made by people who have little or no formal schooling in art; using styles handed down through many generations, often in a particular region naïve art – a style of painting characterized by simplified depiction of subjects, non-scientific perspectives, bright colors, and often literal depictions of imaginary scenes outsider art – a term used to describe art created by artists who work outside of the mainstream art market; they often have not been trained in art and do not make art in order to sell it non-objective – art that does not represent a person, place, or thing in the natural world; instead it can represent an idea, or not represent anything at all but just have an interesting composition pattern – a principle of design where colors, lines, or shapes are repeated regionalism – a style of art popular in the United States in the 1930s that depicted the rural, farm- ing American lifestyle in a clear, simple, and idealized way. relief – sculpture that projects from a two-dimensional background sculpture – three-dimensional art that is “in the round” or visible from all sides self-taught – an artist who has learned to create art on his or her own, instead of learning in a formal school or university setting signature – the specific and unique way in which an artist creates a body of work; a quality that runs through the artist’s entire body of work style – the artist’s chosen avenue for expression: realistic, abstract, and expressionistic, are ex- amples of style subject matter – a person, place, or thing that is represented in a body of work symbolic – using a recognizable image to carry an implied or sometimes hidden meaning texture – surface quality of a work of art; this may be seen (visual), felt (actual), or both vernacular – the language, art, or culture that is specific to, and representative of a place and time period Vernacular Art – a style of art that represents the culture, lifestyle, symbolism, experiences, and beliefs of a place and time period
22 Vernacular Art from the Gadsden Arts Center Permanent Collection
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Gadsden Arts Center 13 N. Madison Street Quincy, FL 32312 www.gadsdenarts.org (850) 875-4866