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.