Artwork

Author:Rockwell,Norman.TheProblemWeAllDealWith.1964.Painting.White
House,Washington,D.C.
Summary:It shows Ruby Bridges, a six-year-old black girl, walking to school with
four guards. It is 1960 in New Orleans. It is the first time a black child is going to an allwhite grade school in the American South.

Reason: This artwork is a beautiful depiction of integration being enforced and it shows
how much danger and precaution went into integrating black children into the white
school system.

In my classroom: As a teacher, I would put this picture up for my students to see and
ask them to write down their thoughts about the artwork. I would ask them to carefully

examine the piece and speculate why certain words, objects, and people were in the piece
and to speculate what the artist was trying to say by creating the piece.

Connecting to Common Core:

1.Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.

c. Use words, phrases, and clauses as well as
varied syntax to link the major sections of
the text, create cohesion, and clarify the
relationships between claim(s) and reasons,
between reasons and evidence, and between
claim(s) and counterclaims.

The students would be able to express in their own words how they felt about the art
piece and then we would discuss the reasoning behind their judgments and how to
provide evidence for their arguments.

Author: Somerville,Travis.HistoricalBlindness.2015.OilPainting.BetaPictorus,
Volta,NY.

Summary: Travis Somerville

Historical Blindness

2014, oil on vintage cotton picking bag, safety pin, cotton glove
68 by 25 in. (ca. 173 by 63 cm)

Reason: This painting is so intense and says so much. This painting was actually done
this year (2015) and I want my students to know that these topics, the ones dealt with
during the Civil Rights Movement, are still relevant today and there are many media
outlets that people use to let their voices be heard, such as artwork and paintings.

In my classroom: I would put this picture up for my students to see and ask them to
write down their thoughts about the artwork. I would ask them to carefully examine the

piece and speculate why certain words, objects, and people were in the piece and to
speculate what the artist was trying to say by creating the piece.

Connecting to Common Core:

1.Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.

c. Use words, phrases, and clauses as well as
varied syntax to link the major sections of
the text, create cohesion, and clarify the
relationships between claim(s) and reasons,
between reasons and evidence, and between
claim(s) and counterclaims.

The students would be able to express in their own words how they felt about the art
piece and then we would discuss the reasoning behind their judgments and how to
provide evidence for their arguments.

Author: Somerville,Travis.HowToWearASuit.2009.OilPainting.N.p.:n.p.,n.d.N.
pag.Web.

Summary: Somerville stated, My southern identity will always play a part in my work
because that is who I am... I feel the overall theme [of my work] is oppression and greed.
I want the oppressed to be validated and the oppressors to be guilty. I want people to
realize that we are all connected in some way and we are responsible for each other.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_Somerville#cite_note-TheBen2009-1

Reason: I absolutely love Travis Somervilles work. His art is so powerful and yet, you
have to really study it to understand all the deep undertakings that the piece has. This
artwork in particular is very powerful and I want my students to understand how very
common violence and racism was in the mid 20th century. Racism was a family inherited

thought and action and I want my students to really grasp how early one would catch on
to racist thoughts and actions.

In my classroom: I would put this picture up for my students to see and ask them to
write down their thoughts about the artwork. I would ask them to carefully examine the
piece and speculate why certain words, objects, and people were in the piece and to
speculate what the artist was trying to say by creating the piece.

Connecting to Common Core:

1.Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
c. Use words, phrases, and clauses as well as
varied syntax to link the major sections of
the text, create cohesion, and clarify the
relationships between claim(s) and reasons,
between reasons and evidence, and between
claim(s) and counterclaims.

The students would be able to express in their own words how they felt about the art
piece and then we would discuss the reasoning behind their judgments and how to
provide evidence for their arguments.

Author: Worhal,Andy.RaceRiot.1964.AcrylicandSilkscreen.N.p.

Summary:Warhol made some ten silkscreen painting on the theme. They became
known as his Race Riot paintings (counterfactually, in reality the images were of a
peaceful march disrupted by police), and they represent Warhol's only overtly political
statement.

Reason: I want to use this painting because of the renown name of Andy Warhol and
how this painting was a big political statement. I want the students to understand how
celebrities and famous people during this time period used their talents to make political
statements, like Warhol did with this painting. I also want them to try and critically think
about why Warhol chose the colors, pictures, and geometry of the painting and what they
think it means.

In my classroom: I would put this picture up for my students to see and ask them to
write down their thoughts about the artwork. I would ask them to carefully examine the
piece and speculate why certain words, objects, and people were in the piece and to
speculate what the artist was trying to say by creating the piece.

Connecting to Common Core:

1.Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.

c. Use words, phrases, and clauses as well as
varied syntax to link the major sections of
the text, create cohesion, and clarify the
relationships between claim(s) and reasons,
between reasons and evidence, and between
claim(s) and counterclaims.

The students would be able to express in their own words how they felt about the art
piece and then we would discuss the reasoning behind their judgments and how to
provide evidence for their arguments.