Jacob Lawrence was born on September 7, 1917 in Atlantic City, New Jersey to parents who were migrants from the South. They separated, and Jacob and his siblings were placed into foster care. Three years later they moved in with their mother in Harlem in New York City. There Jacob took free art classes at Utopia's Children's House where he painted decorative masks. Jacob was able to meet many Harlem Renaissance artists.

Jacob developed a style of painting that incorporated abstract figures and using vivid, solid colors. His style was influence by Mexican muralists and by the Harlem community. He painted in either tempera or gouache on paper or on cardboard. Toward the end of the 1930s, Jacob began creating series of tempera paintings that focused on Black history. A grant from the Julius Rosenwald Fund made it possible for Jacob Lawrence to begin his 60 piece Migration Series which was displayed in New York City in 1941. At only 24 years old, his entire collection was sold; the sixty pieces were split between the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., and the Museum of Modern Art. Jacob Lawrence was the first African American artist to have artwork in the Museum of Modern Art.

Jacob married an artist named Gwendolyn Knight. He served the U.S. Coast Guard during WWII. Afterward, he began teaching as a professor at a university. Jacob received a commission to illustrate poetry and throughout the duration of his life continued to teach at various universities and to develop artwork that showcased the human struggles that resulted from end of segregation. He passed away from cancer on June 9, 2000.

Artist: Jacob Lawrence

Movement(s): Cubism, Contemporary Art

Supplies needed:

Pencil, copy paper, heavy weight paper or cardboard, tempera paint, water cup, paper towels

Learning Objectives:

Elementary School

• Students will imagine life in the city as depicted by the illustrations of Jacob Lawrence

• Students will empathize with how the people in the story read to them may have felt.

Middle School

• Students will build empathy by creating an art piece inspired by struggle.

• Students will explore the creation of the figure or human form.

• Students will develop an understanding of the use of space and scale in composition.

• Students will explore the use of tempera paint (watercolor in some cases) on cardboard.

Essential Questions:

• How can the struggle of one group of people affect other people?

• How can art be used to share the story of a group of people?

• Is there just one type of art that can be used to share a story?

Hook:

Students will listen to a story written by Susan Goldman Rubin and illustrated by Jacob Lawrence called, "In the city". They will be asked to illustrate it on draft paper.

For Middle School, this video shares more of the personal history of Jacob Lawrence.

The Great Migration

Description:

The class will be introduced to Jacob Lawrence and examples of his art. The class will consider the essential questions before listening to a literary simple describing the desegregation of the South. Students will create a draft illustration for the literary sample. The class will be introduced to figure drawing. Students will revise their drafts before receiving a heavy weight piece of paper or cardboard to begin their final on. Students will draw on the final paper and paint using tempera or watercolor paint.

Sequence:

Day 1: Intro to Jacob Lawrence, analysis of his work, essential, questions, literary sample and draft

Day 2: Intro to figure drawing, revision of draft

Day 3: Intro to tempera or watercolor, final draft

Day 4: Paint to complete artwork

Vocabulary:

Jacob Lawrence: A artist born in 1917 know as an artist from the Harlem Renaissance who focused on creating artwork that brings attention to the struggle resulted from desegregation.

Harlem Renaissance: An intellectual cultural movement reviving African American traditions through literature, dance, art, fashion, music, and theatre in Harlem in New York

Figure Drawing: Drawing of the human figure in a particular posture

Desegregation: The political ending of racial segregation

Migration: The movement of a group of people from one area to another