BIG IDEAS:

Racism & Stereotypes

Social Protest/Commentary

Essential Question(s):

• How does art reveal injustices and comment on social policy?

• How do life experiences influence the way you relate to art?

• How does art help us understand the lives of people of different times, places, and cultures?

• How is art used to impact the views of a society?

Summary/What is this Lesson About?

In this series of assignments/lesson, we will learn how the Mexican-American artist, Luis Jiménez uses his art to communicate a message about social and political injustices, Mexican and American cultures, and the Southwest US environment.

What You Will Learn:

• how artists communicate messages visually

• how art can influence how people think and change peoples' minds

• how the method of printmaking can help artists increase their influence and spread their message to a greater audience

Absences:

If you are absent, you can do the entire lesson individually! (but it's better if you're in class)

Activities:

Day 1: DISCUSS/LEARN ABOUT THE ARTWORK

1. We will discuss the artwork as a whole class. You are expected to actively participate, and you will get credit if you do. We will ask these questions:

• What is going on in this artwork?

• What makes you say that?

• What more can you find?

These questions will help us discover what the artwork is all about, what it means, why it is important, and how it makes us feel.

2. On your own: Investigate more about the elements and principles of art and design, which help us understand the structure of an artwork.

Day 2: DISCUSS/LEARN ABOUT THE ARTWORK

1. We will discuss the Elements and Principles of Art and Design, the "building blocks" of an artwork. You are expected to actively participate and you will get credit if you do. We will:

• Describe

• Analyze

• Interpret

• Judge/Evaluate

These questions will help us discover what the artwork is all about, what it means, why it is important, and how it makes us feel.

2. On your own: Complete the Art As Social Commentary - You Be the Art Critic worksheet.

Day 3: ENGAGE (ACTIVITY CHOICES)

You will do an activity that gives you a chance to learn more about the artist, the artwork, and the issues brought up in this print.

Activity Options: Pick one that interests you.

1. Write an obituary for the subject of the print. The obituary should be one-half to one typed page long.

2. Investigate cases of incidents similar to Esequiel's. Pick one or two and either write a 1-2 paragraph summary or record a 3-5 minute video about them.

3. Look up 5-10 other artworks by the artist and put them together in a slideshow (or other visual format). Caption the artworks with a 1-2 sentence summary of what the artwork is about.

Day 4: DEEPER DIVE

1. You will read a passage about the artwork written by an art educator that provides more background about the artwork.

2. We will discuss the issues brought up in the passage.

3. On your own: You will read a review of the artwork written by an art critic, and you will identify the types of text in the document. This activity will help you learn to distinguish among descriptive, analytical, interpretive and opinion writing.

Day 5: REFLECTION

1. You will reflect on what you learned in this assignment.

Vocabulary: