I've taught middle school art for three years at a Title I school and over ten years at nonprofit arts organizations. What always worked best for my students was culturally-relevant community-rooted curriculum that I designed based on authentic student interest.
I am in the process of uploading all my social justice lessons and unit plans. Check back for updates in this space!
topics
artist Skills
Teaching Documents
single-day lessons
I have screened all the Youtube videos, articles, and museum websites to make sure they do not contain profanity or nudity. Middle school approved!
Tattoo Artists
Hawaiian Tattoos
Tattoo Internship
Apprenticeship 101
Tattoo Artist tips
Norman Collins Sailor Jerry Article
10 tattoo artists you should know
California Museum Exhibits
Museum of Tolerance Family Sunday
De Young Museum "Soul of a Nation"
Unit focus artists
Esiri Erheriene-Essi |European, Black, identity, history, identity, archival
Derek Fordjour | American, Black, African, found objects, texture, incarceration
Alex Gardner | Los Angeles, mixed, figurative
Abreesha Jones | California, Black, celebrities, role model, street art, spray paint,
Ashley Lukashevsky | Los Angeles, mixed, illustration, activism, feminism, political action
Lakwena Maciver | European, Black, mixed, ornament, message, mural, street art
Resources
Other websites for social justice oriented art curriculum
Lesson plans:
Abolitionist Teaching Network
Anti-Racist Art Teachers
Black Lives Matter at School
The Memory Project
National Museum of the American Indian
NEA Ed Justice Resources
Racial Equity Tools
UofMichigan Anti-Racism Resources
Yes Magazine for Teachers
Zinn Education Project
Crowdfunded resources:
Scaffolded Anti-Racism Resources for white allies
Tik Tok Creators
Artwork:
Amplifier Art
Just Seeds Artist Collective
Organizations:
Afrotectopia
Art Administrators of Color
Educolor
Academic journals:
Multicultural Perspectives (NAME)
Partners:
Zingha.ca
Articles
How Art Analysis Addresses Cultural Bias in the Classroom (Kyle Anderson)
Helping Students Discuss Race Openly (ASCD)
The Most Influential Living African American Artists (Artsy)
7 Ways to Highlight Resistance Efforts When Discussing Oppression with Children (Mia Birdsong)
Making Black Lives Matter: Toward an anti-Racist Artmaking and Teaching Agenda (James Haywood Rolling Jr.)
Talking about Race (NMAAHC)
'It's lke we don't exist': Jaune Quick-to-See Smith on Native American Artists (Nadja Sayej)
Black Arts Matter (Sharonda Harris-Marshall)
Talking About Race (Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture)
Affirming Black Lives Without Inducing Trauma (Teaching Tolerance)
Why We Can't Afford Whitewashed Social-Emotional Learning (Dena Simmons)
Equity Conerences (Joe Truss)
Talking Race With Young Children (NPR)
Dismantle racism? Start in the classroom, teachers say (Isabella Zou)
Videos:
Radical Self Care by Angela Davis
The Urgency of Intersectionality by Kimberle Crenshaw
The Danger of Silence by Clint Smith
The Racial Politics of Time by Brittney Cooper
We Need to Talk About an Injustice by Bryan Stevenson
academic Articles
Creating a Visual of the Future: Strategies for Motivating Minority Students (Jeannette Abi-Nader)
The Origins of Racism in the Public School Art Curriculum (F. Graeme Chalmers)
Reclaiming Multicultural Education: Course Redesign as a Tool for Transformation (Mae Chaplin)
Racism American Style and Resistance to Change: Art Education's Role in the Indian Mascot Issue (Elizabeth M. Delacruz)
Why Can't We All Just Be Individuals? Countering the Dscourse of Individualism in Anti-racist Education (Robin DiAngelo)
Can the Empire's Tools Ever Dismantle the Empire's House? Teacher Education and the Practice of Identifications (Nombuso Diamini)
Cearing the Decks for Dominant Culture: Some First Principles for a Contemporary Art Education (Paul Duncum)
Multicultural Art Education in an Era of Standardized Testing: Changes in Knolwedge and Skill for Art Teacher Certification in Texas (Amela Kraehe)
White Racial Identity and Anti-Racist Education: A Catalyst for Change (Sandra M. Lawrence and Beverly Daniel Tatum)
Anti-Racist Education: Pulling Together to Close the Gaps (Enid Lee)
Contesting Culture: Identity and Curriculum Dilemmas in the Age of Globalism, Postcolonialism, and Multiplicity (Cameron McCarthy, Michael D. Giardina, Susan Juanita Harewood Jin-Kyung Park)
Rethinking Liberal and Radical Perspectices on Racial Inequity in Schooling: Making the Case for Nonsynchrony (Cameron McCarthy)
Addressing Contemporary Scoial Issues in Art Education: A Survey of Public School Art Educators in Georgia (Melody K. Milbrandt)
On the Persistence of Memory: The Legacy of Visual African-American Stereotypes (Richard Siegesmund)
For: Anti-Racist Education (Audrey Thompson)
Toward an Ethnic Students Pedagogy: Implications for K-12 Schools from the Research (Allyson Tintiagco-Cubales, et. al)
Teaching Art in the Multicultural Classroom: Six Position Statements (Robyn F. Wasson, Patricia L. Stuhr, Louis Petrovich-Mwaniki)
#BlackLivesMatter: Access and Equity in the Arts and Education (Alice Wexler)
The Role of Political Education in the Formation of Teachers as Community Organizers: Lessons From a Grassroots Activist Organization (Miguel Zavala, Nick Henning)