55-minutes
Students are introduced to the artist,
Clementine Hunter, who lived her entire life as a sharecropper
on a rural Central Louisiana farm. This activity will provide
students the opportunity to look at some of her works. Students
will also discover the concept of folk or primitive
art and how, in particular, Hunter's culture and the time in
which she lived is reflected in her paintings.
Art
Students will be able to
• Identify Clementine Hunter as a folk artist
• Describe what is meant by a folk artist
• Express their feelings in a drawing
• Reflect upon the work of Hunter and be able to write
his\her thoughts in a journal
National Standards for Arts Education
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/professional_resources/standards/natstandards/standards.html
Visual Arts (K-4)
Content Standard #1: Understanding and applying media,
techniques, and processes
Content Standard #4: Understanding the visual arts in
relation to history and cultures
Content Standard #5: Reflecting upon and assessing the
characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others
Louisiana Arts Content Standards:
http://www.louisianaschools.net/DOE/assessment/standards/ARTS.pdf
HP-3VA-E5: Describe ways the visual arts are used in
daily life.
CE 1VA-E7: Maintaining an individual journal or sketchbook
CA-4VA-E1: Viewing works of art, expressing an opinion,
and justifying individual viewpoints
CA-4VA-E5: Expressing personal feelings or judgments
about works of art and explaining negative or positive comments
Video:
Gumbo Island: A
State of Art
Web sites:
http://www.gilleysgallery.com/PAGES/clementine1.html
This Web site is an online art gallery that displays a variety
of paintings by Hunter and also lists the prices. This will
give the students an idea of the value of her paintings.
http://www.sec.state.la.us/museums/osc/exhibits/clementine/OSC-CLEM1.htm
This site previews several of Hunter's paintings that were part
of an exhibit at the Louisiana State Archives building.
http://www.lpb.org/education/classroom/itv/gumbo/
This is the Web site where the teacher guide for this series
is located.
Per Class:
• Gumbo Island: A State of Art
• Map of Louisiana
• Variety of "folk art" (pottery, jewelry,
paintings, etc.)
• Activity Sheet
• Clementine Hunter: American Folk Artist
by James Wilson (optional)
Per Student:
• Water colors
• Art paper
• Water-based markers
• Journals
• Pencils
Bookmark the following web sites:
http://www.gilleysgallery.com/PAGES/clementine1.html
http://www.sec.state.la.us/museums/osc/exhibits/clementine/OSC-CLEM1.htm
http://www.lpb.org/education/classroom/itv/gumbo/
Show students the gallery website of
Clementine Hunter's paintings but do not call attention to her
name. Be sure to point out the prices of the various paintings.
Point out the zinnias. Let students comment on the paintings,
what they think each represents, the colors, the subjects, and
let them express their likes and dislikes. Have students imagine
what the person who painted them might be like or what might
be her background or where she might have lived.
1. Start the video from the
beginning and PAUSE (1:13 minutes) when Britt points
to the Louisiana map and says, "It may be hard to see but
that words spells Natchitoches."
2. On a classroom map of Louisiana,
have students locate the town of Natchitoches. Ask if any of
them have ever been to Natchitoches. Some students may have
attended the Christmas lighting pageant or visited someone who
was attending school at the local university. Tell the students
that they will be visiting the home of a famous artist named
Clementine Hunter who lived near Natchitoches and who had painted
the pictures they saw on the website. Ask students if they have
ever seen a picture (painting) that looked similar to these.
Tell them that Hunter is referred to as a "folk,"
"primitive" or "naïve" artist. As a
POINT OF FOCUS for Media Interaction, ask students to
listen during the video to find out what those two terms mean.
3. FAST FORWARD (to 6:08) where
clouds appear in a blue sky (animation) and Britt is singing.
PLAY (until 6:58) as Britt ends her song with the words,
"Get ready and color!" PAUSE. Ask children
to close their eyes and imagine a special place where they like
to go or play, a place where they are happy and safe. Ask the
students to draw a picture of the place they just imagined.
Allow sufficient time for students to make their drawings before
RESUME playing the video. PLAY until Britt reads
from her journal and says, "Share with trained artist a
powerful need to speak to the world with their art." (7:57)
PAUSE. Discuss the terms "folk," "primitive"
and "naïve" artist with the class. It is important
that they understand that these individuals have not had formal
training, yet they are artists! Perhaps students know someone
who is a folk artist. Share with the students some items that
were made by folk artists. Take children to the Louisiana Archives
website, and let the students see some of Hunter's works. If
you have access to the book, Clementine Hunter: American Folk
Artist by James Wilson, let students see the variety of her
paintings. RESUME play until 10:40 STOP (Britt is in
the tree and is reading from her journal, "Just dip your
brush in a color and let it speak!) Ask students how Clementine
Hunter's art reflects her culture.
Tell students that artists usually sign
their work in some way, such as a signature or a special mark,
so they should "sign" the picture they drew in the
earlier activity. Point out signatures on paintings or other
art work. Show students Clementine Hunter's unique signature
(Activity Sheet #1). Ask them why they think she signed her
name this way. Hunter was illiterate and could not write her
name. She first initialized her paintings with CH but was concerned
that it would be confused with the plantation owner Cammy Henry
(CH) so she made a backwards C. Over time it became
which was uniquely her own!
Have students describe his\her drawing to
the other students in the class. Students should next write
in their journals what they did and did not like about Clementine
Hunter's paintings.
Art:
• The first part of this video takes students
to New Orleans where they learn about Edgar Degas, who painted
some of his most famous works while living in the crescent city.
Students can watch this part of the video and make comparisons
between both the life and the works of Degas and Hunter.
Science:
• Clementine Hunter loved zinnias and they are
prominent in many of her paintings. If this activity is done
in the early spring, students could be provided with an individual
clay pot to paint in which they could plant zinnia seeds or
zinnia seedlings. Other recycled items could be used to paint
and to serve as a decorative vase for cut flowers. If you choose
to plant zinnias in their pots, be sure to select a dwarf variety.
Geography\Social Studies:
• A variety of information from the Louisiana
Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism (http://www.crt.state.la.us),
and from the Natchitoches Chamber of Commerce (http://www.natchitocheschamber.org/
) can provide additional information on the city of Natchitoches.
The town has a rich past as well as having a very interesting
"present-day" appeal.
Language Arts:
• Encourage students to write a poem or story that
describes the picture they painted in the earlier activity.
• Invite a speaker to share
more on the life and history of Clementine Hunter and why she
was so unique. This could be someone from local or nearby art
department at a university; however, many retired historians
or art lovers may be an excellent resource.
• Identify other local or regional "folk"
artist that would either share their art with the students in
the classroom or allow the class to visit his\her studio to
learn more about their artistry.
Art Activity Sheet #1 HTML PDF
