Keywords

collage, artist, Romare Bearden, African American

Materials Needed

• old magazines and newspapers
• teacher-selected print resources about Romare Bearden or printouts from the sites listed in the lesson
• overhead projector
• different colored construction paper
• scissors
• glue or paste
• computers with Internet access and color printer or print resources about Romare Bearden and pictures of his collages

Lesson Plan

• Discuss the meaning of the word collage from ArtLex: Collage.
• Explain that one famous African American artist who often used the collage technique was Romare Bearden. Read aloud background information about Bearden from Romare Bearden.
• Using an overhead, show students examples of Bearden's work from art books or from one or more of the following sites. Or, if a color printer is available, print out some examples from one or more of the sites.

  The Art of Romare Bearden
  A Graphic Odyssey: Romare Bearden as Printmaker
  Bearden
  Social Activism: Romare Bearden
  The Art of Romare Bearden
  ArtCyclopedia: Romare Bearden
  

• Discuss some of the themes and items in Bearden's collages. Explain that he used a variety of materials in his collages, including items cut from magazines and newspapers.
• Distribute the old magazines and newspapers you saved. Distribute the art materials.
• Have students create their own collages following the examples on display.

Assessment

Evaluate students' participation and completed collages.

Lesson Plan Source

Education World

Submitted By

Lois Lewis

National Standards

Visual Arts:
NA-VA.K-4.1
NA-VA.5-8.1
NA-VA.9-12.1

Language Arts:
NL-ENG.K-12.1
NL-ENG.K-12.2
NL-ENG.K-12.9

Technology:
NT.K-12.1
NT.K-12.3
NT.K-12.5

Social Science:
NSS-USH.K-4.3
NSS-USH.5-12.3
NSS-USH.5-12.4
NSS-USH.5-12.5
NSS-USH.5-12.6
NSS-USH.5-12.7
NSS-USH.5-12.8
NSS-USH.5-12.9
NSS-USH.5-12.10