Resources
American Symbols
Elizabeth Catlett
Artist, teacher, and social activist Elizabeth Catlett was best known for her work in printmaking and sculpture.
Helpful Links:
Educators
Tennessee Social Studies Standards
Tennessee English Language Arts Standards
About
Activity 1
Students will look at how symbols and symbolic imagery is used to express thoughts or share opinions. Looking at the art of Noel Anderson, learners will consider how these images can be rearranged and combined with other symbols to change meanings and share personal ideas.
INSTRUCTIONS
What are symbols? How do we use symbols and where have you seen symbols used? How and why do artists use symbolism?
- How did you see symbols used in the various artwork in the galleries?
- How is symbolism used to provide information about an individual in a portrait? How is symbolism used to communicate other ideas within artwork?
- Introduce students to the studio project. Today students will create a collage that expresses their perception of America. What does America look like, feel like, mean to you?
- Discuss with the group the types of symbols they see daily (smiley faces, McDonald’s Arch, Apple Logo, even words) and the types of symbols they might use to represent their perception of America: a simple shape, a figure, lines or patterns of shapes, a merging/blend of symbols and words?
- What does America look like to you?
- What does America feel, sound, smell, taste like to you?
- What does America mean to you?
- How will you depict this vision with found images and words?
- How will you incorporate these into a complete design?
- Have students take a large piece of paper and the provided materials to begin searching for their images. Students can combine pictures with letters to form words that express feelings associated with or connected to the answer to the lesson prompt. Using cut-out letters to form words replicates Anderson’s style of using anonymity to share an idea as an individual and as a society all at once.
- Allow students time to find and cut out images, words, letters, etc.
- Suggest that students lay their images out and organize them in the way that best depicts their idea before gluing items to the page.
- Once students are satisfied with the layout of their work, have them glue the images to the page.
- Offer students a chance to share their symbols/logos and to explain why these items represent them.
- When about 10 minutes are left in class, ask students to finish up their collages and begin cleaning up the area around them.
Assessment
- Ask if anyone would like to share their collage. Use the students’ work to review what they saw and talked about in the galleries and in the studio (review vocabulary).
- Share student work online via #huntermuseum or send to cbespalec@huntermuseum.org
Located in Gallery 1
I wonder... Does this look familiar to you?
Many of George Washington’s portraits and profiles look the same Take a look at a selection of George Washington’s portraits at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Washington, Washington Everywhere | National Portrait Gallery
Why do you think so may artists would use the same image over and over again? How did this contribute to new Americans learning about the founding of the United States?
Think of other portraits you have seen and look at other images below—what does each one tell us something about the person featured? What has the artist shared with us about the subject of the painting?
SSP.01 Gather information from a variety of sources
SSP.05 Develop historical awareness by: Sequencing past, present, and future in chronological order and Understanding that things change over time
SS.4.08 Determine the importance of different groups to the American Revolution
Located in Gallery 1
Located in Gallery 1
Located in Gallery 1
Located in Gallery 1
Not on view
Something to consider: STEM Connection
Artists were key players in documenting conflicts both to share with the public and to create a record of events. Do some research about the methods used in the artworks from the Hunter Museum. How would an etching or lithograph reach a different group of people than a painting? How would these inventions (and others like photography and film) affect the ways in which Americans learned about and responded to conflict?
SSP.01 Gather information from a variety of sources, including media and technology sources
Located in Gallery 4
Located in Gallery 4
Located in Gallery 14
Art can be an expression of identity and culture. Some communities have had these important personal representations threatened because they were different or were in opposition to new ideas being brought by expanding frontiers.
Look at the following 3 artworks that respond to the impact on the people and the land during the Westward Expansion of the United States.
Consider: what emotions do you see represented? Can you find examples of how it felt to lose something very important? Can you also find examples of resilience? What symbols, colors, and details did the artist use to share these emotions?
SS.3.22 Examine how American Indian cultures changed as a result of contact with European cultures, including: decreased population, spread of disease (smallpox), increased conflict, loss of territory, and increase in trade.
Located in Gallery 5
Located in Gallery 5
Located in Gallery 5
Cities also expanded rapidly during the mid 19th century. People came to the United States from all over the world! In cities like New York, many diverse groups of people lived very close together. Trains, trolleys, and streets showcased the many ways lives overlapped.
Look at the images below: Find people who are working, resting, excited, nervous, and confident. What are they doing? Where do you think they are going?
SSP.03 Organize data from a variety of sources in order to: Compare and contrast multiple sources, Recognize differences between multiple accounts, and Frame appropriate questions for further investigation
R.1. Cornerstone Read closely to determine what a text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
Located in Gallery 3
Located in Gallery 12
Located in Gallery 14
Listen to the song Poor Old Joe by Paul Robeson, a renowned singer during the early 1900s and the Harlem Renaissance. During the Great Migration, many African Americans travelled to cities in the North in search of new opportunities and equality while others remained and worked in agriculture in the South. How do the lyrics connect to the artwork?*
*This is an artwork about migration by someone who was an immigrant (rather than a migrant) but has overlapping themes for both experiences as discussed above
Left: Hung Liu (1948-2021), I Hear Their Gentle Voice Calling, 2017, mixed media, multi-layer resin, 82 x 82 in. Toledo Museum of Art. Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey.
Located in Gallery 12
Located in Gallery 15
Immigrants have been crucial in shaping American history and culture. Many of America’s most celebrated artists were immigrants or the children of immigrants who chose to build their lives in the U.S.
Located in Gallery 18
Located in Gallery 18
Look at the artworks above and at left: Think about how these two artists combine images from American culture with historical Japanese and Korean art to create something new.
Located in Gallery 1
Activity: Mimi Herbert left half of the work Celebration Flag blank, suggesting an opportunity for viewers to add their own ideas to complete the flag. Flags are used to identify a place using colors and symbols—The United States flag uses 50 stars for the 50 states, 13 stripes for the 13 original colonies, blue for justice, red for valor and bravery, and white for purity and innocence. Use the blank space provided in the activity below to share how you would complete Mimi’s flag.
Download activity
Located in Gallery 13
Contemporary art continues to address themes of identity, conflict, movement and our changing world. Contemporary can be defined as “right now.” All artwork is contemporary at the time it is made and reflects the social, political and personal impacts of the artist’s environment. Look at the works below. How do these artworks reflect on history as well as the “right now”?
Not on view
Not on view
Not on view
