By Mrs. Monica Rastegar

Baltimore City Public Schools

Presented at

The 2013 National Art Education Association Conference

CULTURAL TRIPTYCH AND OTHER WAYS TO BE MULTICULTURAL ALL YEAR LONG

Goals

This presentation offers some

approaches, recommendations and

resources that may make it easier to

seamlessly infuse multicultural content

into your art curriculum through the

entire school year.

• In my urban Catholic elementary school in Philadelphia, my two best friends were Areetha

Carter, an African-American Protestant and Sashikala Balasupramanian, whose family

was Hindu.

• My husband and I have often expressed our good fortune that our daughters were able to

attend good urban public schools where there were a range of cultural and socio -

economic groups. It was important to us that multiculturalism was just business as usual.

• Some of you were raised in families where our parents were from different economic,

religious or geographic groups. We learned subtle ways to be respectfully curious about

differences within those groups. As we know, multiculturalism is part of everyone’s life.

PERHAPS YOU HAVE SOME “EVERYDAY

MULTICULTURALISM” IN YOUR BACKGROUND.

How does this benefit our

students? Our students are interacting in a world that grows more multicultural every day.

In college, in business, in community interactions, they benefit from being informed global citizens.

Students who see the connections between cultures and who recognize that there are heroes, heritage and contributions from all cultures present themselves as sophisticated leaders.

PART 1: THE TRIPTYCH APPROACH

WHEN PROVIDING A “TRADITIONAL” (OR EURO-CENTRIC, OR

WELL KNOWN) EXEMPLAR TO STUDENTS, ADD “BRACKETS.”

BRACKET EVERY “TRADITONAL” EXEMPLAR WITH TWO

EXEMPLARS FROM ANOTHER CULTURE THAT HAVE SIMILAR

ART CONTENT.

Bamiyan Buddha, Afghanistan (destroyed) Leshan Buddha, China

SHOWCASING LEADERS FROM A VARIETY OF CULTURES IS IMPORTANT. THE

CRAZY HORSE MONUMENT IN SOUTH DAKOTA AND MOUNT RUSHMORE SHARE

MORE THAN ART CONTENT.

ELICIT SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

BETWEEN LOCAL AND DISTANT CULTURES.

The Washington Monument

Rapa Nui (Easter island) figures

THREE EXEMPLARS CAN BE A GOOD PLATFORM FOR MEETING

THE NEEDS OF ADVANCED LEARNERS. STUDENTS WITH ADVANCED ART ANALYSIS SKILLS COULD DISCUSS THE POLITICAL

MEANING OF MONUMENTS OF RULERS.

STUDENTS WHO HAVE COMPLETED THE MAIN ASSIGNMENT

CAN EITHER ZOOM IN ON A DETAIL FROM ONE MONUMENT

OR START EXPLORING A SECOND EXEMPLAR.

FOR HIGH SCHOOL OR MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS, A SENSITIVE DISCUSSION

ABOUT WHY ONE CULTURAL GROUP DESTROYED A MONUMENT COULD BE A

THOUGHTFUL COMPARISON OF ANCIENT AND MODERN VALUES AND POLITICS

AMONG CULTURAL SUBGROUPS.

SHOWCASING THREE EXEMPLARS CAN LESSEN “EXOTIC

OTHERNESS” APPROACHES TO OTHER CULTURES WHILE

STILL IDENTIFYING UNIQUE DIFFERENCES.

LET’S “TRIPTYCH” MONA LISA.

By Farah Ossouli Mona Lisa by DaVinci

HERE IS A CLOSE UP OF MONA LISA BY THE

CONTEMPORARY IRANIAN ARTIST FARAH

OSSOULI. THIS IMAGERY IS DISTURBING – CONSIDER YOUR AUDIENCE.

ARTIST ELIZABETH LAYTON EXPLAINED THAT SHE

MADE A PICTURE OF WHAT MONA LISA MIGHT BE

THINKING ABOUT AS AN OLD WOMAN.

Mona Lisa as an old Woman by visionary artist Elizabeth Layton What might LaGiconda be thinking?

WHAT DID MS. LAYTON INCLUDE? WHY ARE

THERE MODERN ITEMS IN THIS PICTURE?

Part II: The Helping Folder

Approach Gather portraits and biographies of heroes, both famous and little known.

Use these individuals as the subjects of portraiture units.

Exploration of the biographies of the individuals could be a formal part of the assignment or informal background information.

Often, a student chooses to find out more about the person they are drawing on their own. Further exploration can be sparked simply by providing this hero’s face as a subject!

THIS IS ONE OF MY AFRICAN-AMERICAN HEROES MONEY DESIGN EXAMPLES.

IT HONORS SERGEANT MAJOR CHRISTIAN FLEETWOOD, A SOLDIER

AND SCHOLAR WHO FOUGHT IN THE CIVIL WAR.

YOU MAY WANT TO SUGGEST THAT SOME STUDENTS HONOR PEOPLE WHOSE

LIVES WERE NOT FORMALLY RECORDED, WHOSE NAMES MAY EVEN BE LOST

TO HISTORY. A STUDENT COULD ALSO CHOOSE A NAME FROM A DOCUMENT AND USE THE

HISTORICAL FICTION MODEL TO DEVELOP A BIOGRAPHY BASED ON FACTS.

IN MANY COUNTRIES, CURRENCY DESIGNS OFTEN

SHOWCASE LEADERS OR ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE

SITES.

A planning sketch that includes brainstorming multiple ideas for currency design subjects.

This student references Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem about wearing a mask within the dominant culture.

MONEY DESIGN IS ONE OF MANY UNITS THAT CAN USE

BIOGRAPHIES OF DIVERSE GROUPS AS THE SUBJECT

AROUND WHICH THE ART CONTENT IS DEVELOPED.

Honoring Justice Thurgood Marshall Honoring educator, scholar, writer, activist, Dr. W.E.B. DuBois

A Buildings Helping Folder can

invite inquiry by including

architecture from other

cultures.

Here, the student was inspired by an

Iranian monument to the poet Sa’adi.

In one unit, you are teaching your art

content and simultaneously deepening

the students’ knowledge of another

culture.

You can weight the cultural component

as you wish. It can be a formally

assessed part of the unit or provided as

a visual resource.

USING IRANIAN POET MONUMENTS TO HONOR

AFRICAN-AMERICAN POETS

• After studying monuments to Sa’adi, Ferdowsi, Omar Khayyam and others, students chose an African American poet to honor. Inspired by Langston Hughes’ lines about being directed to sit in the kitchen, the following monument drawing was generated.

• As you know, integrating the cultures of poets and artists can be the basis for rich content connections and insights.

• “If you could say it with words, there would be no need to paint.” Artist Edward Hopper’s statement could lead to a fascinating comparison of poets and visual artists and how their cultures are similar and different.

PART III:

PAIRING CONTEMPORARY AND ANCIENT

SOME STUDENTS MAY NEED REMINDERS

THAT OTHER CULTURES, LIKE OURS, ARE

SIMULTANEOUSLY BOTH TRADITIONAL AND

MODERN.

Portal at Persepolis, the ancient ceremonial complex in Iran

Highway portal in the modern Iranian city of Shiraz, next to ancient Persepolis

A THEME LIKE PORTALS CAN BE LITERAL OR METAPHORICAL. YOU

COULD SHOW MANY EXAMPLES OF PORTALS FROM ONE CULTURE TO

SHOWCASE SUBTLE DIFFERENCES WITHIN CULTURES.

MY PORTAL DRAWING BELOW WAS INSPIRED BY A VARIETY OF PORTALS FROM

IRANIAN ART. THE STUDENT PAINTING INCLUDES SPORTS IMAGERY FROM

OUR SCHOOL. IT WAS INSPIRED BY THE SAME EXEMPLARS.

WHEN TEACHING A UNIT ON BRIDGES, INCLUDE CONTEMPORARY

BRIDGE DESIGNERS FROM A VARIETY OF CULTURES. SIAH ARMAJANI, A

CONTEMPORARY IRANIAN-AMERICAN SCULPTOR, DESIGNED THE BRIDGE IN THE PHOTOGRAPH

BELOW. IT IS IN MINNEAPOLIS.

• Point out examples of multiculturalism from many centuries.

• Cellist Yo-Yo Ma called the Silk Road “The Internet of Antiquity.”

• The vase pictured was commissioned by the Portuguese sea captain Jorge Anriques for Chinese Porcelain artists. In includes upside down text along the “neck” of the vessel – not in Chinese script. The cobalt in the glaze was mined in Iran.

• A medieval Norse jewelry mold is displayed in Dublin that allow a Crucifix or Thor’s Hammer to be fashioned according to the purchaser’s wishes.

PART IV: MULTICULTURALISM IS NOT NEW

MULTICULTURAL VESSELS: DRAW A VESSEL THAT

COMBINES SYMBOLS FROM TWO CULTURES.

PART V: RECOGNIZING FAMILY AND LOCAL

HERITAGE

Recognizing distinguished local heritage in art units formally celebrates lesser known

contributions to communities.

STUDENTS CHOSE A FAMILY MEMBER OR A SCHOOL

STAFF MEMBER TO HONOR IN A THRONE DESIGN.

FAMILY HERITAGE

• The first year that I created the African-American History celebration at my former school,

I was inspired by the artist Fred Wilson, who created the groundbreaking exhibit “Mining

The Museum” at the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore.

• I asked families of all races to send in personal artifacts that told stories about the history

of segregation, integration, ancestral research and other heritage issues. With parent

volunteers, we set up a “museum” in the library. The display was poignant and powerful.

It blossomed into an evening that included poetry reading and other presentations. As I

had hoped, the next year an African-American parent joined me in running the event

which continues to this day.

• Our culture’s unfortunate focus on celebrity can mean that important figures and buildings

that served communities in positive ways are sometimes not formally recognized. When

schools help to unearth and highlight local heroes and heritage in a formal educational

setting the impact can be profound.

CULTURAL HERITAGE DAYS OR MONTHS

• I am not against African –American History Month and similar celebrations. As stated, I

made sure we had one at my last school. This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase,

celebrate and educate. I hope our schools continue to provide these events.

• I encourage infusing examples and information from a diverse group of cultures into our

content throughout the school year.

• Thank you for your time and interest.

• All student art work in this presentation is created by students at Paul Laurence Dunbar

High School for the Health Professions, Baltimore City Public School #414 in Baltimore,

Maryland.

HELPFUL RESOURCES

• The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore has a fantastic set of artifacts and text that can be

downloaded.

• The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African – American History and culture has

great resources for educators. I use their biographies for units throughout the year.

• The National Park Service will send electronic visuals and has some teaching materials

on their website.

• CyArk is a website that showcases heritage sites around the world. Educators register

and use the resources at no cost.

• Flickr.com –I recommend that you filter for Creative Commons images that you can use

for teaching.

• Local historians – both formal and informal

• I welcome your comments at monrastegar@yahoo.com or mrastegar@bcps.k12.md.us.