Black History Night

This is a showcase of projects made by Mitchell's 4K-5th grade students. For each of these projects, students learned about an African American artist, read a book written by or about them, and made an artwork inspired by them. Here are descriptions for each project.

Ashley Bryan Beautiful Blackbirds
Students learned about the artist Ashley Bryan who wrote and illustrated the book Beautiful Blackbird. They made their own Beautiful Blackbird collage using paper they cut and glued together.

Faith Ringgold Tar Beach Cities
Students learned about the artist Faith Ringgold and watched a video of her reading her story Tar Beach. They then made their own city by cutting and gluing paper, created a "quilt border" out of paper, drew a bridge with oil pastel, and even got to cut out a picture of themselves flying over their cities like the page from the book Tar Beach!

Jean-Michel Basquiat Abstract Drawings
Students learned about the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and read the story Radiant Child, talking about his upbringing and life. They then tried to think like an abstract artist by mixing paint together to make a background and using black and white oil pastels to create an abstract drawing. They had a guide they could follow if they wanted, or could completely make up their own idea. Abstract art is not always meant to be "pretty" and is much more about having fun WHILE you make it!